Andrew Hudak

My favorite type of product is one that I hardly notice—something that’s in my life every day, improving it significantly, yet blends seamlessly into my routine. For example, a wristwatch fits gently but snugly around your wrist, keeps time with a tiny precision mechanism, is easy to glance at when you need it, and fades […]

Fictiv’s CNC machining service provides parts in just 3 days, via our simple online interface. In addition to powering hardware teams with the best fabrication services, we think it’s really important to support development with prototyping and manufacturing knowledge. Our awesome design and manufacturing teams teamed up to create a visual representation of the foundational […]

Fillets are one of those design features for which there seems to be no middle ground, or at least not one that is widely known. Either a part is devoid of them, and most or all edges are well-defined, or the part’s designer decided to take the opposite route, and every single edge and corner […]

A few weeks ago we hosted a workshop on the fundamentals of tolerance analysis. In the workshop, we walked a group of engineers through the basic steps of a simple tolerance analysis, to help them gain experience around how to complete a tolerance analysis for higher quantity manufacturing processes. In the workshop we reviewed: Important keyword […]

If you’ve ever been to Fictiv HQ, either to pick up parts for one of our events, or simply just to say hi and chat about hardware, you may have seen our drone prototypes. For those unfamiliar with them, these prototypes are a series of material samples in the form of mini drone bodies and […]

While the tool marks left on metal parts produced using CNC machining services are visually appealing to some, in many cases, some additional post-processing may be desired or even required. There are a variety of finishes that one can use to add functionality or aesthetic appeal to parts, and the glossary below will help you […]

We’ve embarked on a journey to teardown three generations of GoPro products to see how the product has changed over time: GoPro Hero original GoPro Hero 3 ‍ The newest GoPro Session camera. To see teardowns of the GoPro Hero original and GoPro Hero 3, check out part 1 of this series. If you’re looking for the […]

Our latest teardown focuses on the popular action camera GoPro. This teardown is actually not a singular adventure, but an odyssey of epic proportions, split into 2 parts. We’ll look at the product’s evolution across three generations and see how the engineering and manufacturing techniques have changed in the last half decade. To begin this ancestral analysis, […]

Known for a having a hardworking and meticulous nature, Abraham Lincoln once said, “Give me six hours to chop down a tree, and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.” While you probably aren’t reading this article for tree-felling advice, what Abe was getting at is that careful planning is important for any […]