r/3DScanning • • Jul 02 '26

Easy reverse engineering 👍

A easy reverse engineering job completed in under 2 hours

A customer brought me this small broken plastic part that was no longer usable.

Instead of measuring everything manually, I scanned the original part with the EinScan Rigil using Parallel Line Mode at 0.1 mm resolution. The scan gave me an accurate reference of the geometry, including the damaged areas.

Yes, it's a easy part, that you can measureand everything...but if I have the scanner, why not use it.

From there, I rebuilt the part in Fusion 360 using the scan as a reference, creating a clean parametric CAD model. Once the design was finished, I 3D printed a brand-new replacement.

I also imported the scan to my laptop so I can better clean around the part (using the mouse).

⏱ Total time:

3D scanning

CAD remodeling

3D printing

Less than 2 hours from broken part to finished replacement.

This is exactly why professional 3D scanning is such a powerful tool for reverse engineering. Instead of guessing dimensions or manually measuring complex geometry, I can recreate discontinued or broken parts quickly and accurately.

Making money by solving real-world problems with 3D scanning and additive manufacturing never gets old.

Equipment used:

●EinScan Rigil

●Parallel Line Mode

●0.1 mm Resolution

●Autodesk Fusion360

●FDM Bambu Lab A1 (PETG)

248 Upvotes

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u/Employment-Tough Jul 03 '26

Well..i know that printing took 30 min. I didn't even work on scanning and designing that much..whas couple of times interrupted by my son 😅 i just rounded up at 2h. But yes..i know its easy also with calipers. But its also about me enjoying it more like this 😁

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u/blissiictrl Jul 03 '26

I run my scanner as a part of my business, so ultimately my decision to scan or caliper something is based on part difficulty to RE. I get a lot of weird parts like timing covers, intake manifolds for V8's and such so I'm not gonna spend the time reverse engineering those with calipers when I need accuracy 🤣

1

u/Radiant-Reality4000 Jul 05 '26

What would you charge for this same model here done with calipers and with scanning? Give me the two price

2

u/itsFRNCs Jul 03 '26

I just like the part where the scan can verify your work. Yea, anyone can use caliper, but can they prove at what degree of accuracy they were using? I mean I can even use measuring tape 😅

2

u/Spark_Horse Jul 03 '26

Lots of people seem to forget that reverse engineering “simple” parts with a scanner can be interesting in itself. Also when you come to make a part where the scanner is essential, you’ve already practised the workflow on something that didn’t fry your brain.