From Idea to Tangible Product: Prototyping When You Have No CAD File
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What You Can Start With
An idea you can describe in an email. A sketch on paper with a few measurements. Photos of an object with a ruler in frame. A broken or worn part. An old blueprint, a drawing, a product you want to improve, or just a problem you need solved. You do not need a CAD file, a designer or a patent to start. We build the 3D model from what you send, confirm the fit-critical dimensions with you, and print the first piece in engineering plastics.
Best for: Inventors, entrepreneurs, startups, small businesses, universities and research groups, designers and agencies who have been told "send us a STEP file" and do not have one.
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The Path: Idea, Design, Prototype, Test, Refine, Produce
Design: Idea to First Print is a flat $500, stated up front: we build the CAD from your sketch, photo, measurements or the part itself, send one rendering for approval, make one revision, and your first print is included. Prototype: the first print usually ships in 2 to 3 days after approval. Testing: you fit it, drop it, hand it to a customer or an investor. Refinement: a revision is another print, not another tooling bill. Production: the same file runs 10, 25, 100 or more units when additive beats a mold. The honest limits: we print engineering plastics on FDM equipment, so no metal, no resin and no injection molding; we are a manufacturer, not a product-design agency or a patent service, and we tell you when an idea needs a molder or a machinist instead.
Best for: Ideas that need to exist in your hand before you spend on tooling, a launch or a pitch.
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How It Works and What It Costs to Start
Send what you have: a description, a sketch, photos with something for scale, the physical part, or a file if you have one (.STL, .STEP, .OBJ or .3MF). NDA on request before you send anything. We reply the same business day with questions or a quote. No file? Idea to First Print is a flat $500: the CAD built from what you send, one approval rendering, one revision, and the first print included. Already have a file? Printing is quoted per part. No minimum order. Ships nationwide to all 50 states; pickup by appointment in Columbia, Missouri or St. Petersburg, Florida. We keep your file on record so the next version or the next run is a same-day reorder.
Best for: Anyone with an idea and a deadline who wants a straight answer on whether it can be made.