Reproduce an unavailable component, improve a recurring failure, or adapt serviceable equipment to a new requirement. Miami Makes helps define the functional geometry and produce a replacement with a reusable design record.
Your project, in practical terms
From requirement to finished part.
Example requests show how design, fabrication, and delivery can fit together around your needs.
Can you reproduce an obsolete plastic machine part from a broken sample?
Miami Makes can reverse-engineer a replacement from a sample and its mating equipment, developing the CAD as part of the engagement. Covers, guides, knobs, and other components can be printed or machined in materials selected for their function and exposure. We can revise weak sections or fastening details while preserving required interfaces, make a first article for fit review, and retain the approved design for repeat orders shipped nationwide.
Where we start. Send photos, the broken sample by arrangement, and measurements of the mating parts. Explain how it failed, how it moves or mounts, and the heat, chemicals, friction, and loads involved. Worn or missing geometry must be reconstructed from functional references; acceptance checks are agreed before fabrication.
Explore materials, dimensions, and details for each application. Dimensions below describe example configurations, not fixed limits or guaranteed specifications. We develop the final construction around your requirements.
01
Obsolete plastic part reproduction
Replace a component that is no longer available through the original supplier.
Materials & fabrication
Printed engineering polymers or machined acetal, nylon, HDPE, and other suitable stock, selected from the original function and operating conditions.
Dimensions & construction
Reconstruct mounting faces, bores, clips, stops, and clearances from the original and mating equipment. Separate worn or broken areas from intended geometry.
What determines the choice
Identify load, heat, chemicals, wear, and failure consequences. Verify a first article on the actual equipment before a repeat batch.
02
Replacement equipment covers
Restore missing or damaged covers and service panels.
Materials & fabrication
CNC-cut polycarbonate or aluminum, assembled sheet plastics, or printed shaped housings. Purchased seals, latches, and hardware can complete the assembly.
Dimensions & construction
Define openings, overlap, mounting holes, cable exits, ventilation, and service motion. Sheet concepts can start at 1/16–1/4 in, with final thickness based on span and exposure.
What determines the choice
Preserve cooling, access, and any required protection function. Changes to a cover that also serves as a safety guard require an explicit engineering review.
03
Replacement guides & wear components
Restore the surfaces that locate or guide moving products and mechanisms.
Materials & fabrication
Machined UHMW, acetal, nylon, or selected wear polymers with aluminum or existing metal supports.
Dimensions & construction
Define contact profiles, running clearances, mounting slots, lubrication access, and replaceable segments. Check alignment to unworn references.
What determines the choice
Review speed, contact pressure, temperature, debris, and lubrication. Copying a worn guide can reproduce the wrong clearance or alignment.
04
Failure-resistant component redesign
Address repeated cracking, loosening, wear, or installation damage.
Materials & fabrication
A revised printed orientation, machined material, metal insert, or hybrid construction can change how load is carried.
Dimensions & construction
Add fillets, ribs, larger contact areas, better fastener engagement, or replaceable wear zones while preserving required interfaces. Where stripped plastic threads cause recurring failure, consider a heat-set insert in a redesigned thermoplastic boss, including M5–M8 for larger connections. Preserve the mating screw interface unless both sides are being revised.
What determines the choice
Establish the failure mechanism before changing geometry. Validate the revised part under representative loads and exposure rather than assuming a thicker version is sufficient.
05
Equipment retrofit interfaces
Adapt existing machinery or fixtures to different components or operating needs.
Materials & fabrication
Machined aluminum or polymer adapter plates, printed shaped interfaces, brackets, and purchased hardware.
Dimensions & construction
Define old and new mounting patterns, offsets, alignment, service access, and tolerance accumulation. Use keyed or adjustable interfaces where the installation requires them. Directly tapped holes from M2 to M18 and comparable imperial sizes can match existing mounting screws in compatible materials. Confirm thread series, pitch, usable depth, and clearance for screw ends against the mating equipment.
What determines the choice
Check load paths, motion clearance, vibration, controls, and maintenance. A mechanical fit does not alone establish compatibility of the modified equipment.
06
Replacement production packages
Preserve a defined replacement for future orders or outside manufacture.
Materials & fabrication
CAD, drawings, material and finish specifications, and fabrication files appropriate to the chosen process. Physical samples can accompany the definition.
Dimensions & construction
Record critical dimensions, revision, purchased hardware, assembly requirements, and first-article acceptance. Interchange formats are selected for the receiving producer.
What determines the choice
Resolve ownership and permitted use of supplied designs, verify mating interfaces, and document substitutions. A repeatable package should capture functional requirements as well as shape.
Design is part of the engagement
Help defining it. Help making it.
We can measure the sample and its mating equipment, reconstruct a functional design, and develop a first replacement for fit and use checks. The engagement can end with the part, a small run, or a production package for another manufacturer.
Design and documentation can stand alone, continue through our fabrication work, or support production by a specialist facility.
Original or broken parts, equipment photographs, mating dimensions, known failure history, operating conditions, required quantity, and available drawings.
Send what you have. We can help identify and develop the missing information.
Make existing equipment fit a specific installation or restore a component that is difficult to source. Miami Makes can develop a new part or reconstruct geometry from a sample and its mating interfaces.
Custom panels and covers for splash, dust, observation, and service access. Miami Makes develops the geometry, material, mounting, and opening method around existing equipment and the surrounding workspace.
Product-specific tooling that connects your equipment to the parts it handles. Miami Makes designs and fabricates gripper interfaces, conveyor guides, product nests, and interchangeable format parts for new products and changing production requirements.
