CNC Machining Quote Software: What It Does and How to Use It

What It Does, in 30 Seconds

Ten in the morning, and the estimator at a small hydraulic manifold shop has three drawings on the desk with a price due before the end of the day. Reading the parameters, multiplying machine rate by machining time, then spreading post-processing and first-article setup across the batch: one to two hours per drawing on our project experience, which makes three drawings a full afternoon.

This page is the manual for the tool that does that first pass: what it can calculate, what each of the six steps asks you for, and why every AI-recognised feature has to be confirmed by hand before it is priced.

Three sentences to start with:

It is a free online CNC machining quote software — open the CNC quote calculator — and the costing parameters and records stay in your own browser;
It is a six-step wizard (the drawing upload is optional, and the part can be typed in by hand): drawing upload → part data → machining features → process and post-processing → price assumptions → estimate result;
What it returns is an indicative estimating range with three quote bands, not a quotation.

What it does	What it does not do
Costs a unit part from material, blank, batch size and feature rows	Does not replace drawing review, and does not issue a formal quotation
Sends the drawing to a cloud AI recognition service for candidate features, cross-references numbered balloons against the list, and gives a source text and a confidence per item	Does not read every drawing correctly; medium- and low-confidence items must be confirmed before they are priced
Keeps quote records in the local browser and shows a deviation rate once the actual price is entered	Quote records are not stored on a server, so they are gone when you change devices or clear the cache; drawings are kept for 30 days only

The Six-Step Manual: From Drawing to Estimate

Six steps take you from an upload to a price. The step bar is always visible and clickable, so you can jump around freely; the first five steps collect parameters and the sixth shows the result.

Step 1: Drawing Upload (Optional)

PNG / JPEG / WebP images, up to 10 MB each; PDF is not supported, so convert it to an image first (step 1 on the tool page).

Selecting the file already gives you a time estimate, with no need to submit: the page immediately shows the image size, the tier (low resolution / standard / large high-resolution image) and an expected recognition time of roughly X–Y minutes, queueing aside. Most drawings come back in 1–4 minutes; a small low-resolution image often takes 3.5–5.5 minutes or longer.
The upload requires a tick of consent first, in these words: “The drawing is sent to a cloud-based AI vision service for processing; the drawing and its recognition results are kept for 30 days and deleted automatically when that period ends; do not upload material that is subject to a confidentiality obligation or whose copyright belongs to a third party.” Without the tick you cannot submit — so confidential drawings and customer-restricted material should not be sent at all.
After submission a status line reports the wait the server gives: “Queued, roughly X min expected” → “Reading the drawing (about X min per run)”, polled automatically with no hard timeout that cancels it; past 15 minutes the page reports that the job is still being processed in the background and a refresh will keep watching.
When recognition finishes, the balloon-proofreading view opens (see the next section). If you only want a quick trial calculation, click “Skip — go straight to the part data →”.

Step 2: Part Data

This step (step 2 on the tool page) fixes the base every later cost is calculated on: part name and drawing number; material (one of eight — 45# steel, 304 stainless steel, aluminium 6061, brass H62, Q235, 40Cr, copper T2, POM — or left as not selected); blank form and overall dimensions (bar / plate / forging / casting, with a default allowance of 2–4 mm per side); batch size; number of re-fixturings; and whether it is a repeat order.

A repeat order, where the programme is reused, sends both the setup time and the fixture cost to zero. Two further drawing-alignment fields (which drawing governs, 2D or 3D, and whether it is the latest version — either can be left as “Not sure”) do not enter the calculation and are saved alongside the record.

Step 3: Machining Features

Feature rows are the bulk of the estimate. They are entered under six groups — Holes / Threads / Turning / Milling / Contours and special processes / Finishing (step 3 on the tool page) — one row per operation or per group of like features, carrying the type, quantity, size (M36, for example), depth or length, and blind or through.

