Mechanical Design & Contract CAD

White Horse CAD is the “go-to” mechanical design and contract CAD provider in the South West.
We have decades of engineering experience, including over 20 years of design expertise. Our design service is efficient and effective, providing innovative solutions. We can be an extension of your team, or we can be your only design resource. Either way, we deliver projects on time and communicate clearly with clients.
Whether your project requires a new design or analysis to improve an existing part, we have the expertise to create effective solutions.
 Our design work spans the full spectrum of industries, including specialist clients from the medical, healthcare, agriculture, electrical, environmental, consumer product, and energy sectors.
 Using our primary design tool (SolidWorks Premium), we design products, tooling, fixtures, and specialist equipment. We’ve been using this professionally for over ten years and also use the tool AutoCAD LT extensively. We have a successful record of working on projects of all sizes – read what our clients say about White Horse CAD.

Client Benefits
Cost-effective design solutions
Prices from £50 (+VAT) per hour
Per-minute billing for all contracts over 2 hours: You only pay for our time on your project!
100% Compatibility
SolidWorks Premium (any release from 2014 to the most recent version)
AutoCAD LT (Compatible with ALL AutoCAD products and all DWG and DXF files
Full In-House service
| 3D CAD | 3D Scan | 3D Print | 2D CAD | Drawings printed up to A1 |
| Design | Analyse | Visualise | Animate |
Responsive Design Service
Free up your design team
Reduce your design lead times
Reduce your costs on software training
Get your products to market quicker
Contact Us

Frequently Asked Questions

What file formats can we work with?

We can read, Edit & Write all of the Native SolidWork file formats, SLDDRW, SLDPRT, SLDASM, etc.

Common 3D file exchange Formats (imported as dumb solid, export as file type)
Parasolid® (*.X_T, or *.X_B,)
Step (*.STEP, *.STP),
IGES Files (*.IGES, *.IGS)
Binary Formats (*.ASCIS, *.SAT) – Import only

Other 3D Software Formats (imported as dumb solid, export as file type, without feature tree)
AutoDesk® AutoCAD® (*.DWG, *.DXF)
AutoDesk® Inventor® (*.IPT, *.IAM)
AutoDesk® 3Ds Max® (*.3DS)
AutoDesk® Maya® (*.MA, *.MB)
Dassault Systèmes Catia® (*.CATPart, *.CATProduct, *.CGR)
Dassault Systèmes  3DXML (*.3dxml)
PTC®Pro/ENGINEER®, Pro/E, and Creo
Rhino (*.3DM)
Siemens NX®  (*.PRT)
Siemens PLM (*.JT)
SketchUp (*.SKP)
Solid Edge® (*.PAR, *.ASM)
Unigraphics®  (*.U3D)

Graphical 3D files
3D Print files (*.STL)
Wavefront (*.OBJ)

For a full list of files we can work with and any limitations, please look here.

What type of projects do we work on?

White Horse CAD works in many different industries, and our project portfolio grows larger and more diverse every week. Generally, If something needs making, we are happy to create CAD data for it. We have helped clients in many different industries, including, but not limited to

Consumer Products
Kitchenware
Garden Products
Healthcare products
Electronics Enclosures
Toys & Games

Medical Devices
Implants
Trauma Products
Instruments
Instrument Trays
X-Ray templates

Other Industries
Energy
Cleanroom equipment
Specialist packaging
Automotive
Architectural Metalwork
Scientific Instruments
Oil & Gas
Water Treatment
Specialist Equipment
Engineering fixtures & tooling
Play equipment
Electrical Engineers
Concrete products

We firmly believe the fundamentals of engineering design and manufacture are the same in any industry. The scale may differ, but the guiding rules and principles are generally the same.

How much will my design project cost?

We can’t answer this question meaningfully without knowing more about your project, but we can give you a few indications. Let’s start with the easy bit.

Standard Hourly Rate: £50 (+VAT), This covers pretty much everything from design through to engineering drawings, FEA and much more.

We (generally) invoice differently.
One thing that makes White Horse CAD different is that we rarely work to a fixed price. This is because we believe the only person who loses out in a fixed-price transaction is the client. more than 98% of our projects are invoiced by the minute, without a minimum order quantity. this makes us 100% efficient for nearly all of our clients. That said, we are happy to quote for fixed-price work if that fits your needs better

But how much do projects cost?

Some projects cost £30 (+VAT), and some projects cost much, much more. It really depends on the scope of the work and how long we need to spend on it. We are happy to give you a worst-case ballpark cost before we start, but if you are happy for us to work to an hourly rate rather than a fixed price, you will almost always be invoiced for less than if you request a fixed price. We find that as we build trust with our clients, the need to give a ballpark figure before starting work on a project reduces significantly.