Before you order a thousand parts, you usually want one in your hand. We machine one-offs and small first batches from your drawing so you can check fit, test function, and fix the design while changes are still cheap. When the design settles, the same shop that made your prototype runs your production, using the programs and setup knowledge from the prototype job.
What's included
- Single parts and small first batches machined to your drawing
- Same drawing review and in-house programming as production jobs
- Feedback from the machining side: what was awkward or expensive to cut and how a tweak could bring the production price down
- A straight path from approved prototype to production run without re-quoting from zero
Why this matters
Design problems are cheap to fix on one part and expensive to fix on a thousand. Prototyping with the shop that will run your production also means the lessons from the first part carry into the run, instead of being lost in a handoff between suppliers.
Have a part in mind?
Send the drawing, material, and quantity. We review it and come back with a real price and lead time.
Frequently asked: prototyping & one-offs
Why is one part so much more expensive per piece than a batch? +
Setup. Programming the part, setting up the machine, and proving the first piece takes the same effort whether one part comes off the machine or five hundred. On a production run that cost spreads across the batch. On a one-off it all lands on a single part. That is normal across the industry, and it is why the per-piece price drops sharply as quantity rises.
Can you make a prototype and then run production later? +
Yes, and that is the ideal case for both sides. The program, fixturing approach, and machining notes from your prototype job carry straight into the production run. Tell us in the quote request that production may follow, because it can change how we set up the prototype job.
How rough can my design be at the prototype stage? +
We still need dimensions, the material, and enough definition to machine the part. A hand sketch with dimensions is workable. What we cannot do is guess: undimensioned features and to-be-decided details need answers before cutting. If parts of the design are still moving, tell us which ones, and we can sometimes machine around the uncertainty.
Will you suggest changes to make my part cheaper to produce? +
If we see something, we say something. Common examples: a corner radius that would let a standard tool do the job, a tolerance that is tighter than the function needs, or a feature that forces an extra setup. You decide what to take. The suggestions are about your production cost, not about making our job easier.