The precision tier is the lever: IT11–12 ×1.0, IT8–9 ×1.2, IT6–7 ×1.5, all of them multiplying cutting time. “Not sure / to be confirmed” counts as ×1.0 and triggers the restraint logic in the step 6 result. Three sample part templates (valve body / shaft / plate) load in one click, and the precision returns to “Not sure” once a template is loaded.

Step 4: Process and Post-Processing

The machine route sets the machine rate (step 4 on the tool page), defaulting to a typical factory basis (¥/h): CNC lathe 50, three-axis 80, four-axis 120, five-axis 200, drill-tap 50.
Post-processing is one of six (black oxide, zinc plating, nickel plating, anodising, sandblasting, spray coating), priced on one of three bases: per kg of blank weight (the default), per piece, or per the area you enter by hand (dm²).
Do not overlook the two floors: the post-processing minimum charge and the minimum start-up charge. On small parts in small batches they are the largest item in the costing.

Step 5: Price Assumptions

This page (step 5 on the tool page) is folded into groups, and every assumption can be edited once expanded; a change shows up immediately in the price bar at the bottom and in the step 6 breakdown.

Assumption	Page default
Machine rate (CNC lathe / three-axis / four-axis / five-axis / drill-tap)	50 / 80 / 120 / 200 / 50 ¥/h
Material unit price (45# / 304 / 6061 / H62 / Q235 / 40Cr / T2 / POM)	5.5 / 17 / 23 / 45 / 4.5 / 6 / 50 / 12 ¥/kg
Material difficulty factor (45# = 1.0 reference)	aluminium 0.8, copper 0.9, Q235 0.9, stainless steel and 40Cr higher
Margin factor (end customer / trade peer)	×1.7 / ×1.25
Quote band	±30% (a display width, not a confidence interval)
VAT rate	13%, tax-exclusive by default, counted only when the switch is on

One rule of use: put your real machine rate in first, then save the record. The defaults are only a reference starting point.

Step 6: Estimate Result

Three ways to read the result area.

Cost breakdown: material cost, machining cost per feature row, clamping, setup, fixture cost and post-processing, plus the order-level costs; every row carries a “how it is worked out” note that jumps back to the step it came from.
Three quote bands: floor ×1.10 (the pre-tax red line), end customer ×1.7, trade peer ×1.25, each with its own ±30% band around it; a tax-inclusive figure is given as a separate version, tax-exclusive by default.
Quote records: fill in the part name and drawing number and the job saves to the local browser (parameters and inputs together, so it can be reloaded and reproduced at any time); enter the price you actually won and the ledger returns deviation rate = (actual price received − estimated unit cost) ÷ estimated unit cost × 100%.
From step 2 onward the price bar stays visible at the bottom; with no material selected, or with every feature row sitting at “not sure / to be confirmed”, only a range is given and the point price reads “—”.

Balloon Proofreading and the Confirmation Gate

AI drawing recognition produces a candidate list, not a completed form, and the page says so on its face: “No guarantee against misreads · check every number yourself”. Recognition does not push features straight into the costing. You go through them first in a drawing-on-the-left, list-on-the-right view, and that review is the core defence against misreads.

Drawing on the Left, List on the Right

On the left is the original drawing with numbered balloons: one numbered dot per candidate feature, placed at the coordinates read from the drawing, coloured green / yellow / red by confidence. On the right is the candidate list, grouped as Holes / Threads / Turning / Milling / Contours and special processes / Finishing, each item giving its type and its source text. Click a balloon and the matching list row turns blue; click a list row and the balloon on the drawing gains a blue ring.

Three Confidence Tiers, Colour-Coded

Green, high: reasonably confident, and the “Accept all N (high confidence only)” button at the top applies — with a second confirmation, which names how many items will be accepted and how many are still waiting.
Yellow, medium: read each one, then “Accept” it, or “Edit” it directly.
Red, low: labelled “Low confidence · confirm each item” and it has to be judged one by one; “Accept all” never sweeps these up.

