Project Spotlight / Fabricator Partnership
A 32-Inch Conference-Table Accent, Built for a Metal Shop
A metal fabricator brought us a customer-supplied design they could not produce in-house. One proof turned into two more repeat sets.
The finished conference-table accent, approximately 32 inches wide, delivered partially assembled for the client to finish.
The assignment
A design model is not a production package
Bluegrass Metal Works came to Cru Bear with a customer-supplied 3D design for a large conference-table accent piece. At roughly 32 inches wide, it was well beyond what a single build plate can produce, and the file was a design model rather than anything ready to print.
The project began with one matte-black PLA proof of concept. After the client reviewed and approved that first piece, Cru Bear produced two additional repeat sets.
This is the shape of trade work: prove it once, then repeat it.
01 / Engineering the model
From a STEP file to eight printable parts
The supplied STEP file was a design model, not a print-ready production package. Cru Bear inspected the geometry, identified the practical build limits, and developed a production split into eight main printable parts with a dedicated, separately fitted connector-pin package.
Each split location, connector, and print orientation was chosen around strength, surface quality, support access, machine clearance, and clean assembly, not around whatever was easiest to cut.
02 / Proof, then production
Prototype first, repeat sets after
Prototype production and fit checks refined the process before the repeat sets were made. Cru Bear validated the separate meshes, connector geometry, and physical fit against the digital model before committing to the repeats.
Keeping engineering and production in the same shop is what made that refinement fast. A physical part could be compared against the digital model the same day, and the next set corrected accordingly.
Printed sections, connector fit checks, and assembly views from the proof and repeat runs.
03 / Specifications
Project specifications
| Client | Bluegrass Metal Works, Louisville, Kentucky |
| Source | Customer-supplied STEP design file |
| Scale | 31.86 x 6.92 x 18.13 in |
| Material | Matte-black PLA |
| Build | Eight main printable parts |
| Alignment | Separate fitted connector-pin package |
| Quantity | One proof and two repeat sets |
| Delivery | Partially assembled and unfinished for client completion |
04 / The finished piece
Delivered ready for the shop to finish
The parts were handed over partially assembled and unfinished, so the fabricator could complete, mount and finish the piece inside their own workflow.
For fabricators
When a job needs a part you cannot make in-house
Cru Bear works behind your brand. We take the file, engineer the split, print it, and hand back parts that drop into your finishing and installation workflow. Your client stays your client.
Have a 3D file or an oversized idea that your normal process cannot produce? Send it over and we will tell you what it takes to build it.
