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ApplicationsReverse engineering
Reverse engineering with 3D scanning
Scanning and touch probing to bring real parts back into CAD. Legacy drawings rebuilt, worn parts corrected, organic shapes surfaced and parametric models handed over in the CAD system your team uses.
What it is
Turn a part with no drawing into CAD you can edit and manufacture.
Reverse engineering captures an existing object with a 3D scanner or a touch probe and rebuilds it as a mesh, a surface model or a parametric CAD model. The scan is the reference, so the design intent is recovered while the wear and manufacturing defects are left behind.
We sell reverse engineering scanners and portable measuring arms that work on site. We also run the same kit as a service. The result can update a legacy 2D drawing, go straight to a 3D printer, or become native CAD for re-manufacture.
Why scan it
What 3D capture changes about this job, against tape, callipers and drawings.
- 01
The whole part, not a guess
A scan captures every surface, where callipers and hand measurement leave gaps to be guessed.
- 02
CAD you can edit
Parametric models delivered with their full history, or exported as STEP, IGES, Parasolid or CATIA.
- 03
Faster than a CMM
Artec quote their scanners as 9x faster than a CMM, capturing millions of points a second where a CMM takes hours for a few hundred.
- 04
Scanner and probe together
A measuring arm combines a scanner for complex geometry with a probe for the features that need to be exact.
The kit that does it
Sold, installed and supported from Whitchurch, with a demonstration before you buy.
£29,650ex VAT
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£23,000ex VAT
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£20,500ex VAT
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Price on application
Find out moreThe software it runs through
Licensed, installed and taught by us. See the courses
- Geomagic Design XFull reverse engineering to design-intent, editable parametric CAD — recreate how the part was designed, not just its surface.
£1,470from, ex VAT
- Geomagic for SOLIDWORKSScan-to-CAD tools inside SOLIDWORKS itself — reverse engineer without leaving the CAD seat your team already uses.
£1,917from, ex VAT
- Artec Studio ProAll-in-one 3D scanning and photogrammetry software: capture, process, model, reverse engineer and inspect, then export to CAD.
£1,050from, ex VAT
Work we have done
Photographed in our own lab, with the machine that did it.
- Taylor Attachments tractor bracketsLegacy headstocks scanned with Artec Eva. Seven days to three weeks became under 24 hours.
- A GB archery gripScanned in under five minutes, rebuilt in Design X, printed and shipped within seven days.
- Reverse engineering servicesScan to parametric CAD, done for you.
- Reverse engineering softwareDesign X, Geomagic for SOLIDWORKS and the rest.
Questions we get asked
Something else? Ring 0330 229 0175 and an engineer will answer it.
What file formats can a reverse engineered model be delivered in?
Parametric models can be transferred with full history trees, or exported as IGES, STEP, Parasolid or CATIA.
Will the model copy the wear and defects on my part?
No. The design intent is analysed and adjusted so the final parametric model is the part as it was designed, without its manufacturing imperfections.
Which software turns a scan into CAD?
Geomagic Design X converts scan data into editable, parametric CAD. Geomagic for SOLIDWORKS does the same inside SOLIDWORKS.
Related applications
All applications
Rather we did it for you?
Bring it to Whitchurch or we come to you. An engineer scopes the job, captures it and hands back the data in the format your team works in. Or hire the scanner for a week and do it yourself.