OpenSpindle
The Brief
Short, specific guides on getting parts made: quality documentation, material choices, design for manufacturing, and how sourcing actually works.
Bead Blasting: Media and Finishes
Bead blasting evens out a surface, hides tool marks and changes your dimensions slightly. Media selection, the finishes each produces, and what to mask.
Zinc Plating: When to Spec It
Zinc protects steel by corroding instead of it. How to choose thickness and passivate, what it does to threads, and when zinc nickel or a coating is better.
What Drives the Cost of a Printed Part
Printed part pricing is machine time and labor, not material. What each process charges for, and the design changes that actually move the number.
Carbon Fiber 3D Printing
Chopped fiber adds stiffness, not strength. Continuous fiber is a different process. What each buys, what it costs, and when metal is still the answer.
Deburring Methods Compared
Every machined edge has a burr and somebody pays to remove it. The methods compared by geometry and volume, and how to specify edges so you get what you want.
RoHS and REACH for Custom Parts
What each regulation actually requires of a custom machined or molded part, which documents to ask a supplier for, and where compliance quietly breaks.
Choosing a 3D Printing Material
The process picks the material shortlist, not the other way around. Properties by process, what each material survives, and the four questions that decide it.
Value Engineering: Taking Cost Out of a Part
The part works and costs too much. The levers that actually remove cost from a machined part, ranked by payback, and when a redesign costs more than it saves.
FDM vs SLA vs SLS: Choosing a Process
Three processes with three different failure modes. Accuracy, strength, materials and cost compared, plus when to stop printing and start machining.
Cp and Cpk: Reading Process Capability Numbers
Cpk tells you whether a shop can hold your tolerance before you order 10,000 parts. What 1.33 and 1.67 mean in defect rates, and how to read a low Cpk.
Stainless vs Aluminum: How to Choose
Aluminum is a third the density and machines far faster. Stainless is stronger, stiffer and harder wearing. How that tradeoff shows up in your quote.
Powder Coating vs Paint: How to Choose
Powder is tougher and cheaper at volume. Wet paint wins on thin films, color matching and heat sensitive parts. What decides it, and what it does to your fits.
APQP: The Five Phases Before Your Part Ships
APQP is the plan and PPAP is the evidence it worked. The five phases, what the buyer owes at each one, and how to scale it down for low volume.
316 vs 304 Stainless: Which to Spec
The difference is molybdenum, and it only matters in specific environments. Composition, corrosion behavior, machinability and cost, with a grade selector.
ISO 9001: What the Certificate Actually Covers
ISO 9001 certifies a shop's quality system, not your parts. How to verify a certificate, why the scope statement matters most, and what to ask instead.
Landed Cost: What a Part Really Costs
Unit price is a fraction of what a part actually costs to have in your warehouse. Every line item in a landed cost, and the ones teams miss.
EVT, DVT, PVT: What Each Build Phase Requires From Your Supplier
EVT proves the design works, DVT proves it meets spec, PVT proves the line can build it. Quantities, tooling, tolerances and docs for each.
Tolerance Stack-Up Analysis
Worst case assumes everything is wrong at once. RSS assumes statistics. Both methods worked through on the same assembly, and when to use each.
What Is DFM?
DFM means designing a part so it is cheap and reliable to make. Real examples of features that multiply cost, and how to get feedback early.
How to Read a Mill Test Report
An MTR certifies what a piece of metal actually is. How to read heat numbers, chemistry and mechanical properties, and what to check first.
What Is a First Article Inspection?
An FAI proves the first part off a new process matches the print. What Forms 1, 2 and 3 require, when shops ask for one, and typical cost.
6061 vs 7075 Aluminum: Which to Spec
7075 is roughly twice as strong as 6061 but is not readily weldable and corrodes faster. Property comparison, cost delta and use cases.
Titanium vs Aluminum: When the Premium Is Worth It
Titanium is 64% denser than aluminum but roughly three times stronger. Property tables, machining cost multipliers, and when the premium pays.
Brass vs Bronze: How to Choose
Brass is copper and zinc; bronze is copper and tin. Property comparison, machinability ratings, cost, and which alloy to spec for what job.
PPAP Explained: The 5 Submission Levels and What Each One Requires
PPAP has five submission levels, and Level 3 is the default. All 18 elements explained, plus how to tell if you need full PPAP or just an FAI.
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