You have a part and no drawings. Maybe the supplier is gone, the original CAD was lost in a server migration, or the component was machined by hand forty years ago and never documented. We scan it, model it, and hand back a CAD file your team can actually manufacture from.
Digitize Designs runs reverse engineering out of Greenville, South Carolina, on site anywhere in the continental United States or in our metrology lab. We work with blue light structured light scanners, hand-held blue laser 3d scanners, and portable CMMs, and we deliver in the format your CAD engineer expect rather than a mesh you have to fight.
Free, no obligation. 10% off your first project. You own every file we deliver.
Read how CADmore did it with the SIMSCAN.
We capture the part with blue light structured light scanning, typically at 0.02 mm to 0.05 mm accuracy depending on size and surface. Reflective or dark surfaces may need an AESUB sublimating spray that evaporates in hours and leaves no residue on your part but most of our equipment does not require the use of spray.
Individual scans are aligned into a single point cloud, then decimated and cleaned into a watertight mesh. Noise, stray geometry and scanner artifacts come out here, not later.
This is the step that separates reverse engineering from 3D scanning. We rebuild the part as parametric CAD with real features: extrusions, revolves, fillets, hole patterns, threads. You get an editable feature tree, not a surfaced blob. Where the geometry is genuinely organic we build NURBS surfaces instead, and we say so up front.
The finished model is overlaid against the original scan data and we run a deviation analysis. You receive the color map. If a face is out beyond the agreed tolerance we fix it before delivery, rather than after you find it.
Native SolidWorks, STEP, IGES, Parasolid, or STL for print. Plus the deviation report and, if you want them, dimensioned 2D drawings.
Not sure whether you need a mesh or a full CAD model? Send us photos and we will tell you which one your project actually requires, before you commit to anything. Fixed quote in 24 hours.
Pricing is per project rather than per hour, because a bracket and a turbine housing are not the same job. Send photos and you will have a fixed quote in 1 to 2 business days.
Proof
A real project, a real result, and the equipment and workflow behind it. If you want to see the process applied to a part rather than described in the abstract, this is the fastest way to judge whether we are a fit.
CADmore moved to the SIMSCAN for capture, and the modeling work that followed halved in duration on comparable parts.
The most common job we take. A part is still in service, the supplier no longer exists, and there is no model. We rebuild it so you can manufacture again.
The part is current, the data is not. Faster to scan the physical part than to remodel it from calipers and guesswork.
You want to modify a component that was never parametric. An editable feature tree makes the change a five minute edit instead of a fresh design cycle.
Tooling, patterns and dies that were finished by hand and never matched the drawing. The scan captures what the part actually is.
Reproducing worn tooling before it fails, rather than after.
Comparing a manufactured part against design intent when something has gone wrong.
Aerospace and defense, automotive and motorsport, industrial machinery and heavy equipment, medical devices, energy and turbomachinery, marine, and consumer products. Roughly half our reverse engineering volume is legacy industrial equipment, where the original manufacturer is out of business and the machine still has to run.
Reverse engineering usually starts with a scan and often ends with an inspection. If you only need the captured geometry rather than a modelled part, see our 3D scanning services. If you have drawings rather than a physical part, our 3D CAD modeling service builds from those. To verify a finished part against its design, see metrology and 3D inspection.
A 3D scan produces a mesh, which is a shell of triangles describing the surface. Reverse engineering produces a parametric CAD model with editable features. A mesh can be 3D printed or measured against. Only a CAD model can be modified, dimensioned and manufactured from. Most people who ask for a scan actually need the model.
We quote per project, not per hour. Cost tracks part complexity far more than part size: a simple machined bracket and a multi-surface impeller take very different amounts of modeling time. Send photos and basic dimensions and you will have a fixed quote in 1 to 2 business days.
Three to seven business days from receipt for a single component. On-site scanning is usually a same day visit with the model following in the same window. Assemblies and parts needing full GD&T documentation are quoted individually.
Either. Our scanners are portable and battery capable, so we scan in place for equipment that cannot come offline or cannot be moved. If the part can travel, shipping it to Greenville is usually the cheaper option.
Native SolidWorks, plus STEP AP214 and IGES as standard neutral formats. Parasolid, STL and OBJ on request, and dimensioned 2D drawings as PDF or DWG. Tell us the CAD package you use and we match it.
Yes. Send the point cloud or mesh in any common format and we model from it. We will tell you honestly if the data quality will not support the accuracy you need, before you pay for modeling.
Scan accuracy starts at 0.02 mm. Model accuracy is the number that actually matters, and we prove it: every project ships with a deviation analysis overlaying the CAD against the original scan, so you can see the fit rather than take our word for it.
You do, outright. You receive the CAD, the mesh and the point cloud, and we retain no rights over any of them.
Send photos, rough dimensions, the accuracy you need and the CAD format you work in. We come back within 24 business hours with a fixed price and a timeline. First time customers get 10% off their first project.
Five things get you an accurate number: photos of the part, rough overall dimensions, the accuracy you need, the CAD format you work in, and your deadline. If you do not know the accuracy, say so and we will advise.
No obligation. You own every file we deliver. If your job is not a good fit for us, we will tell you before you pay.
Request a quote and we come back with a no obligation price within 1 to 2 business days.
Get 10% off your first project.
Earn credits toward buying your own 3D scanner, software or accessories.
Work with us and get access to our full catalog of professional 3D scanning hardware, software and accessories.
