What consumer electronics work looks like for us
Consumer electronics has been our biggest vertical since day one. The work splits into roughly four categories: appearance models and appliance mockups for industrial design teams, cosmetic aluminum housings for smartphones and wearables, audio product enclosures (speakers, headphones, audio interfaces), and crowdfunded hardware startups bringing a product from Kickstarter prototype through to first production run.
Each category has different tolerance, different documentation, and different pressure on finish quality. We've built our process around the category with the tightest cosmetic standards — Japanese appliance OEM appearance models — so every other category benefits from the same rigor.
CNC aluminum housings — the hero process
The signature consumer electronics manufacturing process is CNC aluminum machining followed by bead blast and anodize. This is how the premium feel of a MacBook, a high-end speaker, or a wearable band is produced. We run this workflow weekly with the following typical spec: 6061-T6 billet, 3-axis or 5-axis CNC, ±0.05 mm cosmetic tolerance, bead blast to uniform matte, dye-anodize to customer color spec, and packaging in anti-scratch poly.
For Class-A surfaces, two details matter most: the bead blast must be uniform (we control air pressure, media size, and operator technique), and the anodize dye bath must be fresh or well-maintained to avoid color drift. We batch cosmetic runs together to maintain dye consistency. See our aluminum materials page for grade selection detail.
Appliance appearance models
Before an OEM commits tooling dollars to a new refrigerator, rice cooker, or air purifier, industrial designers need full-size appearance models for internal review, retail focus groups, and trade-show reveal. We've been making these for 15+ years for Japanese and Korean appliance brands.
Typical workflow: CNC-machine from tooling board (Ren Shape BM 5460 or equivalent chemical wood), hand-sand to final contour, primer + wet paint to color spec, wet-sand + clear coat for final finish, assemble with real hinges and fasteners where relevant. A full-size kitchen appliance model takes 10–20 working days and costs roughly 3–5× what a functional CNC aluminum version would cost — the premium is in the finishing labor.
Audio product enclosures
Audio gear — speakers, headphone cups, audio interfaces, DAC/amp enclosures — benefits from the rigidity and acoustic properties of machined aluminum. Brushed finishes are popular in hi-fi; bead blast + anodize is standard for portable audio. For powder-coated industrial looks, we run our dust-controlled paint line.
For speaker cabinets in volumes of 50–200 pieces, we often recommend vacuum casting over CNC — the silicone-tooling cost amortizes well and the finished parts look injection-molded. For volumes above 500, we'd point customers toward injection molding.
Crowdfunded hardware — bridging Kickstarter to production
Crowdfunded hardware projects face a specific manufacturing challenge: you've pre-sold 500 units based on renders, you need to deliver finished product in 4–6 months, and you can't afford a $50k injection mold tool yet. Our usual recommendation is a three-phase approach:
- CNC-machined industrial design prototypes (5–10 units) for final fit/finish iteration — 1–2 weeks
- Vacuum-cast backer-reward production (50–500 units) with 15–25 parts per silicone tool — 3–5 weeks for tooling and first batch
- Injection molding for volumes above 500 — 8–12 weeks for hard tooling, then low per-unit cost forever
We handle phases 1 and 2 entirely in-house. For phase 3, we've got partner injection molders we work with regularly and can coordinate handoff if your volume justifies it.
Documentation and IP protection
Every incoming consumer hardware project is covered by our standard NDA (or customer's NDA — whichever you prefer). CAD files live in controlled storage with internal access limited to assigned engineers. For customers with patent-pending designs, we sign project-specific IP-protection clauses on request. Parts ship with Certificate of Conformance, RoHS compliance statement, and — for retail-bound product — FCC/CE self-declaration support as far as mechanical design allows.