Guide
What a job shop needs on your drawing before it can quote
A quote is a shop's commitment to make the part on the drawing for a price. When the drawing leaves something out, the shop either asks, which costs days, or assumes, which costs you the part. The fields below are what an estimator reads first on a machined or fabricated part. None of them is exotic; most missing-field questions on Amerigo are about quantity, material grade and finish.
Send a drawingUpdated October 8, 2026
The fields every quote needs
| Field | What to write | What happens if it is missing |
|---|---|---|
| Quantity | The number for this order, and the yearly or repeat volume if any | The shop quotes one quantity and you cannot compare; setup is spread over the count |
| Material | Alloy and temper or grade: 6061-T6, 304 2B, A36, 1018 CRS | A question, or the shop's default alloy |
| Stock form | Plate, sheet gauge, bar size, tube wall, where it matters | The shop picks; cost and flatness follow the choice |
| Tolerances | A title block default plus the few features that need tighter | Everything quoted to the default; tight features found at inspection |
| Finish | Process, color, spec, thickness, and what stays bare | Quoted as bare, or with an assumed finish |
| Threads and inserts | Thread callout, depth, class; PEM part numbers and side | Tapped holes cut to a guessed class; hardware left out |
| Welding | Weld symbols or a weld class note, and whether it is structural or cosmetic | The shop picks a weld size and finish |
| Date needed | A real date, or none | Quoted to the shop's standard lead time |
| Ship-to | City and state, and dock or liftgate | Freight cannot be estimated; the quote assumes pickup at the shop |
Tolerances: the title block and the few that matter
A title block default such as two-place plus or minus 0.010 and three-place plus or minus 0.005 covers most of the part. Put the tighter tolerances on the features that need them: a bore for a bearing, a dowel hole pattern, a flatness callout on a mounting face. A drawing with a tight default on every dimension prices every dimension as tight, and the quote goes up for no gain.
Give geometric tolerances only where they matter and only with a datum scheme the shop can inspect to. A position callout without datums is a question.
Files: PDF first, STEP when there is a shape
The PDF drawing is the contract: it carries material, tolerances, finish and notes. A STEP file removes the back and forth on bends, contours and hole positions, and lets the shop program from the model. Send both when you have both. A DXF is only useful for flat parts cut from sheet; a STL is not a manufacturing file for machined or fabricated parts.
Name the files with the part number and revision, and put the revision on the drawing. A quote is tied to a revision; a drawing that changes after the quote changes the price.
Sending a package of parts
Machine builders usually need a dozen part numbers at once. Send them as one request with every drawing and model attached and the quantity per part number. A shop quotes the package, flags the parts it would rather send elsewhere (a sheet metal cover inside a machining package, a weldment inside a sheet metal package), and you get one set of prices to compare. If some parts are needed ahead of the rest, say which.
The questions you will be asked anyway
- Is this a one-time build or a repeating part? Repeating parts get fixtures and better unit prices.
- Do you want a first-article inspection report, and to what level? It is a line on the quote if you do.
- Do you supply material or does the shop? Default is the shop sources it.
- Is any of it export controlled? A controlled drawing is routed only to shops authorized for it, and Amerigo asks before anything is sent.
Questions buyers ask
- Do I need a formal drawing, or is a model enough?
- For a quote, a PDF with material, finish, quantity and the tolerances that matter is enough even if it is a dimensioned screenshot. For an order, the shop makes the part to the drawing, so the drawing has to say everything the part must be.
- What if I do not know the material?
- Say what the part does and where it lives (indoors, wash-down, outdoors, food contact) and the shop will propose one on the quote. The quote names the material; nothing is assumed silently.
- How does Amerigo read my drawing?
- When you attach a drawing, Amerigo reads it and lists the open questions a shop would ask, so you can answer them before the request goes out. It never fills in a number the drawing does not carry.
About Amerigo. Amerigo is the sourcing network for American manufacturing. More about Amerigo