drawings & documentation
Now the 3D modeling is largely finished we need to make a minimal set of drawings and documentation and send the files to prototyping manufacturers.
checks
Manufacturers do not only need 3D CAD files, but also information in technical drawings and bill of materials to understand the required tolerances, surface treatments, material specifications, critical sizes for quality assurance, etc.
Before we make this documentation, we run final checks on the 3D CAD files, including cross sections to check potential interference’s, prepare assemblies and run exports to STEP file format that manufacturers can read.
2d drawings
Although there are new formats to include a great amount of technical documentation inside the 3D CAD files, we see that many manufacturers prefer to have a minimal set of 2D technical drawings.
These technical drawings can be seen as a contract. The stated tolerances, surface quality or critical dimensions that are noted on the drawings can be a reason to reject a batch of parts if they are outside the limits that are defined in the drawings.
Apart from quality control information the drawings also state the exact material specification for every part together with the production method, post processing treatments, colors, finishes, etc. which is important information to come to the correct and intended final result of every part.
next step
Now the set of both 3D and 2D files is complete, we can move forward to build the first prototype P1 that is very close to a final production version and can be properly tested.
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