Process
Solution treatment and aging: design guide for precipitation hardening
Learn how solution treatment and aging works, which alloys use it, how to call out tempers on drawings, and how to avoid distortion and over-aging.
Design guides
Learn how parts get made, and design for it.
Plain-language guides to the processes, materials and standards behind the parts you design: how the work is done, the design rules worth knowing before you send a drawing, and answers to the questions engineers ask. Every guide links its sources and the U.S. shops that do the work.
Guides
21 guides
Process
TIG welding (GTAW) design guide: materials, joints and rules
Learn when to specify gas tungsten arc welding (TIG), which metals work best, how to design accessible joints, and what defects to avoid.
Process
Metal binder jetting design guide: tolerances, walls and shrinkage
Learn how metal binder jetting works, when to use it, and how to design parts for green-state handling and furnace sintering.
Process
Press fit design guide: interference, tolerances and materials
How to design press-fit and shrink-fit joints, select interference grades, specify standard tolerance classes, and prevent galling or cracking.
Process
Grinding design guide: tolerances, stock allowance and wheel rules
Learn when to specify grinding, how much stock to leave, how to design features for wheel clearance, and how to prevent heat damage.
Process
Welding design guide: joints, materials, symbols and limits
Learn how to design welded assemblies, choose weldable materials, size fillet welds, and call out welding symbols and inspections on drawings.
Process
Tapping design guide: hole sizes, thread depth and blind holes
Learn how to design tapped holes for machining, choose between cutting and forming taps, size pilot holes, and avoid broken taps in blind holes.
Process
Drilling design guide: hole depth, diameters and tolerances
Learn how to design drilled holes for machining, including standard diameters, depth-to-diameter limits, surface finish, and when to ream or bore.
Process
Milling design guide: pockets, corners, slots and wall limits
Learn how milling works, when to choose it, and how to size corners, walls, threads, slots and keyways so machine shops can build your part.
Process
Sawing design guide: stock prep, contour radius and finish
Learn when to use sawing, how to account for machining stock and minimum band saw radii, and what tolerances and finishes to expect from a shop.
Process
Threaded fastening design guide: joints, inserts and hardware
Learn when to use threaded fasteners, how to design bolted joints, tapped holes, and sheet metal or plastic inserts, and what mistakes to avoid.
Standard
ISO 2768 general tolerances: classes, callouts and when to use
Learn how ISO 2768 general tolerances work, how the चार classes scale with part size, how to call them out, and when to tolerance features individually.
Comparison
6061-T6 vs 7075-T6 aluminum: strength, machining and which to choose
Compare 6061-T6 and 7075-T6 aluminum across strength, stiffness, machinability, weldability and corrosion resistance to pick the right alloy for machined parts.
Comparison
Forging vs machining from solid: strength, volume and cost
Compare forged and CNC-machined parts across grain flow, strength, volume, tolerances and design rules, plus how to combine both processes.
Process
Steel heat treatment design guide: quench, case harden, nitride
Learn how annealing, quenching and tempering, case hardening, and nitriding change steel properties, plus how to design parts and call out treatments.
Process
Anodizing aluminum design guide: types, dimensions and callouts
Learn how anodizing changes aluminum dimensions, which MIL-A-8625 types and classes to choose, and how to specify the finish on engineering drawings.
Comparison
3D printing comparison: FDM vs SLA vs SLS vs MJF vs metal PBF
Compare FDM, SLA, SLS, MJF, and metal powder bed fusion across materials, tolerances, surface finish, strength, and cost to pick the right 3D printing process.
Process
Injection molding design guide: walls, draft, ribs and tooling
Design rules for injection molded plastic parts: wall thickness, draft angles, ribs, bosses, corners, undercuts, threads and tooling cost drivers.
Comparison
Laser vs. waterjet vs. plasma cutting: How to choose
Compare laser, waterjet, and plasma cutting by material, thickness, tolerance, edge quality, and heat effects to pick the right process for your part.
Process
Sheet metal design guide: bends, holes, flanges and tolerances
Design sheet metal parts shops can build. Learn rules for bend radius, flange height, hole spacing, bend relief, clinch hardware and tolerances.
Process
CNC machining design guide: milling, turning, rules and tolerances
Learn when to use CNC milling and turning, with practical design rules for pockets, corners, walls, holes, threads, tolerances, and surface finish.