What Materials Can Be Laser Engraved? A Guide to Wood, Acrylic, Metal, Leather, and Glass
One of the first questions we hear at our Glendale shop is simple: can you laser engrave this? The honest answer is that laser engraving works beautifully on a wide range of materials — and fails, sometimes dangerously, on a few others. Knowing which materials can be laser engraved before you design a part saves […]
How Much Does CAD Design Cost? A Practical Guide to Product Design Pricing
If you’re planning a new product, one of the first questions you’ll ask is: how much does CAD design cost? It’s a fair question, and the honest answer is “it depends” — but not in a vague way. After more than two decades of product design work here in Los Angeles, we can tell you […]
How Much Does 3D Scanning Cost? A Straightforward Pricing Guide
If you’re trying to figure out how much 3D scanning costs, you’ve probably seen answers ranging from under a hundred dollars to several thousand — and frustratingly, both can be right. 3D scanning cost depends on the size of the object, the accuracy you need, and what you want delivered at the end: a raw […]
FDM vs. SLA vs. SLS: How to Choose the Right 3D Printing Technology
Choosing between FDM, SLA, and SLS is one of the first decisions on any 3D printing project, and it often makes the difference between a part that works and a part that disappoints. Each 3D printing technology has its own strengths in cost, surface finish, strength, and turnaround time. At our Glendale studio, we run […]
Castable Wax vs. Castable Resin: Which Is Better for Jewelry Casting?
If you’re getting a design ready for jewelry casting, the biggest decision after the CAD model is finished is what to print the casting pattern in: castable wax or castable resin. Both are made to burn out of an investment mold and leave behind a clean cavity for molten metal, but they behave very differently […]
Laser Engraving vs. Laser Cutting: What’s the Difference and Which One Do You Need?
Laser engraving and laser cutting sound like the same service, and the two often run on the same machine, but they solve very different problems. If you are a designer, brand, or manufacturer in Los Angeles trying to decide which one your project needs, the distinction matters for cost, material choice, and the final result. […]
From Idea to Production: How the Product Design and CAD Process Works
Turning a rough sketch or a napkin idea into a finished, manufacturable product is rarely a straight line. The bridge between “I have an idea” and “here is a part I can produce and sell” is product design and CAD. In our Glendale studio we’ve spent more than 22 years walking Los Angeles inventors, engineers, […]
3D Scanning for Reverse Engineering: How It Works and When You Need It
Reverse engineering used to mean calipers, a notepad, and a lot of guesswork. Today, 3D scanning turns a physical part into an accurate digital model in a fraction of the time. Whether you have a legacy component with no drawings, a worn part that needs replacing, or a hand-sculpted prototype you want to manufacture, 3D […]
How Does 3D Scanning Work? Laser, Structured Light, and Photogrammetry Explained
3D scanning turns a real, physical object into an accurate digital 3D model that you can measure, edit, and manufacture from. If you have ever wondered how a turbine blade, a vintage car part, or a sculpture ends up as a precise CAD file, the answer is almost always some form of 3D scanning. In […]
How Much Does 3D Printing Cost? A Los Angeles Pricing Guide (2026)
One of the first questions we hear at our Glendale studio is simple: how much does 3D printing cost? The honest answer is that it depends on the technology, the material, and the size of your part — but the ranges are predictable once you know what drives the price. As a full-service 3D studio […]