Professional CAD Service (In-house)
We offer full CAD services for engineering prototypes and 3D printed production parts.
Our CAD service exists to compliment our printing service. We are not a product design company nor do we offer 3D scanning. Our professional team will take you through the stages of getting your prototype or machine part from your draft designs to a real functional end use part.
Important Notice: Prototype or Part Refinement
Despite our vast knowledge of CAD programs and the material we use, every design must be treated as a prototype. This means that it may require tweaking of the design and printing of multiple versions before your idea is complete. These tweaks and reprints are chargeable and are just part of any design process, so must be taken into consideration.
How does it work?
Minimum Project Cost
£400.00 + vat.
This can be a combination of CAD and Print
CAD Design
A maximum of 5 hours of CAD per project.
Prototypes
Prototypes are included in this fee up to the value of your budget.
In Credit
After the cost of CAD and Prototypes, if there is still money left from the minimum order this can be used as a credit note towards your production run print cost.
Choose either our Economy or Express CAD service?
Economy Drafting – £50 p/h + VAT
Usually a 8-10 working day turnaround for the design depending on the complexity of the project. Simple projects can often be turned around within a few days ready for printing. You can then choose either the Express or the Economy print service.
Any alterations that are needed to perfect your design are welcome. However, we require an additional 6 – 9 working days between iterations.
Express Drafting – £100 p/h + VAT
Usually a 0-2 working day turnaround for the design depending on the complexity of the project. Simple projects can often be turned around on the same day ready for printing. You will then print on the Express service with your model ready in 2-5 days. The Economy printing option is not available with the Express Drafting service.
Any alterations that are needed to perfect your design are welcome. However, we require an additional 0 – 2 working days between iterations.
Reverse Engineering
If you have a pre-existing mechanical item that needs replicating then our preferred method of reproducing the CAD file is Reverse Engineering. We manually take measurements from the original part and our professional CAD team rebuild the model into a 3D printable file. This means that we have full control over the part and can make adjustments quickly and accurately if alterations are required during prototyping.
Our experience with our in house printers means that we can get the reproduction spot on with very little need for test print variations.
We do not offer 3D scanning because even with a high resolution scan the data is compensated and we cannot make calculated alterations to the file. An example of this is working with broken or worn parts we need to rebuild the file to create a new functioning part.
There will also be a ‘Retention of Title’ release be on files if you choose to print elsewhere.
The hourly rate for Reverse Engineering is charged the same as our CAD service above.
Factor in your print time! When is your Deadline?
The timescales given above are only for the designing of your project. If you need a print as well you will need to factor in the print lead time too.
Your choice is really determined by your deadline for getting your project finished. The high demand for our services means that we have created different services for different needs. Choose the amount of lead time that you have on the tabs above and visualise how long your project will take from start to finish.
Once you’ve chosen, if you have a design enquiry you can send it to us using the form below. If you just have a general enquiry head over to the Contact Us page.
For our fastest turnaround you will need to use our Express service for both the design and the printing. These are our premium services and allow you to jump to the front of the queue to get your project realised to a professional standard in an unbeatable timeframe. The Economy printing option is not available with the Express Drafting service.
Express CAD is charged at £75 per hour.
Express Printing is charged at 20p per cm3.
Prices not inclusive of VAT.
Once you’ve chosen, if you have a design enquiry you can send it to us using the form below. If you just have a general enquiry head over to the Contact Us page.
For our intermediate turnaround you will need to use our Economy CAD service for the design and Express for the printing. This service allows you to have a print in hand in under two weeks created to a professional standard in a timeframe that suits most projects. The Economy printing option is not available with the Express Drafting service.
Economy CAD is charged at £50 per hour.
Express Printing is charged at 20p per cm3.
Prices not inclusive of VAT.
Once you’ve chosen, if you have a design enquiry you can send it to us using the form below. If you just have a general enquiry head over to the Contact Us page.
For our most cost effective turnaround you will need to use our Economy CAD service for both the design and the printing. This service allows you to have a professionally created project while on a tight budget.
Economy CAD is charged at £50 per hour.
Economy Printing is charged at 10p per cm3.
Prices not inclusive of VAT.
Once you’ve chosen, if you have a design enquiry you can send it to us using the form below. If you just have a general enquiry head over to the Contact Us page.
Contact us about your project
What To Send Us:
- Rough estimated XYZ dimensions of the model you’d like to create.
- If the part exists already a picture of the part next to a ruler for scale reference makes quoting very easy.
- If the model does not already exist any sketches or even pictures of similar existing products will be helpful.
Alternatively, if you have a much smaller project in mind
or you just need some CAD done we can help with that too