Struggling with getting a flat pattern from a complex 3D surface? We are here to help!
If your company needs help in designing solid sheet metal parts and assemblies, convert CAD models to sheet metal models – then CAD/CAM Services can be your outsourced partner.
With our sheet metal service experience, you can gain the flexibility required to quickly and cost-effectively create sheet metal part designs by relying on an experienced team of sheet metal designers. We have you covered if you use CATIA, NX, Creo, Solidworks, or even Inventor.
Outsourcing to the experts at CAD /CAM will accelerate your design process, save time and development costs, and increase productivity. Good sheet metal design is a learned science, and often not for the faint of heart.
A sheet metal part designed by us in SolidWorks
Our team of sheet metal experts can help to create sheet metal part designs using SOLIDWORKS 3D design.
Our features include:
- Flanges built to associated aerospace mold line surfaces.
- Aerospace single and twin joggles.
- Flange and joggle flattening using aerospace compensation design rules.
- Consolidated modeling environments for designing common sheet metal airframe parts.
- and consistent best practices of Sheet Metal Design.
Our state-of-art CAD tools, CAE tools and systematic approach to design sheet metal parts enable CAD / CAM Services to provide cost-effective sheet metal design services that meet and exceed the most stringent customer requirements. We produce accurate designs – on time – and well within your budget.
Using our systematic approach, we tailor our design services to meet each customer’s needs. By identifying crucial design parameters and specifications, we ensure the optimal design for nearly any manufacturing process. By designing with manufacturing and assembly in mind we’re able to provide:
- Cost estimates based on material and the number of operations.
- Calculation of the adequate size of corner reliefs, K-values, bend angles, and radii.
- Creation of the 3D sheet metal model into the complete 2D flat drawings.
Sheet metal parts assembly
Accelerate Your Design Process
When you use our expert team to augment your in-house design team, you gain the flexibility to scale your workforce to meet whatever workload comes your way.
We help you to accelerate the design process while saving time and development costs, and increasing productivity.
We can:
- Design solid sheet metal parts and assemblies,
- Convert 3D models or imported CAD models directly into sheet metal models and automatically input your own bend radius, thickness, K-factor, and bend allowance,
- And design around a group of parts in an assembly.
We take all these parameters into account while creating our design; we know how real bending works.
We’ll even estimate sheet metal manufacturing costs for you as we design. We can also automatically flatten your 3D sheet metal part to generate flat patterns that include the bend compensation for manufacturing.
Sheet Metal Design Overview
Many industries require a wide range of sheet metal parts to house or enclose their designs, and we provide a flexible design approach to accommodate these needs, including:
- Convert any imported CAD model, create original parts or design around a group of parts.
- Generate Base, Edge, Miter, and Swept Flanges.
- Generate bends, including Lofted Bends, Sketched Bends, and more.
- Use Bend Tables for bend allowance/bend deduction.
- Use Forming Tools to create features like ribs, louvers, lances, embosses, and extruded flanges.
- Add weld details to sheet metal parts on models or drawings.
- Automatically flatten parts to generate flat patterns for manufacturing with bend compensation.
- Automatically estimate sheet metal part manufacturing cost as you design.
Software:
We provide sheet metal design using any of the following software:
- SolidWorks
- Autodesk Inventor
- CATIA
- Pro/Engineer
Industries:
We provide sheet metal design services to the following industries:
- Aerospace
- Automobile
- Electronics
- Power
- Transport
- Telecom
- We even provided it for the textile industry (see our case study).
Global Standards
No matter what international standards you need to meet, our U.S.A. based corporation is able to provide the quality and standards you require.
With contacts in various countries around the globe, we are able to provide our global customers with robust designs of high quality and correct international standards. Tell us what you need, and we’ll get the job done!
3D Modeling FAQ
What is the minimum price for your 3D modeling services?
We have a minimum order fee $150.
How do you check your models?
We create 2D drawings from our 3D models for QC purposes. We follow aerospace standards and deliver ±.005” accuracy models for all projects. All of our QC is done by a different person than the designer. On Catia work, we often use Q-Checker for Airbus.
What do you need to give me accurate pricing?
First of all, we need to know the target CAD system and whether you have an existing template, or set of CAD standards for this project.
The main question is the overall complexity. As each part and assembly consists of different features and elements the best way is to provide us with an example. Again, a picture is worth a thousand words.
If you already have a model and need us to improve it or update it in any way we need to know which dimensions and features are critical and which can be modified to achieve your desired result. Even a before and after example works very well. We started with x, and got to this CAD file.
We can also offer you better options if you provide us with the purpose of your project (demonstration, 3D printing, FEA Simulation, CNC manufacturing, etc.). This helps us better refine the task.
How do you bill 3D CAD services tasks?
