Reverse engineering
An existing tool or part is measured from its datum faces, holes over gauge pins, and rebuilt as a 1:1 CAD model. You can then repair it, copy it or change it without guessing.
- Measurement report
- STEP
- Drawings
Engineering studioValmiera, Latvia
Tooling design, checked before metal is cut.
Reverse engineering, tool and fixture design, drawing packages and design checks. One engineer, from the first measurement to the files your toolmaker needs.
Answer within one working dayNDA on requestPrice agreed before work starts
0.01mm stroke step in every design check
1:1CAD rebuilds from the part on the bench
24 hto a first answer with a plan and the open questions
Services
Tooling engineering for jobs that cannot wait.
The tool is on the bench, the drawings are missing or wrong, and the line needs it back. That is the kind of work this studio is built for.
Tool & fixture design
Assembly tools, press fixtures, cutting dies and their rework: a new insert, a new stop, a guide that fits the new product.
- 3D assembly
- Stroke check
Drawing packages
Manufacturing drawings of every part with tolerances, fits, materials and hardness, a parts list and a change note per revision.
- DWG
- DXF
- BOM
Design review
A supplier's design is checked against the product 3D: fits, clearances, stroke and tolerances, before it is approved or paid for.
- Written report
- Proposed fix
Around the tooling work, from the same desk.
The core is above. These exist because a tooling job rarely ends with the drawing: a part has to be tried, an instruction written, a check automated.
3D printing & print files
Parts designed for the printer and printed: a trial insert to check fit and handling before steel is cut, assembly jigs, holders, gauges and covers. An existing CAD model is made printable: orientation, wall thickness, supports and allowances for the process. You get the print-ready files, or the printed part itself. A print shows fit and handling; fine clearances are still proven by measurement.
- STL
- 3MF
- STEP
- Printed part
Technical documentation
Setup and operating instructions, inspection plans and one-page work instructions for the shop floor.
- Instructions
- Inspection sheet
Software development
Programming to order, not only around CAD: web and mobile applications, shop-floor log books and dashboards, databases and reporting, embedded devices, automation scripts and integrations between the systems a factory already runs. PLC programs too: a new program written for a machine or station, or an existing one read, corrected and extended.
- Web & mobile apps
- Dashboards
- PLC programming
- Embedded
- Automation
3D visualisation in Blender
CAD models are taken into Blender for photoreal renders, exploded views and cycle animations, and into the browser as interactive viewers for product pages, instructions and design reviews.
- Blender
- Render
- MP4
- Web 3D
Websites & web applications
Company and product websites built the way this one is: structure, text, design, rendered 3D and code from one desk. Fast on an ordinary office PC, readable on a phone, with a request form that actually reaches you, and no stock photos pretending to be your factory.
- Design & copy
- Front-end
- 3D films
- Forms & hosting
One model, every deliverable.
This exploded view and the drawing at the top of this section come from the same CAD model. Build the geometry once and correctly, and the parts list, the drawings, the collision check and the pictures for the manual stop contradicting each other.
- Carrier with pressed pins
- Ring gear, fixed
- Planets on bronze bushes
- Sun gear and shaft
Reverse engineering method
A copy is only as good as the way it was measured.
Anyone can read a caliper. The work is in knowing what to measure from, what to measure with, and which reading to trust when two of them disagree. These are the rules every part goes through here.
What a correct reading looks like.
Two ground pins stand in the holes and take up their true axes. The caliper closes on the outside of the pins, where its jaws are flat and parallel, and reads 46.12. Half of each pin diameter comes off, and the centre distance is 39.12. Measured with the jaw tips inside the bores, the same two holes can read several hundredths differently every time.
- Pins seated in the holes
- Jaws on the outside of the pins
- Plate resting on its datum face
Datums first
The part is set on its reference faces and every dimension is taken from them, not chained from the previous one. Errors do not add up along the part.
The right instrument for the feature
Holes and centre distances over gauge pins, never with jaw tips inside a bore. Depths with a depth gauge, threads and radii with gauges, small steps with a micrometer.
Measured more than once
Critical dimensions are taken several times and from both sides. Each reading is photographed with the scale in the frame, so any value can be traced back later.
Reconciled, not just copied
Hole patterns must share a pitch, mirrored sides must mirror, a pin must be coaxial with its hole in the mating part. Raw readings are reconciled against these rules before they become CAD.
Wear and standards understood
A worn edge is not copied as a dimension. Fits are set from the function to ISO 286, general tolerances to ISO 2768, and catalogue parts are identified by their order number instead of being redrawn.
Verified before release
The finished model is assembled virtually and checked for interference, and compared with 3D scan data when a scan exists. Anything assumed is marked as assumed in the report.
