The runs nobody else wants.
Injection moulders want 10,000 units and a tooling cheque. Machine shops want a production contract. We built Hefty Ventures for the gap in between — the order that is too big to make on a desk and too small for anyone to return your call about.
Typical engagement
- Run size
- From 10 pieces, no ceiling
- First parts
- 3 – 10 business days
- Repeat runs
- No new setup within 90 days
- Tooling cost
- None
- Design changes
- Free between runs
That last line is the real advantage of additive for low volume: revision 4 costs the same as revision 1.
If you have been told "that quantity isn't worth our time", start here
These are the jobs that fill our week.
Hardware startups
You need 50 units for a pilot, a trade show or your first paying customers — not 10,000 in a warehouse. We make the pilot batch, then the next one when the design settles.
Small manufacturers
Jigs, fixtures, guards, guides and line-side tooling. Usually faster and an order of magnitude cheaper than having them machined, and we can revise them next week when the line changes.
Service & repair businesses
Obsolete or discontinued parts, reverse-engineered from a sample or a drawing. We keep the file so the next batch is a one-line email.
Product designers & agencies
Appearance models, functional prototypes and small presentation runs, finished to a standard you can put in front of a client.
Installers & integrators
Brackets, mounts, adapters and enclosures in the exact quantity a job needs, drilled and kitted per site.
E-commerce & makers scaling up
You have outgrown your own printers and need someone to take the production headache while you keep selling. We batch, finish, pack and ship.
In house, in Toronto
Everything below happens under our own roof, which is why we can promise a date and hold it.
- FDM production printing — PLA, PETG and ABS, up to 250 × 250 × 250 mm, multiple machines running in parallel for batch work.
- Support removal and finishing — deburring, trimming, sanding, priming and paint prep.
- Threaded inserts and fasteners — heat-set brass inserts, press-fits, tapping, captive nuts and studs.
- Bonding and assembly — solvent welding, structural adhesives, gaskets, magnets, bearings, labels.
- Light secondary machining — drilling and reaming critical holes, facing mating surfaces to tolerance.
- Kitting and packaging — bagged and labelled per unit, sub-assemblies, retail-ready packing, drop-ship to your customer.
- First-article inspection — measured against your drawing, with a report on request.
- Sectioning and bonding for oversize parts — parts larger than the build envelope split on sensible seams, printed, then joined and finished.
Everything else, managed
There are processes we do not run ourselves, and we will not pretend otherwise. When your job needs one, we place it with a partner we have used before — local where speed or oversight matters, overseas where cost is the deciding factor — and we stay the single point of contact and single invoice.
Commonly sourced through partners
Final assembly is always done in Canada. Components may come from wherever makes sense for your budget, but the finished product is put together, inspected and packed here.
From first sample to steady repeat orders
Review & DFM
Send files or a sample. Within one business day you get a quote, a lead time, and specific notes on anything that will print badly — wall thickness, support scars on a cosmetic face, a hole that wants reaming.
First article
We make one, you check it in your assembly. Cheap insurance, and it is the only honest way to find the surprises. No setup charge again when you approve it.
Production run
Batched across machines, finished, assembled, counted and inspected. Your tracking page updates at each stage.
Repeat & revise
Your files and settings stay on file. Reorders are an email; a design revision costs nothing but the print time.
When we are the wrong choice
We would rather tell you now than take your money and disappoint you.
- You need 5,000+ identical parts. Past roughly a thousand, injection moulding usually wins on unit cost. We will say so, and we can help you get the tool made.
- You need tolerances tighter than ±0.1 mm. That is machining territory. We can have it machined through a partner instead of pretending FDM will hold it.
- The part must be food-safe, sterile or certified. FDM has layer lines that trap contaminants. Ask us and we will point you at the right process.
- It needs to survive above 100 °C or full UV exposure. ABS gets you some of the way. Beyond that you want a different material family.
The things that actually matter
- A real date. Quoted in business days, tracked on your order page, and if it slips you hear it from us first.
- One person who knows your job. No account manager relay. The person who answers your email has seen your parts.
- Your IP respected. Files used only to make your parts. NDAs welcome, deletion on request.
- Honest DFM feedback. Free, before you commit, even if it costs us the order.
- No minimum contract. Order 10 parts once and never come back — that is a perfectly good customer.
Contract manufacturing FAQ
What file formats do you accept for production work?
STL for instant quoting. For production we would rather have STEP, and better still a dimensioned drawing telling us which features are critical. We also work from 3MF, IGES, SolidWorks, Fusion 360 and physical samples we can measure.
Can you hold inventory and ship as we need it?
Yes. For repeat customers we will print a run, hold it here and release against your schedule, including drop-shipping straight to your customers with your packing slip. Talk to us about volumes and we will work out a sensible arrangement.
Do you sign NDAs?
Routinely. Send yours with your enquiry, or ask for ours. Either way, your files are used only to make your parts and are never shown to anyone outside the job.
What are your payment terms for ongoing work?
First order is normally paid up front — card, e-transfer or wire. After that, Net 15 on request for registered businesses, and Net 30 for established accounts with regular volume.
Who owns the tooling and print profiles you develop?
You own your design. The print profiles and fixtures we develop to make it are ours, but we will never use them for anyone else's parts, and we keep them so your reorders match your first article.
How do you handle a part that fails inspection?
We reprint it at our cost before it ships. If a defect gets past us and reaches you, tell us within 30 days and we replace the affected pieces — no argument, no restocking games.