Built by engineers, for people who build things
Our story
From the machine shop to the browser. AlwaysReach exists so useful software is easy to find, free to use, and not locked behind a subscription.
AlwaysReach is an independent free tools site — engineering, CAD, design and everyday utilities, with no account. The engineering side started with the team behind Accurate Industries.
From the machine shop to the browser
Useful tools shouldn't be difficult to find, expensive to use, or locked behind a subscription.
The story begins with Accurate Industries, a precision tooling business in Pune built around decades of practical engineering work.
Sandeep Sawant has worked in wire-cut EDM and programming since 1980, during the early years of wire-cut machining in India. Through tooling, dies, moulds, precision machining and manufacturing, he spent those decades on the calculations, tolerances and decisions that engineers and toolmakers still make every day.
That experience became the foundation for something more modern.
Then came software
Sameer Sawant grew up around engineering and manufacturing through Accurate Industries, then moved into software — backend systems, mobile applications and the modern web.
Sameer Sawant entered software engineering without a formal computer-science degree, building his career through hands-on development and eventually bringing that experience back into the family engineering business.
Engineering tells us what needs to be solved. Software lets us make it accessible.
After working in software and returning to India, the two worlds met: the practical knowledge of a manufacturing shop, and the speed of software. That became AlwaysReach.
Why is it free?
Because the best tools are often the simplest ones.
A machinist shouldn't have to hunt a dozen sites for a tolerance. A designer shouldn't need expensive software just to try a colour. A developer shouldn't install an application to format JSON. An engineer shouldn't pay a subscription to weigh a plate or a STEP solid.
So we build these tools to be free, fast, accessible and useful. Where possible, the work runs in your browser — no account, and your files stay on the device. The project is supported through sustainable revenue rather than charging people for basic utility.
If the tools are useful, use them. Share them. Bookmark them. That is the point. There are 14 tools live today, grouped as Engineering, Design, Utilities, with room to grow.
Built on real-world experience
AlwaysReach is not meant to be another site of generic calculators. The engineering side comes from a business that has spent decades on tooling, dies, moulds, precision machining and wire EDM. The software side comes from building actual systems and applications.
Read more on Accurate Industries, or visit the shop at accurate.industries.
For the people who build
- Engineers and toolmakersMaterial weight, ISO fits, threads, tap drills and STEP models — the jobs that show up on a drawing and a quotation.
- CAD usersOpen a .STEP, .STP, .IGES or .IGS file, check dimensions, and estimate mass. The viewer and the weight calculator also open a SolidWorks part, a 3D Studio mesh, and a Rhino file that already has a display mesh. The converter writes STEP and IGES only. No CAD seat required for a first look.
- STEP, STP, IGES & IGS weightWeigh a .STEP, .STP, .IGES or .IGS solid in the browser — steel, aluminium or a custom density. A SolidWorks part, a .3ds mesh, and a Rhino file are weighed on the same page. Nothing is uploaded.
- DesignersHEX, palettes, contrast and a live UI preview — enough to decide a colour without opening a design suite.
- Developers and everyone elseJSON, diffs, case, QR codes and image compression. Small tools that should stay small.
Accuracy
Engineering numbers follow common shop practice and ISO tables — densities, 75% tap drills, ISO 286 IT grades. They are estimators and educational references, not a substitute for the current standard, a mill certificate, or a qualified engineer's sign-off.
How the charts are kept
Sandeep Sawant checks a chart against the tables used at Accurate Industries. Sameer Sawant publishes that chart on the calculator that already answers the question. A correction goes through the feedback form. The note on sources is how the charts are kept. Wire-cut allowance, which has no calculator of its own, is spark gap and skim stock.
Questions about the tools or the shop? Contact us.