What you receive
- Measurement reportEvery value, how it was taken, what was assumed
- 3D modelSTEP and native CAD, parts named as in the parts list
- Drawing setPDF, DWG, DXF with tolerances, fits and materials
- Change notesOne per revision, so nothing changes silently
Geometry studies
Modelled to run, not just to look right.
Client tools stay confidential, so these are study models built in-house: classic mechanisms, modelled from their equations. The wheel indexes exactly a quarter turn, the output shaft speeds up and slows down as the joint angle demands, the follower lifts by the law the cam was cut to.
A Geneva drive turns continuous rotation into exact steps. The pin enters a slot, carries the wheel a quarter turn and leaves; for the rest of the revolution the locking disc holds the wheel still.
Process
Six steps, the same on every job.
You always know which step the job is in, what is still open and what comes next.
Brief and files
You send what exists: the tool or part, old drawings, the product 3D, photos of the problem. We agree what the result must do.
Measure and analyse
Parts are measured, files are read and compared. Missing or contradictory data goes on a list with questions.
Model and check
3D model and virtual assembly with the real product: interference, clearances, press stroke.
Drawings
Manufacturing drawings with tolerances, materials and hardness, a parts list and the file formats your toolmaker uses.
Review and changes
You review on a tablet or PC. Every change goes into a change note with its revision letter.
Handover
The full package in one folder: STEP, DWG, PDF, change log. Support during manufacturing and the first trial.
Where a design check earns its money.
A die like the one on the first screen closes in a fraction of a second. On the way down the stripper meets the strip first, the springs compress, the punches pass through and stop a set distance into the die. Every one of those events has a stroke value, and each can be wrong by a few tenths without anyone seeing it on a drawing.
- Stripper touches the strip first
- Springs must not go solid
- Punch entry into the die is set, not guessed
Design check
A collision found in CAD costs an hour. Found in steel, it costs the tool.
The product 3D is placed into the tool and the press stroke is run in 0.01 mm steps. Every contact is recorded: where the tool first touches the part, where a latch engages, where a hard stop sits, whether the target position is reached.
The result is a short report with sections and numbers that a toolmaker can act on.
Stroke checkExample · anonymised
| Stroke, mm | Event | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 11.20 | Stripper touches the part | spring travel 1.8 of 4.0 |
| 12.85 | Latch starts on the ramp | ok |
| 13.40 | Insert lands on a rib of the part | hard stop |
| 14.10 | Target position | not reached, 0.70 short |
| 14.10 – 14.45 | Window for a depth stop | stop set to 14.25 ± 0.1 |
Why TurkovLAB
The tool is tried out before it exists.
What is new here is not a machine. It is the order of work: measure by rule, build one model, then let code run the tool through its stroke before anyone orders steel. This is what that changes for you.
The usual routeHere
Measuring
One reading per dimension, taken where the caliper happens to fit.
From datum faces, over gauge pins, repeated and photographed.
Checking
The design is looked over on screen and judged by eye.
The press stroke is computed in 0.01 mm steps with your product inside the tool.
Hand-offs
Measuring, design, drawings and software sit with different people and drift apart.
One engineer and one model. Every drawing, list and picture is derived from it.
Changes
A new file quietly replaces the old one.
A revision letter and a change note, every time.
Surprises
They show up at the first trial, in steel.
They show up in a report, while a fix still costs an hour.
Three recent jobs, names left out.
A cutting die with no drawings
The die came to the bench for two days. It was measured from its datum faces and over gauge pins, then rebuilt as a 1:1 CAD model with a measurement report and a full drawing set. A spare can now be ordered from the files alone.
An assembly tool that stopped 2 mm short
In a manual assembly tool the part did not reach its final position and jammed. The cause was found in the 3D model, the upper insert was redesigned, and two variants were printed and tried before anything was machined.
Ten tool sets, one missing part
A supplier delivered tools without a part needed to assemble them. It was identified in the 3D data as a catalogue guide pillar, the parts list was corrected where it disagreed with the model, and the plant got an order number instead of a drawing it did not need.
Six things you can hold me to.
An answer within one working day
With a plan, the open questions and what I need from you. Not an auto-reply.
Scope and price in writing first
A fixed price when the input is complete. An hourly rate with an estimate when it is not. No work starts before you agree.
Confidential by default
Client tools, files and names are never shown, on this site or anywhere else. An NDA is signed before files are sent, if you need one.
Changes you can trace
Every revision has a letter and a change note. You always know what changed, when and why.
Files you own and can edit
STEP, DWG, DXF, PDF and source code are yours. Nothing is locked into a format only I can open.
Support until the tool runs
Questions from your toolmaker are answered during manufacturing and at the first trial.
