Virtual designs into physical objects/Mail order machining

A company called eMachineShop takes custom fabrication a step further in terms of ease of use for the individual. The US-based company supplies a fairly basic and free (but not open source) CAD software package that enables you to create you design only using methods that it knows the company is able to fabricate bearing in mind the machining processes they have available.

It even calculates the price when the design process is finished, then the order is sent electronically and when the parts have been made up they are shipped by post. They say they can handle part quantities from one-offs to runs up to a million.

A related company is Pad2Pad that provides a similar service for the creation of printed circuit boards (PCB). They also provide free design software that has circuit error-checking and costing built-in. When the design is completed it is sent electronically to the company who then fabricate the PCBs and return by post. They do not currently populate the boards with electronic components, although it is likely to be only a matter of time before a full electronics service such as this is offered. There is on-going research to create functional circuitry via cheaper methods, such as inkjet printing [1], that will make creating electronic circuits even more accessible.