3D printing in Tauranga: what we can build for you

Custom 3D Design

Every made thing starts as a decision about shape. We turn what you have in your head, on paper, or in your hand into a dimensioned 3D model that can be printed, machined or manufactured. You do not need drawings, CAD experience or a spec. A photo, a rough sketch or a clear description is enough to start the conversation, and we ask the questions that turn it into something buildable.

What can we design?

• An idea with nothing to build from: You know what it has to do, but there is no drawing anywhere.
• A part for something that has no aftermarket: Your machine, vehicle or tool that nobody makes accessories for.
• Something that nearly fits: An off-the-shelf item that is close, and wrong in one specific way.
• A one-off with meaning: A gift, an award, a piece made for one person and one occasion.
• A design meant to be repeated: A part you will need fifty of, drawn properly the first time.

Why start with design?

• Cheaper to change a model than to change a finished part
• Revisions included until the design is right
• You receive the final files (STL/STEP) if you want them
• Designed around how it will be made, not just how it looks

Your idea does not have to stay a sketch on paper. Send us the sketch.

3D Printing

Printing is where the design stops being a file. We print in-house, so the person who answers your email is the person watching the part come off the plate. Bring us a design you already have, or one we made with you, and we will print it in a material chosen for what the part has to survive rather than whatever was loaded at the time.

What can we print?

• Files you already have: Bring your own STL or STEP and we will print it.
• A batch rather than a single piece: Short production runs without the cost of a mould.
• A part that lives outdoors: ASA and PETG for sun, weather and load, where cheap plastic goes brittle.
• A part that lives in a kitchen: Food-safe materials for anything that touches food.
• A part that has to flex or grip: TPU for seals, grips, bumpers and anything that must give.
• The same part in your colours: Printed to order, so colour is a choice rather than a compromise.

Why print it?

• Fast and flexible, with no tooling to pay for
• Cost-effective at low volumes, where traditional manufacturing is not
• Shapes that cannot be moulded or machined in one piece
• A material chosen for the job, not a single default

Pickup in Tauranga, or courier NZ-wide.

Already have the file? Get a price range in seconds, in your own browser, without sending it to us.

Price my STL

3D Scanning

Some shapes cannot be measured with a ruler. Scanning captures an object exactly as it is, including the curves, wear and hand-made irregularities that a drawing would never record. The result is a digital model you can modify, reproduce or keep, long after the original is gone.

What can we scan?

• A shape nobody ever measured: Hand-built, organic or worn, where dimensions alone would not describe it.
• A one-off that has to become repeatable: A piece built once by hand that you now need again, identically.
• Something that has to fit a real surface: A mount, cover or bracket that must sit on a specific object.
• Something you want recorded before it is gone: A fragile, valuable or irreplaceable object, kept as a file.
• A starting point rather than an end: An existing shape you want to modify rather than redraw.

Why scan first?

• Captures the object as it actually is, not as it was meant to be
• Removes the guesswork from measuring complex shapes
• Gives you an editable file you can build on later
• Works on objects from small components up to large assemblies

Scanning turns something you can only hold into something you can also change.

Reverse Engineering

Reverse engineering is what happens when the part exists but the drawings do not. We measure or scan what you have, work out what it needs to do, and rebuild it as a model you can print now and print again in five years. Where the original failed, we can make the replacement part stronger rather than repeating the weakness.

What can we reverse engineer?

• A part that is no longer made: Discontinued, obsolete, or from a company that no longer exists.
• A part that broke and took the drawings with it: The broken original is the only reference left.
• A part that keeps failing in the same place: Reproduced with the weak section reinforced.
• Equipment worth keeping in service: One plastic component holding up a machine that is otherwise fine.
• A part you want to improve, not just copy: Same fit, better material or a changed detail.

Why rebuild it digitally?

• Turns "no longer available" into something you can order again
• Extends the life of equipment that is otherwise sound
• The replacement can be stronger than the part it replaces
• You end up with a file, so the next one takes minutes

One plastic part should not decide the fate of a working machine.

Prototyping

A prototype is the cheapest way to be wrong. Holding a part tells you things a screen cannot: whether it fits, whether it is comfortable, whether the wall is thick enough, whether the idea was as good as it sounded. We print quickly and iterate with you, so the version you commit to is the version that has already been tried.

What is worth prototyping?

• Anything that has to fit something else: Check it against the real object before committing.
• Anything held in the hand: Size, weight and grip are judged by holding, not by looking.
• A choice between two ideas: Print both, put them side by side, stop arguing about it.
• Anything you are about to order in quantity: One test piece is cheaper than fifty wrong ones.
• A design that has to convince someone else: An investor, a client or a customer.

Why prototype first?

• Mistakes found at the cheapest possible point
• Faster development than waiting on tooling
• Honest feedback, including when the answer is that it will not work
• Each round informs the next, rather than starting over

The confidence to commit comes from having already tried it.