Design & CAD
Parts get designed with the machinist, the assembler, and the coating line in mind, not just the render. Everything from single components to multi-part assemblies.
Contract Engineering · Prototyping · Product Development
From napkin sketch to
From napkin sketch to
production-ready hardware.
APE is a contract mechanical engineering firm out of Idaho. Design, drawings, DFM, tolerance analysis. Same person from CAD through production, so you explain your product once.
±0.001"
Tolerances held
10 days
Typical first prototype
1:1
Direct engineer access
What we do
Most designs stop at fabrication.
Nobody thinks about what the coating does to the fit. Parts get designed and manufactured in a vacuum, without enough thought into how everything fits and works together. That gap is where launches slip and rework budgets go. It's also where I do my best work.
Drawings & GD&T
Drawing packages to ASME Y14.5 that a machine shop can quote and inspect against without calling you five times. Features dimensioned to control what actually matters for fit and function.
DFM & Tolerance Analysis
Tolerance stack analysis across the whole assembly, including what plating and coating thickness do to the numbers. Problems fixed before parts hit the machine.
Prototyping
FDM printing in-house for fast iteration, plus qualified vendors for CNC, sheet metal, and coating when the design is ready for real material. Parts you can hold, not just a model on a screen.
How we work
A straightforward path from idea to hardware
You'll always know where your project stands and what comes next.
01
Discover
We dig into your goals, constraints, and budget, then define clear requirements together.
02
Design
CAD models, simulations, and design reviews — you see and approve the design before anything is cut.
03
Prototype
Working hardware, fast. We build, test, and iterate until the design performs in the real world.
04
Deliver
Complete drawing packages, BOMs, and manufacturing hand-off — ready for production at any volume.
Featured work
Recent projects
Production work for Killer Golf — putter design, modular weight systems, and a 22-piece artifact collection.
Killer Golf — Putter Line
Mechanical DesignCADDFM
Finalized production-ready designs for four putter models across two head styles in SS303 stainless steel.
Result: All four models — Wing EQ, Wing CS, Blade EQ, Blade CS — in full production.
Killer Golf — Modulator System
Mechanical DesignCADPrototyping
Full family of swappable weight attachments — Equilibrium and CenterStrike systems — engineered to interface with both head styles.
Result: Complete modulator lineup in production, sold individually and as kits.
Killer Golf — Artifacts Collection
Product DevelopmentCADMechanical Design
22 themed attachments that mount to the putter head — from alignment aids to lifestyle accessories — each mating precisely to both head styles.
Result: Full 22-piece artifact collection in production at $400 each.
Case study
Does it still fit after coating?
I joined a golf equipment company right before launch. They had a prototype they loved that they hadn't coated yet. They had no coating spec, no vendor, and no tolerance stack to check that parts still assembled after Cerakote.
I qualified a coater and their deliverable thickness. I ran the stack analysis and found a possible 0.002" overlap at the far ends of the tolerance band. Changed dimensions on a few parts, qualified the vendor, and got the first 20 sets coated.
These were ready for launch with 2 days to spare. That product line is in production today.
See the Killer Golf work
Also built
FloorForge. Shop tracking without the ERP price tag.
At that same golf company I was told there was no budget for a system, so I built one. FloorForge is that system rebuilt properly: a stripped-down ERP for small shops that tracks parts, orders, and work in progress.
It's $1,000 because small shops shouldn't have to run on paper and Excel, where things get lost.
See FloorForge
Start here
If you've got an idea in your head you need to get out.
Or a part heading to coating, or a drawing package that needs real GD&T. Tell me what you're working on and you'll get honest feedback on feasibility, timeline, and cost. If I'm not the right fit, I'll say so.
Start the conversation