A housing for a hand-held electronic device and a corresponding method for forming the same are provided. The housing includes an extruded element having a profile corresponding to a cross-section of the element, which is perpendicular to the direction of extrusion, where the extruded element includes within the profile, one or more areas of bulk material. The one or more areas of the bulk material include a machined surface along the length of the extruded element in the direction of the extrusion including a resulting machined profile. The resulting machined profile varies along the length of the extruded element in the direction of extrusion, while maintaining the continuity of the formed surface.