// Reverse Engineering

Reverse Engineering Without a Drawing

No drawing, no part number, no OEM contact — this is our most common starting point. We reconstruct the geometry from the part, what it mates with, photos, or any combination of what you have.

No documentation needed
Engineering standards applied
Free CAD reconstruction
Quote in 24h

Why Most Parts Arrive With No Documentation

The original drawing was kept by the OEM and never supplied with the machine. It was lost in a site move. It was never made — the part was produced by a tool room 40 years ago without formal documentation. The equipment came from abroad with no English technical data. The supplier is gone and the drawing went with them.

All of these are normal. We do not require a drawing to begin — we require enough geometric information to reconstruct one.

Sources We Work From

// Best

Physical sample

The actual part — worn, broken or intact. CMM measures every feature directly. No interpretation needed.

// Good

Mating parts

The bore it sits in, the shaft it drives, the housing cavity. We reverse-derive the missing part from what it connects to.

// Useful

Photos + one dimension

Clear photos from multiple angles with one known reference dimension. Good for simple geometries; insufficient for complex profiles.

// Supplemental

Old manuals / diagrams

Exploded views, spare parts lists, maintenance manuals. Proportional reconstruction, confirmed against the assembly.

How We Recover Missing Information

When direct measurement isn't possible, engineering standards fill the gaps. This is not guessing — it is applying the conventions that whoever designed the original would have used:

  • Bore and shaft fits — a bearing journal is almost always h6; a gear bore is typically H7. We identify the function and apply the correct ISO fit class.
  • Thread classes — metric (6g/6H) or imperial (2A/2B) classes are standard; the pitch is confirmed from the mating part or from thread gauges on the sample.
  • Gear tooth form — module and pressure angle are recovered from the mating gear or from tooth-span measurement of the sample; standard modules (1, 1.25, 1.5, 2…) are confirmed.
  • Fillet radii and draft angles — tooling convention gives minimum values; we apply standard values unless the part geometry constrains differently.

Process

01

Tell us what you have

Send photos, describe the equipment, explain what the part does. We confirm what route is viable — physical measurement, mating-part derivation, or photo reconstruction — and what to send us.

02

Measure all available evidence

CMM on the sample (if present), measurement of mating parts, photogrammetry from photos. We document every assumption made in the reconstruction.

03

Apply engineering standards

Tolerances, fits, thread classes and surface finishes are inferred from function and confirmed against standards. Ambiguous features are noted in the drawing for your review.

04

CAD review — you approve

We send the drawing with all assumptions clearly flagged. You confirm or correct before we cut. This is critical when documentation was absent — your knowledge of the machine matters here.

05

Manufacture and inspect

Part made to the approved drawing. Inspected against the model. Shipped with the full inspection report and the CAD file.

Your machine knowledge is valuable at the review stage. When there is no drawing, the person who ran the machine may know things our measurement cannot tell us — that a particular fit was loose from new, or that the surface was hard-chrome coated. That information shapes the reconstruction. We ask; please tell us.

Frequently Asked Questions

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Yes. This is our most common starting point. Send us the part or photos of it with one known dimension, tell us what equipment it came from and what it does, and we take it from there. No drawing, part number or OEM support needed.

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Engineering standards give us the framework. A bearing journal is almost always an h6 shaft fit; a gear bore is typically H7. Thread classes are standard. Where functional fit drives the tolerance, we infer from the assembly context and confirm with you.

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We can often reconstruct the part from the mating geometry — the bore, the shaft, the housing cavity. It is less direct but frequently achievable. Tell us what you have and we assess the route.

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For geometrically simple parts — a spacer, a bracket, a mounting block — a photo with one known dimension is often enough. For complex parts with gear teeth, fine threads or tight fits, we need the physical sample or more data. We tell you honestly when photos are insufficient.

No Drawing, No Problem.

Send what you have — part, photos, or mating components. We reconstruct the geometry and quote in 24 hours.

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