When someone asks “can you scan this and give me the file”, the right next question is what you intend to do with the file. That answer decides what work is actually needed.
A mesh: the shape as it is
A scan produces a net of triangles describing the surface exactly as it is, scratches, wear and small faults included. As a file, STL or OBJ.
Enough when: you want to reprint the same object, archive it, or show it to someone. Object scanning ends here.
Not enough when: you want to change a wall thickness, enlarge a hole, or adapt the part for the next version. A mesh has no “hole diameter”. It has a few hundred triangles that happen to form a circle.
A CAD model: the shape with its logic intact
Here the object is redrawn as parameters: this cylinder is a cylinder, this radius is a radius, this hole is a hole 8 mm across. As a file, STEP.
Needed when: the part goes into production, has to be modified, gets handed to someone else to work on, or tolerances matter. Reverse engineering is exactly that work.
Rule of thumb: if a machine works with the file next, a mesh will do. If a person works with it next, you need CAD.
Why CAD costs more
Because it isn't scanning, it's drafting. The scanner supplies raw material; after that somebody sits down and decides, surface by surface, what it was meant to be. That worn edge was originally sharp. That face was meant to be flat. Those two holes were meant to line up and don't, because the part is bent.
A scan starts at €120; a CAD model is €85/h from €250. The gap isn't greed. One takes an hour and the other takes a day. The figures are in the price list.
What you should tell me
- What happens to the file next. It's the only question that really moves the price.
- Whether dimensions have to match something existing. If so, send that thing too, or its measurements.
- Whether the part is worn or bent. Then I know not to copy the original blindly.
- If you have an old drawing, even hand-made. It saves hours.
What can't be done
Shiny, black, transparent and hairy surfaces don't scan accurately. That's physics, not a shortcoming of the machine. Such objects can usually still be done, but it takes preparation, and that gets agreed in advance rather than appearing on the invoice.
The same applies to spare parts where the original is snapped: the missing half has to be modelled back, and that is CAD work rather than scanning.
Send a photo and say what you want to do with the file. I'll tell you which one you actually need.
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