Service · 01 / 05
CAD Design
From a sketch, a new sample part, or an idea to a manufacturable model and print.
Need a part designed but don’t have CAD? Send a sketch, a photo, a new sample part, or just the requirements, and the team will design it: a 3D model and a dimensioned print that you own outright. The design is quoted as its own line, up front, in 24-48 hours, and when it is ready, the same team can quote the parts.
Updated October 2026
From sketch to STEP file
Plenty of good parts start as a pencil sketch, a photo with measurements scribbled on it, or a sentence like “it has to bolt to this and clear that.” You don’t need CAD to get a custom part designed: that’s the point of this service. Send whatever you have through the quote form, describe what the part has to do, and the team takes it from there.
What comes back is a 3D model (STEP) and a 2D PDF print with dimensions, tolerances, and material called out. Under ASME Y14.5 (source 1), a tolerance can be applied directly to a dimension or come from a general note (source 2), which is how a print holds a tight callout on one feature and a looser general tolerance on the rest. You review it, mark it up, and the model is revised from your notes. The loop runs on email, not meetings.
Designed to be made, not just drawn
A model can look right on screen and still cost more to make than it needs to. For CNC work the cost is driven by time (source 3), so the design habits that matter are the ones that save it: at an inside corner where three faces meet, one edge takes the radius of the end mill (source 4), standard tool sizes are used wherever possible (source 4), and the loosest tolerance that serves the function is the one to specify (source 3). Because this team also quotes machined parts, the designs start from those habits: radii a standard cutter can cut, and tolerances only where the part actually earns them.
That overlap matters when it’s time to buy. The print is built to survive contact with a real quote, and you can get that quote from the same people in 24-48 hours, with DFM feedback already accounted for.
Fixtures, jigs, and the unglamorous work
Part design gets the glory, but a lot of this work is tooling: drill jigs, weld and assembly fixtures, check fixtures, alignment aids, go/no-go gauges. If your crew is improvising with clamps and hope, a fixture designed around your actual parts is worth asking about. Fixture design is quoted as its own line, and so is gauge design, as part of a fixture or as a standalone gauge. Send the part, the features to locate and check, and how it’s loaded, along with what keeps going wrong, and the team will design around it. The fixture itself is quoted from the finished print; custom machined fixtures covers what those orders look like.
You own the files
Every deliverable is yours: the model and the print, plus the revision history if you ask for it. Take them to any supplier: there’s no lock-in, no license, and no release fee for your own design. When you want the parts quoted here, send the files back through the quote form whenever you’re ready.
Sources
All accessed 30 September 2026. Where a figure here differs from your print, the print governs.
1. ASME, “Y14.5 Dimensioning and Tolerancing” (2018, reaffirmed 2024): asme.org/codes-standards/find-codes-standards/y14-5-dimensioning-tolerancing (the symbols, rules and practices for stating dimensioning and tolerancing on engineering drawings and models).
2. Wikipedia, “Geometric dimensioning and tolerancing”: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geometric_dimensioning_and_tolerancing (the Y14.5 rule that all dimensions need a tolerance, applied directly or from a general note).
3. Wikipedia, “Design for manufacturability,” section on computer numerical control machining: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Design_for_manufacturability (cost is driven by time; specify the loosest tolerance that will serve the function).
4. eFunda, “Milling: Design Rules”: efunda.com/processes/machining/mill_design.cfm (at a three-edge inside corner one edge must have the radius of the end mill; standard tool sizes should be used wherever possible).
5. Wikipedia, “ISO 10303”: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_10303 (STEP is the informal name of ISO 10303, a standard for exchanging product data that provides interoperability between CAD systems).
6. Wikipedia, “AutoCAD DXF”: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AutoCAD_DXF (a CAD data file format developed by Autodesk for data exchange and interoperability).
Questions
Before you send a job.
01 What do you need to start a custom part design job?
Anything that communicates the part: a sketch with rough dimensions, photos of a sample, the mating parts it has to fit, or a plain-English description of what it does. The more constraints you share (loads, clearances, materials) the fewer revision rounds it takes.
02 I already have a drawing or a CAD file. Do I need a design job?
No. A fully dimensioned 2D PDF is quoted without a CAD line, and a STEP model with no drawing is quoted to a ±0.005 in general tolerance, or the one your notes name. If you start from a sketch, photos or a new sample part, the CAD built from them is quoted as its own line. Any file type is accepted. A STEP model plus a 2D PDF drawing is ideal; IGES, SLDPRT, Parasolid, DXF, DWG, STL and ZIP all work, and a sketch, photo or new sample part can start a quote.
03 How is design work priced?
Design is quoted as its own line, separate from the parts, so the cost of the design shows on its own. Scope, price, and timeline come back within 24-48 hours of sending what you have. When the design is ready, the parts are quoted from the finished print.
04 Can you design from a physical sample?
Yes, send a new sample part and the team will measure and model it. A straight recreation of an existing part is the reverse engineering service; “like this, but better” is a design job. Both end in files you own. The sample ships back with the parts, or on its own when the job ends in files only.
05 What file formats do you deliver?
STEP and PDF as standard. STEP is the file format of ISO 10303, a standard for exchanging product data between CAD systems (source 5), which is why it is the default deliverable. If your workflow needs a native SolidWorks file, a DXF of a flat part or the revision history, say so and the quote confirms it. DXF is the exchange format Autodesk developed (source 6).
06 Do I own the CAD files?
Yes, completely. The STEP model and PDF print are yours to keep, use, and send to anyone. Nothing is held back and nothing is licensed.
07 Can the team look over a design I already have?
Yes. A free design review comes with every quote: a person reads the design you send and notes what will cost more and what may not work, and the notes come back with the quote. It is a review of your design, not a design service, so the changes stay with you. Working the changes into the model is a design job, quoted as its own line. DFM review covers what the notes look at.
Get Started
Send us your files.
We’ll take it from there.
A quote in 24-48 hours, no minimums. Like the quote, and we’ll make your parts and ship them to you.
Get a Quote