Growing a Culture of Quality in China
What does it take to employ world-class quality standards when running your own business out of China?
Custom Colors in Injection Molding – What You Need To Know
Let’s say you’ve got a great new idea for a plastic product and you’ve found a manufacturing partner to help you make it. You don’t need a lot of parts to start out with, but you do need that special custom color which is really going to make the whole thing come alive. Just show […]
7 Techniques For Finishing A Metal Surface
All metal prototyping and CNC machined components will leave behind a pattern of characteristic scratches on the workpiece. These are caused by the type of cutting tool, how sharp it is and the material it’s made from. In some cases these scratches can be ignored but usually to make a truly “finished” part one or more […]
UX Secrets To Improve Your Product Designs And Prototypes
When making a product design and prototype, designers and engineers should bear in mind the lessons of user experience (UX). This is often applied to software design, but it is just as relevant to new product development and manufacturing processes. It’s the key to creating great products that are easy to use and satisfy the […]
What is G-Code, How Does it Work, and Why is it Important For Your Parts?
What is G-Code? G-code is the generic industry term for the computer language that most CNC machines use to control their movements and how they make parts. Let’s look at how we optimize machine programming to make parts faster while improving their quality and consistency. How Does G-code Work? G-code is created as the output […]
Makers, Hackers and Geeks
A new kind of industrial revolution is taking hold in cities and towns all over the world. It’s a grassroots movement, empowered by individuals freely sharing knowledge and using the tools of digital manufacturing. Locally based but connected by the World Wide Web, it may be the best hope yet for revitalizing manufacturing economies and […]
Inventor’s Toolkit: 7 Tips For Inventing Products
Every day we talk to inventors, entrepreneurs and product designers who need help making a physical prototype. For these people to be successful inventors, they need to be armed with knowledge to avoid the many pitfalls they may face in the development process. Here are 7 tips to help make the journey easier. 1. Research […]
Getting a Beautiful Finish on Painted Parts
The process of painting beautiful parts There are some unique challenges that present themselves when trying to achieve the perfect paint finish for prototypes or low-volume production. High volume batch production can be automated to produce large runs of identical parts, but small batches must be carefully handled on a case-by-case basis. Let’s take a closer look […]
The Engineer’s Bookshelf: Machinery’s Handbook
Although it’s now digitized on CD-ROM, Machinery’s Handbook still remains The Book to turn to for a vast amount of information relevant not only to machinists but also product designers, tool makers, engineers, inventors and hobbyists who want definitive information about how things are made with machine tools. Let’s take a closer look at its […]
Advanced Methods For Making Better Mold Tools
Recent innovations in tooling construction with conformal heating and cooling channels open up exciting new possibilities for part designs with improved throughput and lower costs. Product developers and engineers now have access to new techniques made possible by additive manufacturing which promise enormous benefits in productivity, cost savings and finished part quality. Let’s take a look […]
