CNC machining is a marvelous technology that offers a range of possibilities for accurate parts, but your end-product is only as good as the design you set out with. There are some major considerations one has to make when developing any machined part, taking into account its full geometry.

When creating a part or a product, the first step is often the hardest. Even if you are a highly skilled CAD expert, a professional engineer or a handy machinist, it can sometimes be difficult to step back and ask: How should this part be? What specific shape and arrangement would best serve its pur...

There are a thousand reasons why you might want to add text to a part. For an item of self-assembly furniture, text may be needed to explain how one part slots into another. For an electronic part, text can provide crucial safety instructions that are required by law. Other components simply display...

Like any other manufacturing process, CNC milling requires the careful application of design for manufacturing (DfM) principles. Although 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 de...

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 ...

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’...