A good fit
- A tool or part must be copied, repaired or changed and the drawings are missing
- A supplier's design needs an independent check before approval
- A fixture, insert or stop has to be designed for a new product variant
- You need a part, a jig or a trial insert printed, or a model made ready for your own printer
- The shop floor needs a small, reliable application or dashboard
- Your company needs a website that looks like the quality of its work
Better done elsewhere
- Machining the parts: I deliver the drawings and files, your toolmaker cuts the steel
- Accredited laboratory measurement reports: for those, a CMM lab is the right address
- Styling and consumer product design
About
Classic CAD, plus code that checks it.
I am Oleg Turkov, the engineer behind TurkovLAB. You work with me directly, from the first message to the last revision: no account managers, no hand-offs.
I build 3D models, drawing packages and design checks for tooling and production equipment in Fusion and AutoCAD. Reverse engineering is done by the book: datum faces, gauge pins, repeated readings, and a measurement report that shows how every value was obtained.
The second half of the studio is programming. Where a check is repetitive or must be exact, I write it as code: virtual assembly of the product in the tool, stroke and interference calculations, version-to-version comparison. The same goes for stand-alone software: applications, dashboards, device firmware and integrations, in the language the job calls for. Finished models are rendered and animated in Blender. This website is part of the portfolio: its structure, text, 3D models, films and code were all made here.
Based in Valmiera, Latvia. Remote with manufacturers across Europe, on site when a tool needs measuring. Working languages: English, Latvian, Russian.
Toolbox
Measuring
- Calipers
- Depth gauge
- Micrometers
- Gauge pins
- Thread gauges
- Radius gauges
- 3D scan data
CAD & drawings
- Autodesk Fusion
- AutoCAD
- STEP
- DWG
- DXF
- PDF drawing sets
- BOM · XLSX
3D & visualisation
- Blender
- Cycles renders
- Animation · MP4
- Three.js · WebGL
- glTF
- 3D printing
- STL · 3MF
Programming languages
- Python
- JavaScript
- TypeScript
- C
- C++
- C#
- Java
- Kotlin
- Swift
- Go
- Rust
- PHP
- SQL
- Bash
- PowerShell
- HTML · CSS
- VBA
- AutoLISP
- MATLAB
- Lua
- G-code
- Structured Text (PLC)
- Ladder (PLC)
Platforms
- Websites & PWA
- Cloudflare
- Android · iOS
- Windows · Linux
- Raspberry Pi
- Microcontrollers
- Cloud · databases
Questions
Asked before most jobs.
If yours is not here, write it into the request. A question costs nothing.
What do you need from me to start?
Whatever exists: the part or tool itself, old drawings, a product 3D file, photos with a ruler in the frame, a short description of the problem. Incomplete input is normal. The first thing you get back is a list of what is missing and how to close each gap.
How accurate is a reverse-engineered model?
Hand instruments capture ordinary features to a few hundredths of a millimetre, and repeated readings show how far each value can be trusted. Fits are not copied from a worn part: they are set from the function and stated on the drawing. If a feature needs tighter verification than hand measurement can give, I say so and name the right method for it.
How is the price set?
After I have seen all the input. A complete package gets a fixed price. When data is still missing, you get an hourly rate with an honest estimate of the hours, updated as the gaps close. Either way it is agreed in writing before work starts.
Will my tool or files appear on this site?
No. Everything shown here is study geometry made in-house for that reason. Client work stays confidential whether or not an NDA exists, and I sign yours before you send files if you need one.
Can you build a website like this one for my company?
Yes. This site is the reference: one page, written and designed around what a buyer needs to decide, with 3D films rendered from real CAD models and a working request form. Yours starts with the same question: who should contact you after reading it, and what do they need to see first? You get the source code and the hosting set up in your own account.
Do you also manufacture the parts?
No. You receive drawings and files your own toolmaker can quote and cut from, and I answer their questions while they do. That keeps the design independent of any one workshop.
Does the tool have to travel to Latvia?
Not necessarily. Small tools and parts can be shipped and are returned after measuring. In Latvia I can measure on site when a tool cannot leave the line. Design reviews, drawings and software are done fully remote.
What happens if something changes halfway?
It usually does. The change is written down with its effect on scope and price, you confirm it, and it gets its own revision letter and change note.
Request a quote
Send the task, the files and the deadline.
Three lines are enough to start. No obligation: you get a plan and a price, and decide then.
- You describe the task. Two minutes, no files needed yet.
- Within one working day you get a plan, the open questions and how the price will be set.
- You send files or the part. Work starts when you have agreed in writing.
- olturkovs@gmail.com
- Location
- Valmiera, Latvia
- Languages
- English, Latvian, Russian
- Legal
- Oļegs Turkovs, self-employed engineer registered in Latvia. Invoices with full details.
Request sent.
Thank you. You will get an answer with a plan and the open questions within one working day.
One more step.
The request could not be delivered automatically. Your text is ready below: send it by e-mail to olturkovs@gmail.com.