Wooden Box
Many people think of Computer Aided Design (CAD) services as only being relevant to engineering professionals. This is only partially true, CAD has uses in many different industries, from designing hand crafted gifts and jewellery to designing complex components and assemblies for aerospace and pretty much everything else in between.
White Horse CAD limited are happy to work with individuals, companies and corporations from any industry.
Although WHC specialise in offering design services to engineering professionals, here are a few ways we can help some “non-engineering” industries:
Entrepreneurs
If you have a product idea you would like to generate some interest in, without having to invest in prototype manufacture, White Horse CAD Limited can create some top level (overview) designs showing basic form and function that will help you demonstrate your idea to prospective investors. Perhaps a 3D printed model would help people visualise your idea? Or if you are ready to look at manufacturing options, WHC can create fully parametric 3D models of your design and full engineering drawings that can be used by your partners or suppliers to manufacture your first prototypes or even your first production run.
Laser Cut Products
Wooden Valet Stand
Whilst many laser cut products can be designed easily in 2D, sometimes it is useful to imagine them in a 3D environment. Modelling multi-component products in 3D allow full flexibility and enable us to create 2D files for materials of any thickness. All we need to know is the thickness of materials you would like us to design for and the kerf width of your machine. We use fully parametric models allowing us to change the size of any feature with relative ease.
Imagine a simple 2 piece product, like the wooden valet stand on the right… The components are designed to be laser cut from 6mm birch and slide together. However, 6mm is the nominal size and the material you receive can be anywhere between 5.5mm and 6.5mm thick. This is going to have a massive impact on fit: you either design for the worse case, and have big gaps when you get thinner wood, or design at the mid limit and spend hours sanding components to fit….
THERE IS ANOTHER WAY…. Using parametric designs with different configurations, WHC can produce 2D data for a variety of sheet thicknesses. For example, 5.5mm 5.75mm, 6mm 6.25mm and 6.5mm, allowing you the option to choose the best cut file for the material you have in stock.
Jewellery designers
Jewellery design is not an industry you would immediately think could benefit from CAD services, but consider the following scenario. You are a jewellery designer who has an idea for a product but you would like to have a 3D image of the product to show potential clients. WHC can take your sketches and line drawings and use them to generate 3D images of your designs, so you can see the finished product before committing time and materials to make prototypes. We may even be able to supply a 3D printed model of your item, so you can hold it in your hands to get an idea of how it will look.
Crafters and Makers
Perhaps you are a crafter or maker who needs some jigs or holding fixtures to help you bring consistency to your next project or hobby? Maybe you need to drill the same few holes on each product but at the moment every one is different. Or do you need something to help align components on your products? White Horse CAD Limited can design your jig and fixtures and even 3D print them for you if required.
Interior Designers, Kitchen Fitters, Gardeners
White Horse CAD Limited can provide 2D plans or 3D visualisations to help you portray ideas to your clients. Everything from a basic kitchen plan to evaluate how units fit within a defined kitchen area, to a 3D representation of a new landscaped garden design.
Engineers and Product Designers
White Horse CAD Limited are also happy to work with professional engineering and product design clients.
If you would like more information about any of these services or something we have not mentioned, please contact us.
1 Comment
Roland Millward · July 28, 2017 at 9:47 pm
Very enlightening. It’s interesting to see how CAD can be used in so many ways.
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