CAD Design Services in Hull & East Yorkshire | Birkett CAD Services
Turning Your Product Ideas Into Production Reality
Birkett CAD Services provides professional CAD design services based in Hull, East Yorkshire. With 30 years of manufacturing experience, Chris Birkett delivers production-focused mechanical CAD design, product design, and technical drawings for clients across the United Kingdom.
As a specialist in SolidWorks Premium with Visualize, our CAD design services cover the full product development lifecycle — from initial concept sketches through to production-ready 3D models, detailed technical drawings, and photo realistic renderings for sales and marketing.
Our CAD Design Services
3D Modelling
Precise parametric 3D models built in SolidWorks Premium, ready for manufacture and production tooling. Our 3D modelling CAD design services ensure your parts are designed for real-world manufacturing from day one.
Product Design
End-to-end product design from initial concept through to production-ready CAD models. Our product design CAD design services are optimised for manufacturability, reducing tooling costs and time to market.
Photo Realistic Rendering
High-quality photo realistic visualisations using SolidWorks Visualize for sales presentations, marketing materials, and customer approval — all part of our comprehensive CAD design services.
Pipework Routing
Complex pipework routing solutions for industrial applications, designed for efficient installation and maintenance.
Fabrication Design
Weldments and sheet metal designs optimised for real-world manufacturing, including full fabrication drawings.
Technical Drawings for Manufacture
Detailed technical drawings with full dimensioning, tolerances, and GD&T annotations ready for manufacture. A core part of our CAD design services offering.
Reverse Engineering
Recreate existing physical parts as accurate digital 3D CAD models for modification, reproduction, or documentation.
Rapid Prototyping
Fast iteration from design to physical part using 3D printing and pilot moulds for concept validation and testing.
Plastics Manufacturing Consultancy
Specialist consultancy in injection moulding and thermoforming with 30 years of hands-on industry experience.
Patent Service
Experienced guidance through the process of securing a patent for your product idea, including technical drawings and documentation.
Why Choose Our CAD Design Services?
Chris Birkett started his career as an apprentice toolmaker and progressed through CNC programming, CAD/CAM, and full CAD design. This hands-on manufacturing background means our CAD design services produce designs that work in the real world — not just on screen. With 30 years of experience in plastics, thermoforming, and precision engineering, we understand the challenges of taking a product from concept to production.
Our CAD design services use SolidWorks Premium with Visualize — industry-leading software trusted by engineers worldwide. Whether you need a single technical drawing or a complete product development package, Birkett CAD Services delivers quality, precision, and value.
Contact Birkett CAD Services
Get in touch to discuss your CAD design services requirements. We offer a no obligation chat to understand your project needs.
Phone: (+44) 07738 337910
Email: chris@birkettcadservices.co.uk
Location: Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, United Kingdom
Website: birkettcadservices.co.uk
Thermoforming Design Services & Pattern Making | Birkett CAD Services
Birkett CAD Services provides expert thermoforming design and pattern making services based in Hull, East Yorkshire. With 30 years in plastics manufacturing and 15 years of dedicated thermoforming experience, Chris Birkett delivers production-ready thermoforming pattern designs in SolidWorks Premium — the industry standard for thermoforming CAD design.
Our thermoforming design services cover the complete process from initial brief through to production-ready tooling drawings. Whether you need a simple single-pocket tray or a complex multi-compartment thermoforming pattern, every design is engineered for reliable forming, consistent wall thickness, and trouble-free demoulding.
What is Thermoforming Pattern Design?
Thermoforming pattern design is the process of creating the 3D CAD model of the mould — the pattern — over which a heated plastic sheet is formed. The quality of the thermoforming pattern design directly determines the quality, consistency, and cost of every thermoformed part produced from it. A well-designed thermoforming pattern produces clean, repeatable parts with minimal scrap. A poorly designed pattern results in parts that stick, distort, or have inconsistent wall thickness.
