Manufacturing guides
Choose a manufacturing route, design the details that matter, and understand material, finish and cost trade-offs before ordering parts.
Cost guides
What a part costs and what drives the price.
Cost guide · CNC
CNC Machining Cost Guide
What drives machining price; reference parts priced at qty 1 / 10 / 100 / 500.
Cost guide · Sheet metal
Sheet Metal Cost Guide
Laser vs waterjet vs plasma, per-bend pricing, PEM hardware and finishing charges by quantity.
Cost guide · Molding
Injection Molding Cost Guide
Tooling vs piece price, and where CNC, rapid tooling and steel tooling cross over.
Cost guide · Casting
Metal Casting Cost Guide
Sand, investment and die casting priced against CNC, with the quantity break-even for each.
Cost guide · 3D printing
3D Printing Cost Guide
How FDM, SLA, SLS, MJF, DMLS and PolyJet compare on cost per part, what drives the price, and when to switch to machining or molding.
Cost guide · Urethane casting
Urethane Casting Cost Guide
Master pattern, silicone mold and per-shot cost as ranges; where cast urethane beats 3D printing and loses to injection molding.
Design guides
Feature limits and tolerances that quote clean and build right the first time.
Design guide · Sheet metal
Sheet Metal Design Guide
Plan material, cut features, bends, hardware and finished-part inspection, with a bend-allowance calculator and source-backed design checks.
Design guide · CNC
CNC Machining Design Guide
Design for machining: wall thickness, internal radii, pocket depth, holes and threads, tolerances that cost money, finish.
Design guide · Welding
Weldment Design Guide
Plan joints, weld requirements, distortion control, machining and inspection around the delivered assembly.
Design guide · Molding
Injection Molding Design Guide
Wall thickness, draft, ribs and bosses, undercuts, gates and ejection, tolerances — plus insert, two-shot and LSR molding rules.
Design guide · 3D printing
3D Printing Design Guide
Wall thickness, overhangs and supports, holes, clearances, text and tolerances for every additive process — then the per-technology rules.
Design guide · Urethane casting
Urethane Casting Design Guide
Master patterns, silicone molds, wall thickness, undercuts, inserts, clear and soft parts, shrinkage and the tolerances cast urethane holds.
Design guide · Casting
Metal Casting Design Guide
Sand, investment, permanent-mold, low-pressure and die casting: wall thickness, draft, radii, parting lines, machining allowance, tolerances.
Design guide · Surface finishes
Surface Finish Selection Guide
Pick a finish by what the part needs — corrosion, wear, looks, lubricity, cost — with the catalog’s best of each route and how to call it out on a drawing.
Design guide · Heat treatment
Heat Treatment Selection Guide
Choose a heat-treatment route from the alloy, required condition, case depth, distortion and inspection requirements.
Design guide · CNC machining
GD&T Basics for Machined Parts
Connect datums, position, feature controls and material-condition modifiers to assembly and inspection.
Design guide · Material interfaces
Galvanic Corrosion of Aluminum and Stainless Steel
Review dissimilar-metal joints, wet exposure, area ratio, isolation, drainage and coating details.
Design guide · CNC machining
Surface Roughness Ra vs Rz
Read roughness requirements, convert µm and µin, and specify a repeatable measurement of the final surface.
Design guide · CNC machining
Press-Fit Tolerances
Calculate the minimum and maximum interference and plan fit limits, final finishes, assembly and inspection.
Sheet Metal Design Guide — explore:Sheet Metal Enclosure DesignSheet Metal Bracket Design
3D Printing Design Guide — explore:3D Printed Fits and Threads3D Printing Wall Thickness3D Printing Orientation3D Printing Material Selection3D Printed Enclosure DesignFDM Design GuideSLA Design GuideSLS Design GuideMJF Design GuideDMLS / SLM Design GuidePolyJet Design Guide
Surface Finish Selection Guide — explore:3D Printing Finishing
Production guides
From the first prototype to pilot builds and production.
3D Printing Process Selection
Choose a process around geometry, material, finish and production needs
Production guide · CNC
CNC Machining DFM Cost Reduction
Review the features, setups, tolerances and finish operations that create avoidable machining cost.
Production guide · Quality
Machined Parts Inspection and Certifications
Specify dimensional reports, material traceability, CoCs and first article inspection with the right scope.
Production guide · Sheet metal
Sheet Metal Fabrication Workflow
Plan cutting, bends, hardware, welding, finishing and final inspection as one fabrication route.
Production guide · RFQ preparation
CAD Quote and DFM Review
Prepare CAD, drawing revisions, critical requirements and review questions before requesting a quote.
Production guide
Prototype Manufacturing
Process choice, single-part pricing and lead times for v1 parts.
Production guide
Low-Volume Production
20–500 units without tooling: batch pricing, when to tool up, inspection levels and certificates.
Production guide
Manufacturing for Hardware Startups
How to take a hardware product from EVT to production: quantities, documents, DFM, NDAs and what it costs.
Production guide
On-Demand Manufacturing
CNC, sheet metal, molding, casting and printing on one PO: how the model works, what ships with the parts, how to compare platforms.
Production guide
Low-Volume Injection Molding
Compare bridge-tool routes, accepted-part economics, resin requirements, tool ownership and first-sample qualification.
3D Printing Process Selection — explore:DMLS vs SLM vs LPBFFDM vs SLSSLA vs PolyJetDMLS vs CNC MachiningFDM vs SLASLA vs SLSSLS vs MJFCNC Machining vs 3D Printing3D Printing vs Injection Molding3D Printed Jigs and Fixtures
Platform comparisons
Online manufacturing platforms on the same verified facts — materials, finishes, price policy, DFM review, inspection, lead time — read from each company’s own site. All comparisons.
Best online CNC machining servicesBest online sheet metal fabrication servicesXometry alternativesSendCutSend alternativesProtolabs alternativesFictiv alternativesHubs (Protolabs Network) alternativesFabDigit vs XometryFabDigit vs ProtolabsFabDigit vs FictivFabDigit vs SendCutSendFabDigit vs Protolabs NetworkFabDigit vs RapidDirectFabDigit vs OSH CutFabDigit vs JLCCNC
Guides — FAQ
Where do the prices in the cost guides come from?
Two sources, each stated on the page. The CNC machining and sheet metal guides price a stated reference part at several quantities in FabDigit’s own quote engine and round the output. The injection molding, casting, 3D printing and urethane casting guides use typical market ranges and relative cost tiers — those guides explain the drivers rather than printing a FabDigit price for those processes. Either way the figures are for planning, not quotes — upload the CAD for the exact price.
Who writes the guides?
FabDigit prepares these guides for engineering and purchasing decisions using manufacturer documentation, material and finish data, and the reference-part examples identified on each cost guide. Published design guidance is a starting point; the chosen process, material and geometry determine what can be supplied.
How are the guides organised?
By the question you have. Cost guides answer “how much and what drives it”; design guides answer “how do I design this so it makes and prices well”; production guides answer “how do I get from a prototype to a pilot build and production”. Platform comparisons sit in their own section.
How often are they updated?
Each guide carries its update date. Prices are re-sampled when the quote engine is recalibrated; design rules change when partner capability changes. Report an error to sales@fabdigit.com.
Read the guide, then price the part.
Upload CAD for an instant quote across 790 grades and 150+ finishes, with an engineer’s DFM review on every quote.