Practical writing on mechanical design, prototyping, and product development. No filler.
No drawings, no supplier, a broken part. Why copying the shape is not enough, how the process works, what it costs, and when not to do it.
Read more →Four options, not two. When to do the design yourself, when to outsource it, when to hire in-house, and when to train the person you already have. With real contract rates.
Read more →Most clients know they need drawings. Fewer know what a complete drawing package looks like — or why an incomplete one costs them more at the machine shop than it saves in engineering time.
Read more →The honest answer depends on four things. Here is what drives the timeline, what adds days, and what you can do to get a first part faster.
Read more →The right process comes down to one question: do you want to see it or use it? Here is how to choose -- and why most people spend CNC money before they are ready.
Read more →Parts made within spec can still fail to assemble. Here is what a tolerance stack-up is, why position matters as much as size, and how to fix it before parts are cut.
Read more →Cerakote adds 0.001" per surface. On a part with two mating surfaces, that is 0.002" of extra material you did not design for. Here is how to handle it.
Read more →DFM is not a checklist you run at the end. It is a set of decisions you make during design that determines whether your part costs $40 or $400 to make.
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