Per hour. Hourly rate depends on what CAD software used and typically starts at $75 per hour. In general, to make this process safer for you, we often provide you a fixed not to exceed the cost as well. That way, you are protected from an open-ended PO. However, the reality is our fees are based on time. In addition, services in say Catia or NX are more expensive than say Solidworks. Or, simulation services are commonly done by real engineers.
General CAD FAQ
I need my project done today or tomorrow. Can you process rush jobs?
Depending upon when you catch us, yes, we can handle rush jobs. We often work over the holidays, Thanksgiving and even Christmas holidays. If you have a deadline – call us.
For years we have run three shifts of about 30 drafting folks per shift – allowing us to deliver work 3x faster, and seven days a week. Yes, we work 24/7, so you do not have to. The fun never stops here.
For 3D scanning, this is a different question. Because of the common setup work required, at best expect a 48-72 hour turn to be scanned. CAD or simulation services are in addition to that.
Who is affected by the PPD-21 directive?
The Department of Homeland Security has identified 16 different infostructures:
- Chemical Sector,
- Commercial Facilities Sector,
- Communications Sector,
- Critical Manufacturing Sector,
- Dams Sector,
- Defense Industrial Base Sector,
- Emergency Services Sector,
- Energy Sector,
- Financial Services Sector,
- Food and Agriculture Sector,
- Government Facilities Sector,
- Healthcare and Public Health Sector,
- Information Technology Sector,
- Nuclear Reactors Materials and Waste Sector,
- Transportation Systems Sector,
- Water and Wastewater Systems Sector.
This is both Government and private sectors.
If you are in any of these industries, this directive is important to you for many reasons. Do you know where your critical sections are? Are they well protected? Are there concerns for Hazmat, security clearance requirements, and other concerns? Can you quickly rebuild what might be lost?
The important part of this means that critical infrastructure must be secure and able to withstand and rapidly recover from all hazards. Achieving this will require integration with the national preparedness system across prevention, protection, mitigation, response, and recovery.
Further details can be found at: Government PPD-21
DHS – The National Infrastructure Protection Plan details: The National Infrastructure Protection Plan
Industry specific plans: 2015 Industry specific PPD-21 plans
CAD / CAM Services provides PPD-21 for the following industries: DHS – CAD / CAM Services
What is the PPD-21 Protocall?
The Presidential Policy Directive 21 (PPD-21) is a Critical Infrastructure Protection and Resilience United States directive that aims to strengthen and secure the country’s critical infrastructure.The goal of this directive is to reduce vulnerabilities, identify and disrupt threats, minimize consequences and hasten response and recovery efforts related to critical infrastructure.
The directive defines resilience as the ability to prepare for and adapt to ever changing conditions, terrorists, and withstand and recover rapidly from disruptions. Resilience includes the ability to withstand and recover from deliberate attacks, accidents, or naturally occurring threats or incidents.
Do you support the PPD-21 Directive?
Yes we do, and have now for several years. In addition, we also support the industry specific plans as well.
Did you really own the trademark Cad Perfect™, Cad Perfect CAD Conversions™ and Cad / Cam Services™?
Yes, we did back in 2008. We started using Cad Perfect™ back in the early 1990s because all of our customers wanted only real Cad Perfect™ work. Back then the buzz words were terms like machine ready, or DXF Traceover and others.
The problem is, nobody wanted that. They all wanted drawings and models that they did not have to touch. Everybody wanted drawings just as if they hand redrew the work themselves.
Thus, Cad / Cam Services™ was the first company to start offering ONLY Cad Perfect™ work.
What is the estimated delivery time?
It depends on the scope of work:
- 2D drawings – small quantity, normally 48 hours. We have several customers where they contract to us, keeping 4-8 drafters busy full time.
- 3D models – complexity dependent, but smaller jobs in 2-3 days. Some models we have spent months on. Again, we have several customers where they contract to us, keeping 6-10 3D CAD designers busy full time.
Simple jobs have a lead time of 48 hours. Larger projects are delivered and invoiced weekly.
Will CAD / CAM Services Sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA)?
Yes. NDAs are a common part of our business. All data is yours – not ours, and treated as proprietary data and not for public consumption or use. Probably 70% of our work is under NDA agreements. We can generally get these signed within the day.
How do I send a sample, in order to get a quote?
Fill out our quote form, attach your files, or simply send us an email. Tell everything about your project, like the model purpose.
For smaller files < 15 MB you can simply email them to us. For something larger, just drop them in any number of drop boxes like Dropbox, Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive and others. Or if you would like, just contact us for a private, hardened link.
It is fine to use most any time of compression such as *.zip, *.rar, *.tar, *.7z, *.arc, *.LBR, and even *.iso images.
A direct email is [email protected]
We also use a hardened OwnCloud web file sharing platform for unlimited file transfers. We provide unique and very private Web Storage Portals, this also supports file syncing for extreme convenience for you. Because so much of our work is DOD or weapons design work, Security – and confidentiality is very important to us.
- Video Demonstration