Are My Title-Block Tolerances Scaring Off Good Shops?
You send a drawing out for quotes and hear nothing back. No reply, no numbers—just silence. It’s not your design that’s scaring shops off; it’s how your title-block tolerances look to them. Most quoting delays happen because tight default tolerances make ordinary parts appear high-risk. Shops assume costly setups and inspection time, even when only […]
Why CNC Quotes Vary — and How to Keep Pricing Consistent?
You send one drawing to three shops and get $150, $260, and $400 quotes for the same part. Under deadline, that inconsistency blocks approvals and kills confidence. CNC quotes vary because every shop prices its own risk, not your design. Setup time, tolerance control, and inspection capability drive the spread more than geometry itself. Ahead, […]
When Does Hard-Anodizing Reduce Part Strength Instead of Protecting It?
A “hard-anodized” part that cracks under torque isn’t a design flaw—it’s a control problem. When aluminum loses strength after anodizing, it usually means the process overheated or the coating grew too thick for the base material’s fatigue limit. Hard-anodizing reduces part strength when temperature, current density, or coating thickness exceed control limits. Over-anodized layers trap […]
Why Do Coated Threads Stop Fitting After Anodizing?
Your threads fit before anodizing — but seize once parts come back from coating. The supplier blames “design tolerance,” you lose days re-tapping or scrapping parts. In reality, most of these failures happen because the shop didn’t plan for coating thickness or skipped masking entirely. Anodizing adds 0.002–0.005 mm per side, enough to close class-2 […]