The Confirmation Gate: Only Confirmed Items Are Priced

Every candidate sits in one of four states: Pending confirmation / Confirmed / Edited, pending confirmation / Rejected (not priced). Only items you have accepted, or carried through edit → save and confirm this item, become a costing feature row when you click “Apply to the form”. Pending and rejected items never enter the costing — that is the confirmation gate, and what it stops is a misread such as M12 recognised as M10 turning into part of a price.

Accept, Edit, Reject, Add a Missing Item

Accept: the item is right.
Edit: change the type or the source text (copied character for character from the drawing) and click “Save and confirm this item”; the recognition mapping runs again on the new value, and missing fields are not filled with invented defaults.
Reject: it was read wrong, or it was never a machining feature; it stays in the list marked “Rejected (not priced)” and its balloon fades on the drawing.
Add a missing item: where the drawing shows something the list does not, hold and drag a rectangle on the drawing to add it; the numbering interpolates from the nearest candidate (after item 12 come 12a, 12b). An added item does not become a costing row on its own — you enter its type and size by hand and confirm it first.

Confirmations and added items are stored in the local browser against the job, so a refresh or a reopened page picks up where you left off instead of making you click through everything again.

Small Drawings Switch to Grid Zones

On a small drawing (longest edge under 1,200 pixels) the coordinates are not accurate enough, so the page does not draw balloons and switches to a three-by-three grid instead: the list’s “location” column reads “Top right”, “Centre” and so on, and selecting an item flashes the whole cell rather than claiming an exact position.

One More Check Before You Apply

Compare the source text character by character against the drawing annotation (an M12 read as M10 throws off a whole block of machining time); line the quantities up against the hole groups and thread groups on the drawing.
Depth or length, and blind against through, are the easiest things to misread; fill the tolerance band and the surface roughness in from the drawing’s technical requirements instead of leaving them at the default “Not sure”.

Complex castings and scanned drawings noticeably reduce what recognition can do, and proofreading row by row is the safer habit there.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is there a free online CNC quote software?

Yes — this one: open the CNC quote calculator. The calculation runs locally in your browser, with no registration and no fee; only the drawing upload step keeps the drawing and its recognition result on the server for 30 days.

Where is the CNC quote calculator, and how do I start the first time?

Open the CNC quote calculator, load the “valve body” sample template, change the material and the batch size, go to step 5 and put your own factory’s machine rate in, then come back to step 6 and read the cost breakdown — a full round takes about five minutes.

How do I judge which machining quote software is any good?

Five things: does it show a cost breakdown; are the assumptions visible and editable; does it dare to give only a range when information is missing; does it make you confirm recognised results one by one; and does the data stay local or get uploaded. This one only estimates machining cost — it does not do orders, scheduling or finance.

How accurate is the number it gives?

It is an estimating reference, not a quotation. Every parameter is adjustable (rate, difficulty, loss, margin and tax are all in your hands) and a formal quote follows drawing review; the AI reads the drawing into candidate balloons first, and only what you have confirmed is priced.

Three Decisions Before You Start

Upload the drawing if you can, but fill the tolerance band yourself — whether you get a range or a point price hangs on that field.
Do not rush “Apply to the form”: clear the green tier first, then work through yellow and red one by one. The confirmation gate is what guards against misreads.
The defaults are not a conclusion. On first use, set the machine rate and the material prices to your own factory’s basis, save one record per job, and enter the winning price to watch the deviation rate.

Next Step: Have an Engineer Check It

Have the drawing (or a specification list), material, batch size, tolerance requirement, surface treatment and lead time ready, run the estimate yourself first, then send the result and the drawing over together — what an engineer checks is whether the process route and the machining-time assumptions hold up, not whether the tool’s own figures have been copied out correctly.

The tool entry point is fixed here: open the CNC quote calculator. The theory piece runs alongside it — how CNC machining cost is worked out sets out where each line of the cost breakdown comes from, and the two read better together.

References

Deep Reading

More systematic selection, procurement, or inspection guides.

How to Choose a Fastener Supplier: A Sourcing Playbookwhitepaper
A more systematic guide on a related selection or inspection topic.

CNC Machining Quote Software: Six Steps from Drawing to Quote