Your drawing is the start
Some buyers arrive with a market and a range in mind; OEM buyers arrive with a drawing. Maybe it is a special corner radius the catalog does not carry, a taper matched to a mold job, a flute count your customers keep asking for, or a tool you already sell and want to source under your own mark. The route is the same in every case: your geometry becomes a written spec sheet, the sheet is quoted and ground to, samples prove it, and bulk ships against the approved sample. Nothing on this route depends on goodwill or phone calls - it depends on the sheet, and the sheet depends on your drawing.
From drawing to spec sheet
Send what you have. A CAD drawing is ideal; a dimensioned sketch works; a table of numbers works too. The desk translates it into the sheet: diameter, length of cut, overall length, shank, flute count, helix, corner style, substrate, coating family, tolerances, marking and packing. If a line is missing or ambiguous, you get a question, not an assumption - a radius called out as "R" with no value stops the program until it has a number. The line-by-line checklist is the same one described in the spec sheet walkthrough, and the grinding-to-order process end to end is on the custom grinding page.
Two paths, two starting points
The route splits by how standard the geometry is. Standard geometry with your logo - the catalog families ground to reference geometry, marked with your name - typically starts from about 50 to 100 pieces per specification. Non-standard profiles - special tapers, custom radii, form profiles - are quoted per tool family, and a drawing is required either way. Why the difference? A non-standard profile usually needs its own setup and sometimes its own blank, so the work is quoted as the family it belongs to rather than as a line on a standard run. Both paths end at the same place: quantities, lead time, inspection and papers confirmed in writing before anything is ground.
| Path | Starting point | What you supply |
|---|---|---|
| Standard geometry, your logo | From about 50-100 pcs per specification | Family, sizes, coating, marking, packing |
| Non-standard profile | Quoted per tool family, confirmed per program | A drawing with every dimension called out |
| Either path | Samples about 15-25 days; bulk about 30-45 days after approval | Approval of the sample before bulk |
One more line worth reading twice: quantities are set per specification, not per order. A program with three standard geometries at your mark can start at the reference floor on each line, confirmed line by line in the written program. That is usually the friendliest way to test the route - three lines that sell, rather than one line bought deep.
Platform reuse: why some programs start lower
Not every custom program carries the same floor. The partner factories keep blank sizes and geometry families already in rotation; when your spec fits an existing blank diameter and a family the factory runs every week, the setup burden drops and the quantity floor drops with it. When the profile needs a blank made specially, or geometry nobody in the cluster runs yet, the floor rises accordingly. This is why the desk asks early what your tool must match - an existing blank, a family, or nothing at all - because the honest answer changes the quantity the program can start at. It is also why two seemingly similar drawings can quote differently: the second one may reuse half its platform from a tool that already exists.
Samples, then bulk
The rhythm is fixed even when the numbers are ranges. After the drawing is agreed, ground-to-order samples typically take about 15 to 25 days. You check them against the drawing and approve or correct. Bulk production then runs typically about 30 to 45 days after sample approval, with coating adding a few days where the program calls for it. Approve the sample against the drawing, not against hope: geometry measured, coating family as specified, marking legible and placed as agreed. The sample becomes the physical standard the bulk run is inspected against, which is why a sample approved with a shrug is a defect waiting for a batch. The checks worth running before sign-off are listed in the sampling note, and the inspection behind a shipment is on the quality control page.
Drawing and tooling ownership, in writing
Ownership questions belong in the program agreement, not in assumptions. Your drawing stays yours; where the factory builds fixtures or keeps program files for an exclusive geometry, the agreement says who holds what, whether it can serve another buyer, and what happens when the program ends. The desk puts those lines in writing before grinding starts, alongside quantities, lead time, the inspection plan and the papers. If a supplier has ever gone quiet on the question of who owns the tooling, you know why this paragraph exists.
Marking and boxes under your name
Laser marking carries your logo, part number and geometry code on the shank; boxes and labels carry your name and the geometry line the way your customers read it. What fits on a tool shank at each diameter has physical limits, covered in the laser marking note, and the box and label side is on the private label page. Both are approved on the sample before bulk, so the mark you approve is the mark that ships - on every piece, in every box, for the life of the program.
What to send first
Drawing or dimensions, the material your customers cut, a coating preference or an open question, quantity per specification, marking, and box needs. That is a complete first brief - send it through the quote form and the reply names the path, the reference ranges for your case, and the lines still missing from the sheet. Timing references for the whole route are collected on the MOQ and lead time page, so you can plan before the first sample is ever ground.