3D scanning

No drawing? Then it starts with the part itself.

3D scanning and reverse engineering: your part digitised and rebuilt into a working model, ready to print.

For most parts that break there is no drawing. There is only the piece, sometimes in two halves. A 3D scan captures the shape as it is, and from that we build a model that does know its dimensions: flats that are flat again, holes that are round again, and fits that match what sits around them.

That last step is the real work. A scan gives you a mesh of triangles, not a model you can change. We turn it into a properly built model, because only then can you still adjust a dimension later, add a reinforcement, or have the piece made in another material.

How it runs

From piece to model to part.

Scanning

The part is measured from every side, including the sides nobody sees. Broken in two is no problem: we glue the pieces together temporarily and scan them as one.

Back to a model

The scan becomes a properly built model with real dimensions, not a scanned skin. Where it is allowed, we strengthen the spot where the original gave way, or pick a material that suits the job better.

When it does not fit

Shiny, transparent or black surfaces scan badly; a thin matting spray takes care of that and disappears afterwards. What no scanner sees is a deep hole: those dimensions we measure by hand. If your file needs a certified measurement or a metrology report, this is the wrong address.

Seen here

From original to reproduction.

The original part and the printed reproduction side by side.
The original served as the basis for the scan; the reproduction beside it is the rebuilt model, printed and ready for use.

Typical work: a broken part with no file behind it, a piece that has to fit something existing, an old machine part nobody sells any more, and shapes that cannot sensibly be drawn by hand.

What we need: the part itself, or the pieces of it. Tell us what it does and what it fits onto, because that decides how tightly we have to work. If you want the file as well, that is available on request, as a separate option.

A part with no drawing?

Email a photo with dimensions to info@nworks3d.be and you will hear what is possible. For the scan itself we need the piece: ask through the contact form where it should go, and tell us what the part is worth.