Engineering Services - "Job Shop" |
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Our Loveland Colorado location makes us northern Colorado's go to job shop. We provide fast turn around times on many of your batch job needs. If you aren't located in northern Colorado, don't let that scare you away. Our shipping department daily ships products to locations all over the world. Outlined below are our major services, but please email us at
for more information and a custom quote.
Our in-house Dimension® Elite 3D printer uses Fused Deposition Modeling, or FDM rapid prototyping to directly print your 3D CAD models into real plastic parts. Printed parts are made up of hundreds or thousands of layers as thin as 0.007". The use of ABS plus makes our parts up to 40% stronger than parts printed from standard ABS. These parts are strong enough to not only be used as mockups or form fitting, but can also to be used as final structural components in many cases - they can be drilled, tapped, painted or metal plated. To save material, time, and cost, designs can be printed as solid plastic, a sparse hollow matrix, or somewhere in between. This depends on the strength to weight ratio that you desire.
The Printing Process
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Plan: 3D printed ABS+ plastic can be used in countless applications, from mechanisms to artistic sculptures. It is light-weight, durable, and parts can be printed in complex configurations (e.g. assemblies wth moving parts can be printed as one pre-assembled structure to reduce tedious assembly).
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Create: The Dimension Elite's software (Catalyst EX®) supports any STL file format. Use virtually any 3D modeling program to generate a .STL file and send it our way. And don't worry if your CAD software doesn't export to STL, RoadNarrows can help you convert your files too!
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Print: RoadNarrows will promtly print your assemblies, usually within 1 to 3 days! The turnaround time depends on project size and printing specifications, including:
- Layer Resolution: 0.007in/layer or 0.01in/layer - Higher resolution prints produces high-detail models, while lower resolution prints save on print time
- Model Interior: Solid, High Density Sparse, or Low Density Sparse - "Sparse" fills the interior of the model with a hollow matrix structure to save on print time
- Print Material & Print Time: The Dimension Elite printer is capable of printing parts with maximum dimensions 8"W x 8"D x 12"H
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Use: ABS+ plastic is up to 40% stronger than standard ABS plastic and can be drilled, tapped, painted or metal plated. Go create!
Price Quotes and Examples
The cost of rapid prototyping has has dropped significantly since its introduction in the late 1980s. You may be surprised at how affordable our 3D printing services really are! No-obligation quotes may be obtained by contacting us at
Also, check out our printer gallery where you can find images of past print jobs, or hover/click on the images below to view pricing examples!
Do you have manufacturing or engineering outsourcing needs? Our staff can meet a variety of your engineering needs. From embedded software running on custom hardware to complete robotic manipulators and platforms.
Past Projects
| GOAL: |
Design a touchless device to measure wounds of medium severity to be used in hospitals |
| FIELD: |
Medical mobile robotics |
| CUSTOMER: |
WoundZoom Inc. - Company specialized in medical wound treatment in collaboration with the Colorado Hospital |
| RN's SOLUTION: |
Design an intelligent and easy to use vision device that is highly specialized for wound recognition. |
| SYNOPSIS: |
Wound Zoom is a new, low-cost and high-precision wound measurement device that offers an option to current low- and high-tech devices and methods. The Wound Zoom system is a hand-held device similar to a digital camera or smart phone. The main components are a camera module and four angled lasers that work together with mathematical algorithms to provide accurate measurements. These four lasers deliver critical data to the system, providing the camera’s relationship to the wound (skew and distance). After booting the unit, the user follows a simple work flow: entering basic information for themselves and the patient (a minimum of a user and patient ID is required). Next, the user has the option of taking several photographs of the wound for documentation. Finally, the lasers activate and the user captures an image of the wound for dimension calculations. Using a stylus, the user traces their defined wound border on the device and it instantly calculates the length, width and area. A PDF report is generated and stored on the device which can then be transferred to a computer through USB.
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| DETAILS: |
RoadNarrows continues to persue new ideas and develop new versions of WoundZoom with WoundZoom Inc. Click to visit the WoundZoom main page |
| GOAL: |
Provide Electrical and Mechanical Engineering support and generate project momentum |
| FIELD: |
Wheelchair Characterization |
| CUSTOMER: |
Georgia Tech Institute of Technology – Rehabilitation Engineering and Applied Research (REAR) Lab |
| RN's SOLUTION: |
RoadNarrows provided a solution to reduce signal noise in the system through both the electrical and mechanical design of the system. RoadNarrows also developed a project management plan to build momentum towards meeting project milestones |
| SYNOPSIS: |
The goal of the AMPS project is to development a device to measure mechanical work and efficiency of a manual wheelchair. RoadNarrows was contracted to evaluate the prototype system and aid in the redesign effort to reduce signal noise for better characterization purposes. RoadNarrows supported and managed the engineering effort from initial evaluation to implementation and testing of design changes. After the successful completion of RoadNarrows involvement, the GA Tech AMPS team began conducting a variety of test metrics in order to establish benchmarks for wheelchair characterization. The success of the project resulted in a renewed effort to generate additional funding for continued development of the AMPS project.
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| DETAILS: |
The AMPS project is led by Dr. Stephen Sprigle of GA Tech's Rehabilitation Engineering and Applied Research (REAR) Lab. Visit the REAR website for more details. |
| GOAL: |
Generate conceptual prototype design for a tilt-in-place mechanism |
| FIELD: |
Custom Rehab Wheelchairs |
| CUSTOMER: |
Ki Mobility - Stevens Point, WI |
| RN's SOLUTION: |
Utilize two linear slots to rotate the seat of a wheelchair |
| SYNOPSIS: |
RoadNarrows generated a conceptual design that allowed for a wheelchair seat to rotate, about the center of gravity of the occupant, by translating linear motion into a single point rotation. This allows for minimal work by the wheelchair operator when adjusting the occupants position within the wheelchair. Through the scope of the project, RoadNarrows designed, built, and evaluated the conceptual design of the mechanism in order to provide feasibility feedback to the engineers at Ki Mobility.
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| DETAILS: |
Ki Mobility is a leading provider of innovative seating and mobility products. Please visit the Ki Mobility website for more details. |
| GOAL: |
Integrate the high quality Point Grey digital cameras with an embedded linux-based computer system. |
| FIELD: |
Aerospace and Industrial |
| CUSTOMER: |
Lockheed Martin Research Division |
| RN's SOLUTION: |
To meet strict imaging requirements, RoadNarrows engineers worked closely with the client to develop a fully integrated hardware and software solution for the control of the Point Grey Chameleon camera using the linux based Gumstix Overo(TM) line of embedded Computer On Modules (COMs). |
| SYNOPSIS: |
In order to provide embedded support for the Point Grey Camera, RoadNarrows engineers first analyzed power and USB requirements of the Point Grey camera system. It was then necessary to provide embedded software support in the form of custom kernel modifications, libraries, and applications. Notably, this work included ports of libdc1394, libraw1394 and coriander to the Gumstix Overo platform.
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| DETAILS: |
Please visit the Lockheed Martin website for more on Lockheed Martin. |