Design & Development
Bring us a part, a sketch, or just a problem. We scan or model it, engineer the solution, and build the first working version ourselves — no handing your project off between vendors.
How It Works
Metrology-grade 3D scanning of an existing part, or design from your sketch, reference, or spec.
1. Capture
2. Design
CAD modeling and engineering, built for how the part will actually be made and used.
A working first version, built in-house using whichever tool the part calls for: CNC machining, 3D printing, welding, or fabrication.
3. Prototype
Prototyping Capabilities
Not standalone services — the toolbox we draw from to get your design into your hands as a real part: CNC machining (bar-fed lathe), 3D printing, and welding & fabrication.
Tell Us What You're Building
Proof of Work
CASE STUDY: TRANSFER CASE OUTPUT SHAFT
Client: An aftermarket transfer case manufacture
The Problem: The shaft was original equipment on a factory car from the 1960s-70s. No engineering drawings or manufacturing data survive for the part -- the only way to reproduce it was to reverse-engineer it from a physical sample.
What We Did: We reverse-engineered the shaft into a full CAD model, then specified 3" 8620 tool steel bar stock, case-hardened to 0.030"-0.035" depth at 50-55 HRC. We'd never cut a splined shaft in-house before, so we also designed and built the fixturing and tooling required to hold and machine it.
Production: A first run of 50 units, followed by a second 50-unit run of a variant configuration -- 100 shafts total, built from a single sample part.
Turnaround: Six weeks, start to finish -- reverse engineering, material and heat-treat spec, custom tooling, and the first production order, on a process we'd never run before. That number comes down on repeat work now that the tooling and process exist.
CASE STUDY: RAD4 TRANSFER CASE CONVERSION (PAST PROJECT)
Client: Owner of the RAD4, a transaxle rock-crawling buggy originally built for Motor Trend's Dirt Every Day, running a factory front-wheel-drive system mounted sideways as a mid-engine layout.
The Problem: Recurring driveshaft failures -- even on smooth ground at a constant speed. The original driveline mixed a CV joint on one side with a U-joint on the other, which meant the driveline was cyclically shock-loading itself on every rotation, independent of terrain. The car was also stuck in 4WD full-time with no way to run low enough gearing for rock crawling.
The Options: We laid out two paths -- convert the factory front differential to a short semi-float axle, or add a transfer case. We went with a transfer case: it meant the car could run 2WD or 4WD, do front or rear "digs" for maneuverability on the trail, and get much lower gearing.
The Constraint: Finding a transfer case small enough for the space, with the right front-output offset. A Samurai case had too little offset; an NP205 was too large. A Dana 20 fit -- but the specific case we sourced was built for a Bronco, not a Jeep, and the only divorced-mount kit available on the market only fit the Jeep bolt pattern.
What We Did: Machined a custom adapter to mate the Bronco-pattern Dana 20 to the Jeep-pattern divorced kit. Built a fully custom twin-stick shifter kit with machined piston-style shift knobs. 3D scanned the transfer case and divorced kit and built a digital mockup to work out the fitment before cutting any metal -- final clearances around surrounding components came down to 0.06". We fabricated a custom output shaft for the transmission plus the two-piece rear and front driveshafts to complete the system.
Result: The car is out on the trails and running well. This is the kind of project depth that sits outside what a typical fab shop takes on -- diagnosing the failure mode, running a real trade study across transfer case options, and integrating the whole driveline into 0.06" of clearance. That's design and development work, not job-shop fabrication.
Shown here as past engineering work.