3D Modelling and CAD Drawings

Most people don’t expect this from a machine shop. Todd works in Fusion every day: modelling, assemblies, drawings, sheet metal and CAM. Design here is a proper service, not a favour thrown in with the machining.

You can hire us for the CAD on its own and take the files anywhere. But it pays off most when the person drawing the part is the person who has to make it, because the design comes out cheaper and easier to build.

Modelled down to the last screw

The machine in the video above is a five-axis mill built entirely as a 3D model:

• X axis — 300 mm travel on HGR20 linear rails with a 16 mm ball screw
• Y axis — 250 mm travel on a mineral cast base
• Z axis — 150 mm travel carrying a 2.2 kW ER20 spindle
• A and C axes — a trunnion tilting ±110° with a continuous, direct-drive C rotary

Every part is in there: rails, bearing blocks, motors, couplings, cable chains that follow the axes, and the fasteners holding it all together. The section cut through the centre line shows how the spindle, the trunnion bearings and the ball screw sit inside. With all five axes moving together, you can check clearances and travel limits before a single part is bought or cut.

That is the level of detail your job gets, whether it’s one bracket or a whole machine.

What we do

3D CAD models. Fully parametric models in Autodesk Fusion. Change a dimension and the model updates, so revisions are quick and nothing gets out of step.

Assemblies and mechanisms. Multi-part assemblies with joints and motion, so fits, clearances, interference and travel are checked on screen first.

Production drawings. Dimensioned, toleranced 2D drawings that any machine shop can work from, including us. Title blocks, revisions, material and finish callouts, and GD&T where it earns its place.

Reverse engineering from a physical part. Give us the part and we measure it and rebuild it as a proper CAD model. Good for obsolete machinery parts, broken parts and anything that exists only as a lump of metal on your bench.

DXFs for laser and waterjet. Clean, cutter-ready files: correct scale, closed profiles, no duplicate lines, etch lines on their own layer.

Sheet metal design. Modelled folded, unfolded to a flat pattern, with bend allowances, reliefs and bend order checked so it folds up square. See sheet metal fabrication.

Renders and animations. Photo-real images and walk-throughs like the one above, for approvals, sales material or to show someone how it goes together.

3D printed prototypes. Print it, hold it, check it fits, change it, print it again. Cheap iterations before anything gets cut in metal.

What you get

• PDF drawings, ready to print or send out for quotes
• STEP files for any CAD system or another shop
• DXFs for laser, waterjet or router cutting
• STL files for 3D printing
• The model kept on file, so the next revision or repeat order is quick

Design for manufacture: where the money is

The most expensive decisions on a part are made before a single chip is cut.

A pocket corner tighter than any sensible cutter means a tiny tool, a slow feed and three times the machine time. A ±0.01 mm tolerance on a clearance hole doubles the price for nothing. A part needing six setups can often be redesigned to need two.

Because we machine what we draw, we catch this before you pay for it. Same function, same strength, less to make. If your design keeps coming back expensive from everywhere you send it, send it to us and we’ll tell you why.

Reverse engineering, in practice

1. You send or bring the part, in any condition, including broken.
2. We measure it properly with verniers, micrometers, thread gauges and radius gauges.
3. We model it in Fusion, taking out the wear and damage to get back to what the part was meant to be.
4. We ask what it does, because a bush that runs on a shaft and a bush that’s just a spacer are different parts, even when they look the same.
5. You get the model and the drawings, and the part machined if you want it made.

What to send

A sketch, a photo, the part itself, an old drawing, or just a description of the problem. Nothing needs to be tidy.

Drawing it yourself? Our design guide has the corner radii, hole sizes, tolerances and fits we work to.

Design work is quoted as a fixed fee up front, so you know the cost before we start.