Do I Need a 3D Model to Start an RTV Job | RUUIPON

You do not need a finished 3D model to start a RUUIPON RFQ. You need a datum: a STEP in millimetres, a watertight STL with units, a physical sample we can measure, or photos with a ruler in the same plane plus one named size. The 3–7 business day prototype clock does not start on that email. It starts at CAD lock. If you have no model, simple 3D is USD $50 when that CAD scope applies — photos-to-cavity or sketch-to-pocket — then you sign millimetres, then we pour. A mold-ready STEP skips the fifty dollars.

Bao'an since 2018. Production MOQ 20 pieces per design. LSR/HCR *part* CAD is wydsilicone.com.

Does not apply when you already have a locked STEP from a previous PO and only need a recast (send the job number), when you want us to freeze twenty trays from one unscaled selfie, or when the “3D” is a PDF render of a listing. We will not lock rubber from that.

What “start” means versus what “lock” means

Start (RFQ). Feasibility, Shore band, open-back vs split, whether a jacket is likely, whether food-path docs are in play. Photos + ruler, or a sample, are enough to talk. We will not give you a fake invoice-level number from a moodboard.

Lock. Millimetres on the cavity, logo depth, parting, Shore, dump family. That is a model you can mark, or a measured sample we agreed to copy as-is. Clock: 3–7 business days after this.

Skip the $50. Watertight STEP/STP in mm, already draftable, positive vs negative named. We still ask dump, grams, qty.

Pay the $50. Photo pack with a millimetre ruler, a sketch with overalls, a rough STL that needs repair. Out of scope (quoted separately): worn sculpture reconstruction, 48-up gram maps, redrawing a 72 dpi PNG.

Cannot start even an RFQ honestly. No size, no sample, no ruler. A competitor listing is not a datum.

ISO 3302-1 M2 on a future 2D does not replace a model. Class is not a STEP.

Typical shop values

Caption: Typical shop values.

The photo that would prove a photo-start was in scope: ruler in the same plane as the part, four views, one named millimetre or gram, then the first model screenshot you signed.

Worked example (anonymized)

A soap stamp, four phone photos, no ruler. We refused to freeze mm. They reshot with a scale in plane and a 42 mm overall. $50 CAD to a shallow open-back pocket, they marked 0.4 mm recessed logo, lock, pour in the 3–7 business day window. First CP soap witness released. MOQ 20. A STEP was never required to *start*; it was required to *lock*, and we built it.

A physical sample is a model of a kind — until it is worn

A soap stamp, a resin mascot, or a chocolate bar you already sell is a 3D object. We can measure it and copy as-is, including wear and knife nicks, or we can remodel. Copy-as-is does not usually burn the $50 line. Remodel to “like that but clean, and 12 g” does.

Tell us which. Buyers who say “just copy it” and then reject the nick they forgot they had, pay for a second lock. Photograph the sample on a ruler before you ship it; parcels get dropped. We will not invent a millimetre from memory if the sample arrives cracked.

Units on an STL exported in inches and opened as millimetres are a 25.4× disaster. We open in millimetres and we ask you to confirm one measured length. That confirm is part of lock even when you “already have 3D.”

Food-contact dumps still need platinum and a document path (21 CFR 177.2600 / LFGB as specified). A beautiful STEP does not skip that. A photo start does not skip it either. Say the dump on the first email so we do not design a resin glove for a chocolate PO.

One procurement mix-up

“We don’t have 3D so we can’t work with a factory” is false. “We don’t have 3D so pour from the Instagram crop” is also false. Start with a datum; lock with millimetres. Tooling charge ≠ ownership of the $50 model unless the PO says so.

If you are choosing between waiting on an internal CAD team and paying the $50 line, wait only if their STEP will arrive with dump, Shore, and logo millimetres. A pretty STEP with no shut face still needs shop CAD. We would not hold a production slot on a file that is “coming Friday” unless you send a datum now.

We would not recommend

We would not recommend waiting months for a perfect STEP if a measured photo pack can take the $50 path.

We would not recommend skipping the datum to “save” fifty dollars.

We would not recommend treating a recast job as a new $50 model when the STEP is still on file.

We would not recommend a coin or a hand as the commercial scale.

flowchart TD
  A[Want to start an RTV mold] --> B{What do you have?}
  B -->|STEP mm watertight| C[RFQ now — usually skip $50 — lock from file]
  B -->|STL units named| D[RFQ now — $50 if mesh needs repair]
  B -->|Sample we can measure| E[RFQ now — $50 only if we remodel not copy]
  B -->|Photos + ruler + one size| F[RFQ now — USD $50 CAD then lock]
  B -->|Photos, no scale| G[Style talk only — do not freeze mm]
  C --> H[3–7 business days after lock]
  D --> H
  E --> H
  F --> H

What to ask when you're buying

• Can I send photos to start, and when does the prototype clock actually start?
• Is $50 in scope for my pack, or is this a reconstruction quote?
• If I later send a STEP, do we throw away the $50 model or align to the STEP?
• Who owns the CAD after lock?
• Recast next year: do you still have the file, or is archive a separate line?

RFQ copy-pack

[email protected] · +86 135 3006 2969 · Xinhe Blvd, Shajing, Baoan.

RUUIPON start-without-3D RFQ Have: STEP / STL / sample / photos+ruler / photos only One named size or grams Dump: resin / chocolate / soap / other Food-contact? yes / craft Qty: sample then MOQ 20 CAD: buyer STEP / please $50 when scope applies

Matched next step: send the best datum you have. We will say whether we can RFQ now and whether $50 applies. We will not start the 3–7 day clock until you lock millimetres. MOQ 20 per design after that.

Related: mold from photos only, USD $50 3D modeling fee, what files for a quote, contact.

FAQ

Do I need a 3D model to get a quote? No. You need a datum. A quote without millimetres is still a feasibility band, not a frozen piece price.

Do I need a 3D model to pour the prototype? You need millimetres. We can build them for USD $50 when that CAD scope applies. The clock starts after you sign.

Is a phone LiDAR scan a model? It is a mesh. If units are wrong or holes are open, it is the $50 repair path or a recapture. Send one measured length.

Can I start with a competitor’s product photo? For style talk. Not for millimetres. We would not copy a worn listing as-new without a sample or a remodel.

If I already have STEP, why would I pay $50? You usually would not. The fee is for missing CAD scope, not a gate tax on every PO.