Surface Scan

18/06/2026

AllSaints had a vintage Singer sewing machine they wanted on display in their Sheffield store. The problem with using a real one: original machines are heavy, fragile, and hard to source if you need more than one.

So they came to us for a replica.

We scanned the original with our NimbleTrack Wireless scanner, capturing the detail down to the trim and lettering. Our engineers turned the scan into an auto-surfaced CAD file, then we split the model into sections to print, working out the orientation and seam placement so the joins stayed strong and clean.

We printed it in grey PLA, test-assembled it in-house, and numbered every section so the AllSaints team could rebuild it on site. Once they sanded and painted it, it sat right in with the rest of their display.

The useful part for them: they now own the printable file. Next store fit-out, they print another. No hunting down a 90-year-old machine that may or may not survive the journey.

It's on display in the Sheffield store now. Swipe through to see it go from scan to shelf.

Got something iconic you need replicated? Drop us a DM or find the full case study on our website.

12/06/2026

The crown on this crest used to be Queen Elizabeth's. Now it's King Charles's. Here's how we made the change without touching the original.

The crest has hung in the Great Hall at the Royal Hospital Chelsea for years. Park Grove Design needed an exact replica for the new dining hall, with the late Queen's crown swapped for the King's.

We scanned the original on site with our KSCAN 20, swapped the crown in CAD, printed it in sections, then handed it to French polisher Lee Sims, who turned grey plastic into something you'd swear was hand-carved oak.

One team, original carving to finished piece. Got a heritage item to replicate?

Link in bio.

12/06/2026

A 3D scan and a CAD file are two different things.

A scan file is a digital copy of your part, exactly as it is. Every bump and scratch included. Good for a digital record or printing a one-off replica. It can't be edited or measured properly.

A CAD file is the same part rebuilt cleanly, with proper engineering measurements you can edit and manufacture from. We can use it to modify the design or produce anything from one part to thousands without you having to scan the original again. Every CAD model includes an inspection report showing how accurate it is against the original.
The right one depends on what you need to do with the file.

Scan-only works well for heritage records, display replicas, sharing geometry, or one-off prints where the original is your reference.

CAD is what you want for anything that needs to be modified, manufactured, or kept in production long-term. We handle the whole chain in-house, from the scan through to design changes and finished parts.

Scanning starts at £70. CAD work is quoted depending on complexity.

Got a part you're not sure about? Send a photo to [email protected]

https://surfacescan.co.uk/3d-scanning-services/

3D scanning services to digitise your parts or models, creating precise data for reverse engineering, design or inspection. In-house or mobile.

27/05/2026

Key equipment down? Project deadlines cut? Last-minute orders are becoming the norm - so we’ve slashed our lead times.

Next-day - order before noon, ships same day.

Express - ships 3 working days.

Standard - ships 7 working days.

Our new SLA service is also available on Express (ships 3 working days) and Standard (ships 7 working days).

Need something in a hurry? Let us know and we’ll make sure it’s with you in time.

08/05/2026

A 20% discount this weekend.

From now until midnight Sunday, 20% off all FDM 3D printing orders.

Code FLASH20 at checkout.

First sale we've run in a while. If there's a print job you've been holding back, this is the weekend.

surfacescan.co.uk/3d-printing-calculator

07/05/2026

A 1.2-metre car splitter used to be a five-piece job: print, sand, glue, sand again, repeat.

Now it prints as one.

Our new large format printer (1.2 x 1.2 x 1.6m build volume) is the largest FDM build envelope of any UK service bureau. Automotive splitters and aero parts, vacuum forming bucks, trade show props, large manufacturing jigs, full-scale concept models. Anything that doesn't fit on a normal printer.

PLA or PETG. One part, no bonding, no rework.

If you've been splitting big parts to fit other people's machines, send the file. We'll quote it as one.

https://www.surfacescan.co.uk/3d-printing-services/

05/05/2026

We get this question more than any other: "Which material should I use?"

It usually comes before the question that should come first: what does the part actually have to do?

Temperature, environment, load, finish. The material follows from those answers, not the other way round.

A 9-slide guide for anyone briefing a 3D printing job.

surfacescan.co.uk/3d-printing-services/

04/05/2026

A lot of the people who call us don't have a CAD file. Some don't even have a sketch. They've got a problem and a rough idea of what would solve it, and they want to know if that's enough to start.

Until last year, the answer would have been no. We were set up for parts that already existed: objects we could scan, files we could print.

Toby joined as our product design engineer. Now we can take a project from "I've got an idea" all the way to a working product, in-house, end-to-end.

If you've been carrying an idea around and haven't found anyone willing to start from scratch, we can.

https://www.surfacescan.co.uk/solutions/product-design-development/

01/05/2026

Something that never shows up on our invoices.

3D printing is a finicky process. Prints fail, parts warp coming off the bed, first layers don't stick, bridges sag.

When something doesn't come out right we reprint, test different profiles and orientations, maybe try a different slice setting or a different machine. We don't charge for it. We don't flag it either. The part just arrives as it's meant to look.

You're paying for a quality part. That's what you should get.

https://www.surfacescan.co.uk/3d-printing-services/