Blog
Manufacturability insights for product designers. Practical guides on STEP files, materials, and getting parts made right the first time.
Same Part, Five Plastics: What Changes in the Moldability Check?
One 80 by 50mm tray, one STEP file, five resins. The 12 draft findings never moved. Wall findings went from 0 in PP and PC to 2 in ABS to 10 in acetal and nylon, on walls that never changed.
Can SolidWorks or Fusion 360 Tell You If Your Part Is Moldable?
Five tools look at draft or undercuts, and one of them, in a paid Fusion extension, gets close. Here is what each covers, and what a written check returned on the same part: fourteen geometry findings, two faces at 0.0 degrees of draft.
Your STEP File Has Two Bodies in It. Which One Got Checked?
A STEP file holding two bodies gets one read by default, the largest. On my two-body test file that read named one undercut and a 14,000 USD tooling estimate. The body it skipped carried three 90-degree undercuts and 62,000 USD.
Do You Need to Hire a DFM Engineer Before You Commit to a Mold?
Whether a part has an obvious geometric problem is a measurement, not a hire. On one test part the check named two undercut faces, eleven zero-draft faces and three thick sections in about two seconds, and swapping the material moved none of it.
Where Is the Thick Section on This Part?
A 2mm charging base with a 5.4mm spot in it. The whole-part wall thickness number reads 12.157mm, which is no wall on the part. The per-face check names face 0 and face 28, and the sink mark risk they drive goes away when you core them out.
Which Way Should the Mold Open on This Part?
One sensor housing, one STEP file, three orientations. The same 786.5 square mm side wall reports 2.0 degrees of draft in one run, 0.0 in the second, and a 2.0 degree undercut in the third. The tooling estimate goes from $14,000 to $90,000.
Which Way Should a Rib Draft in Injection Molding?
Five ribs, run four ways. Flip the 2 degree draft and the same faces go from clear to undercut, and Fabdose's cost tier from $1,500 to $50,000.
How Much Draft for a Feature on an Angled Face?
Add 3 degrees of draft to a recess cut into a 15 degree shelf and two faces stay undercut at 12.0 degrees. Draft only counts against the pull direction.
Every Fabdose Report Has a Chat Panel. Here's a Real Conversation From One.
A real fabdose report, screenshotted for our store listing: a critical corner-radius warning on a CNC-machined alumina part, and the actual panel conversation that followed it, including why the finding's own EDM example doesn't hold up for this material.
How Tall Can an Injection-Molded Screw Boss Be Before the Hole Stops Filling?
Take a screw boss from 15mm to 18mm tall and fabdose goes from saying nothing to flagging the bore at high severity. Two runs on the same housing, one variable, plus what the check does not know about the hole.
Skip the Fillet on an Internal Corner? Here's What It Does to Your Part's Strength
A sharp internal corner on an injection-molded part looks like a two-second CAD shortcut. It's also the single most common place plastic parts crack. A face-by-face look at what a missing fillet does, and does not, cost you.
Does an O-Ring Groove Retention Lip Need a Slide?
A small inward lip keeps the O-ring seated during assembly. It also turns a straight-pull groove into an undercut. What that changes in the mold, face by face.
Is It Possible to Injection Mold a Thin, Wide Part? What Actually Limits It
A 2mm-thick, 30cm-wide plate looks simple, but flow length against wall thickness decides if it fills. What actually limits a thin, wide injection molded part, why uniform wall thickness beats making it thicker, and where the gate should sit.
Remove Injection Molding Undercuts Without a Slide
An undercut forces a slide or lifter into the mold. Most can be designed out instead. Six redesigns, plus the resin limits on stripping one off.
Why One Small Design Detail Can Make Your Injection Molding Quote So Much More Expensive
Why one undercut or zero-draft face can inflate your injection molding quote, the mold mechanics behind it, and how to catch the detail before your drawing goes out for quote.
DFM Teardown: 44 Issues on One Real CAD Part
An open-source PCIe bracket, checked by a tool that doesn't quote the job: 18 undercuts and 26 zero-draft faces, each pinned to a face ID.
What Happens After You Send a STEP File to an Injection Molding Factory
A stage-by-stage walkthrough of the injection molding process — quote, tooling, T1 and T2 samples, production — and why your ability to change the design cheaply drops off a cliff the moment the mold steel is cut.
Draft Angles and Undercuts: What They Are and Why They Break Your Injection-Molded Part
Draft angles and undercuts are the two most common reasons an injection-molded design fails at the factory — before a single part is produced. Here is what they are, the numbers that matter, and which features in your CAD model to check first.
4 Injection Molding Defects Your CAD File Will Never Show You
Sink marks, weld lines, sharp corners, and air traps look fine in your STEP file. Here is why they are invisible in CAD — and why you usually do not find out until first samples arrive from the factory.
Can ChatGPT Read a CAD or STEP File? Not the Geometry
You can paste a STEP file into ChatGPT, but it reads the text, not the shape. It can't measure wall thickness, draft angles, or undercuts from the file.
How to Know If Your CAD Design Can Actually Be Manufactured
Before you send a STEP file to a factory, you need to know whether the geometry will actually survive manufacturing. Here is what manufacturability means for a physical part, and how to check it early.
Injection Molding vs CNC vs 3D Printing: Which Process for Your Part?
A practical decision guide for product designers choosing between injection molding, CNC machining, 3D printing, and die casting — covering volume, cost, tolerance, geometry, and lead time.
Where Do Product Designers Go to Ask 'Can This Be Made?'
Product designers face a real gap: there is no fast, private, designer-friendly place to check manufacturability between design iterations. Here is an honest look at every option and what each one actually costs you.