Features · Quoting

Quote from the customer's 3D model and drawing

Most of the time on a quote goes into reading the drawing and working out the blank. Spindlewise measures the customer's model and reads the drawing as soon as you attach them, so you start from the numbers instead of a ruler and a calculator.

What it reads from a STEP or IGES model

• Size and stock: volume, the smallest block the part fits in at any angle, and the smallest round bar along its long axis. One click turns either into the blank, with your machining allowance, rounded up to a whole millimetre (or 1/8 in).
• Holes: grouped by diameter and depth, for example "6 × Ø4.2 (6.5 deep)", with counterbores shown as two diameters on the same axis.
• Slots and pockets: length, width, depth and the smallest inside radius, which tells you the cutter you will need.
• A 3D view in the browser to turn the part round and check what the customer actually wants.

Models are measured on our own server in a separate process, usually in a second or two. IGES surfaces are stitched into a solid where they close; open models are measured as far as they go and flagged.

Try it with your own part

No sign-up: drop in a STEP or IGES file and see the measurements. The file is deleted as soon as it has been measured.

What it reads from the drawing

PDF drawings and scans are read for the part number, revision, title, material, finish, general tolerance and quantity, plus the callouts that cost money: threads (metric, and UNC/UNF with class and depth), fits such as H7, tolerances of ±0.02 or tighter, finishes of Ra 0.8 or finer, and heat treatment. They are shown next to the file as candidates for you to confirm, and one click copies the part details into the quote line. If the drawing and the model look like different parts or revisions, the line warns you.

Drawings are read on our own server; they are not sent to outside AI services.

Operations suggested, times you can check

• Drilling: holes under Ø20 combined into one operation on your mill, timed from cutting speed and feed for the material.
• Tapping: from the threads on the drawing, using the tapped depth from the model; without a drawing, matched to standard tap-drill sizes and marked "check drawing".
• Turning: roughing passes, a finishing pass and facing on your lathe, with the spindle speed capped at the lathe's top speed.

These are ordinary lines in the routing, at your machine rates, that you can change or delete. They are a starting point, not CAM times; the times from finished jobs tell you how far to trust them.

Then priced like any other job

Every quantity break is priced from the blank, setup, cycle time, labour, programming, outside work, overhead and margin, and the breakdown shows each line. If a rate or a price is missing, the quote stops and names it.

Model measurement and drawing reading are part of the Pro plan and of every 30-day trial. Spindlewise is not for export-controlled technical data.