At Birkett CAD Services, thermoforming pattern design is a core specialism — not a secondary service. Every thermoforming pattern is designed with the forming process, the toolmaker, and the production line firmly in mind.
Our Thermoforming Design Services
Thermoforming Pattern Design in SolidWorks
All thermoforming pattern designs are produced in SolidWorks Premium. Every pocket, wall, draft angle, and radius is engineered for correct forming behaviour and reliable demoulding. Files are delivered in native SolidWorks format plus STEP/IGES for compatibility with any toolmaker.
Vacuum Forming Pattern Design
Vacuum forming pattern design follows the same principles as thermoforming pattern design — correct draft angles, adequate wall thickness, and undercut-free geometry. Our vacuum forming pattern designs are used for trays, covers, housings, and display products across a wide range of industries.
Thermoforming Tray Design
Thermoforming tray design is one of our most common services. We design thermoformed trays for industrial components, food packaging, medical devices, electronics, and logistics applications. Every thermoforming tray design is optimised for the specific material, production volume, and end use.
Tooling Drawings for Manufacture
Full dimensioned technical drawings are produced for every thermoforming pattern, ready to hand directly to your toolmaker or CNC machinist. Our thermoforming tooling drawings include all pocket dimensions, draft angles, radii, and surface finish specifications.
Design for Manufacture Review
Every thermoforming design is reviewed for draft angles (typically 3-5 degrees), minimum wall thickness, undercut avoidance, and sheet draw ratio before any tooling is cut. This design for manufacture review saves significant cost on first-off tools and reduces scrap in production.
Thermoforming Design Considerations
Successful thermoforming design requires deep knowledge of the forming process. Key thermoforming design considerations include: draft angles (minimum 3 degrees on all vertical walls), wall thickness (thermoforming thins the sheet as it stretches), undercuts (must be avoided or addressed with split-tool designs), corner radii (minimum 1.5 times sheet thickness), draw ratio (depth vs width determines sheet stretch), and nesting geometry (for stackable transit trays).
Materials for Thermoforming Design
We design thermoforming patterns for all common thermoforming materials including HIPS (High Impact Polystyrene), ABS (Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene), PETG (Polyethylene Terephthalate Glycol), PET, Polypropylene (PP), Polycarbonate (PC), HDPE, and conductive/anti-static ESD materials. Material selection directly affects thermoforming pattern design — wall thickness, draft angles, and draw ratio all vary by material.
Industries We Design Thermoforming For
Our thermoforming design services cover a wide range of industries: food and beverage packaging, medical and healthcare device trays, automotive component trays, electronics and ESD trays, industrial and logistics transit trays, and retail and point of sale display trays. Each thermoforming design is tailored to the specific requirements of the industry and application.
Why Choose Birkett CAD Services for Thermoforming Design?
Chris Birkett is a specialist thermoforming designer with 15 years of dedicated thermoforming experience and 30 years in plastics manufacturing overall. Starting his career as an apprentice toolmaker, Chris progressed through CNC programming, CAD/CAM, and full thermoforming pattern design. This manufacturing background means every thermoforming design is optimised for real-world production — not just on screen.
Unlike a general CAD designer, Birkett CAD Services understands the thermoforming process from the inside. We know what happens when draft angles are insufficient, when draw ratios are too aggressive, and when corner radii are too tight. This knowledge is built into every thermoforming pattern design we produce.
As an independent thermoforming designer, projects move quickly. You work directly with the designer from brief to delivery — no project manager queue, no account handler, no delay.
Contact Our Thermoforming Design Specialist
Get in touch to discuss your thermoforming design requirements. Whether you have a sketch on a napkin or a full specification, we can help turn it into a production-ready thermoforming pattern design.
Phone: (+44) 07738 337910
Email: chris@birkettcadservices.co.uk
Location: Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, United Kingdom
Thermoforming design page: birkettcadservices.co.uk/thermoforming-design