Design Guides

In-depth design guides full of best practices for all of our manufacturing processes.

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Design Guides

Design Guidelines for CNC Milled Parts

CNC mills — and 5-axis machining centers to an even greater extent — can produce a wide range of parts in a variety of metals and plastics, there are certain design constraints that must be respected in order to produce viable parts.

Designing Parts for Injection Molding: 6 Things to Consider

Injection molding is an important manufacturing process used to make car parts, packaging, toys and many other products. During the injection molding process, a molten material — often a thermoplastic — is injected into a mold cavity. When the materials cools down, it can be removed from the mold as a finished product.

How to design living hinges for injection molding or 3D printing

Living hinges are a simple and cost-effective way of incorporating flexure bearings into plastic objects like containers and food packaging. While most hinges typically require at least two separate components, a living hinge is made from the same material as the two sections it connects.

5 tips for creating professional prototypes

Whatever your line of work, physical prototypes are an important part of product development, bridging the gap between ideas and production. Prototypes can be used to assess the physical performance of a part, to pitch ideas to potential investors and to provide proof of concept. In some ways, they’re as important as the finished product.

10 Tips for Cutting Costs on Your CNC Machining Parts

Several things can affect the cost of CNC Machining parts, including materials, design, finishes, quantity, and turnaround time. Typically, the most important is how much time it takes to machine your parts. This can influence cost even more than the cost of materials, setup time, or finishing type.