The adapter, stud or coupling you drew exists in no catalogue — because it is yours. That is not a problem to design away. It is an ordinary one-off job.
This page is not about old parts. It is about the new one: the part you designed for a fixture, a machine modification or a product in development — the one no catalogue lists, because nobody but you has drawn it yet. The question is not whether it can be made. The question is whether you should have to deform your design to avoid having it made.
When the part does not exist as a standard item, the choice is: change the design so a catalogue part fits — or have the part made that the design calls for. The first option looks free. It rarely is:
| The compromise | The hidden cost |
|---|---|
| Two catalogue parts screwed together instead of one correct part | One more interface — longer, heavier, one more leak or backlash point |
| The next catalogue size up from what you designed | Oversized neighbouring parts, new weight, new envelope — the compromise propagates |
| An “almost right” thread or length | Shims, inserts and fitting work at assembly — on every unit, forever |
| Waiting for a supplier to “maybe stock it” | The development loop stalls on one detail |
| The alternative: the part exactly as drawn, from 1 piece, no tooling cost — and the design stays your design | |
When your drawing arrives, we read it with workshop eyes before anything is cut. Not to change your design — it is never touched without you — but to flag what makes the part needlessly expensive: a sharp internal corner where the tool needs a radius, a tolerance that triggers a grinding operation the function never asked for, an exotic thread where a standard one would do the same work. You get the suggestion with the reasoning — and you decide. Sometimes the answer is “keep it as drawn, it costs what it costs” — that is a fine answer too, when your design wins.
| Stage | Quantity | What it does for you |
|---|---|---|
| Prototype | 1–2 | Confirms fit and function in reality — before you commit to anything |
| Pilot run | 5–20 | Equips test rigs or first units; reveals what the prototype could not show |
| Production | 50+ | Same drawing, no new setup cost — unit price falls, the route is already proven |
| Revision 2 | — | Changes after testing go onto the drawing, you approve — without starting over |
Ask for 1, 10 and 50 priced in the same enquiry. Setup is paid once, so the curve falls fast — and you know at the prototype stage what the production part will cost. That number belongs in the development budget, not in the surprises column.
A new design is sensitive in a way an old spare part never is: the part does not publicly exist yet. So this holds without qualification: you own the design, files are used only for your orders, never shared, never reused — and we will gladly sign an NDA before you send a single file. The drawing archive exists solely so the pilot run and production start fast when you are ready.
Typical new-design parts we machine: adapters with your two threads, studs and fasteners in lengths that do not exist, shafts for new test rigs, bushings and coupling pieces — in 316L stainless, 42CrMo4/4140, 6061/7075 aluminium, brass or POM. EN 10204 3.1 material certificate on request.
The opposite — it is the normal case for machining. A lathe and a mill only need the geometry; whether the part has existed before makes no difference. The adapter with exactly your two threads, the stud in your special length, the spacer for your fixture: all of these are ordinary one-off jobs. Catalogue parts only sit on a shelf because someone has already sold them thousands of times — your part has not had the chance yet, and does not need it.
No, but CAD is the fastest path: STEP or DXF goes straight to a quote, and a PDF drawing works just as well. A dimensioned sketch from the design phase is also enough — we produce the formal manufacturing drawing and you approve it before anything is machined. What matters is not the file format but that the functional requirements are in it: which surfaces must fit against what, and where it is genuinely tight.
Never without you. When we go through the drawing, we sometimes spot what makes the part more expensive than it needs to be: a sharp internal corner where the tool needs a radius, a tolerance that triggers grinding without the function demanding it, a special thread where a standard one would do the same job. We propose — with the reasoning — and you decide. The design is yours; we contribute what is easy and what is costly to machine.
The first piece carries programming, work-holding and setup — that is why it costs more than intuition says. But those are one-time costs: pieces two and three are much cheaper, and a later production run on the same drawing starts with no setup cost at all. Ask for 1, 10 and 50 priced in the same enquiry — you see the whole curve before committing, and you know at the prototype stage what the production part will cost.
The drawing is already archived and validated by a physical part that works — the pilot run or production run goes straight into manufacturing, with no re-measuring and no tooling cost. If you want to change something after testing, the drawing moves to revision 2 and you approve again. That is how the one-off becomes the production part: same geometry, same route, falling unit price.
You own the design — files and drawings are used only for your orders, never shared, never reused. For unreleased developments we are glad to sign an NDA before you send a single file. The drawing archive exists solely so your repeat orders move fast.
Parts that will eventually be cast or injection-moulded prototype very well as machined versions — just say that is the plan, and the drawing is prepared with the future tooling in mind. Electronics and circuit boards are outside our field. And parts for regulated industries that require an approved-supplier listing must go through that route, not through a prototyping supplier.
Send STEP, PDF or a sketch — and say what the part has to do. Answer in 12 hours.
// Quantity & price
1–2
Prototype
Confirm the design
5–20
Pilot run
Testing and first units
50+
Production
Same drawing, no new setup
or email: [email protected]
Send STEP, PDF or the sketch from the design phase. Prototype from 1 piece, production on the same drawing. Quote in 12 hours.