FDM 3D Printing
FDM 3D printing is the process of melting a plastic filament (or pellets) and depositing it through a nozzle to produce a part. FDM is great for parts that need to be cheap, strong, and can handle a surface finish that is not perfectly uniform.
We have machines capable of printing parts in a wide variety of materials, resolutions, and sizes.
We offer a number of materials that vary based on part size. Our materials are separated into a few categories below.
Standard Materials
Includes typical FDM materials like PLA, PETG, firm TPU, and ABS. These materials are inexpensive and great for prototyping non demanding components or finished parts that are not exposed to harsh conditions. These materials can be printed on our large machines, with dimensions up to 1 meter in all axes.
Technical Materials
These are more challenging materials to FDM 3D print, such as ASA, PP (Polypropylene), soft TPU/TPE, PA6 (Nylon 6), (Polycarbonate), PPA, PPS, and carbon fiber filled materials. These materials are a bit more challenging to print either due to temperature requirements, anti-warp measures, or environmental concerns during printing. These need to be printed in some of our specialized machines with a max size of 500mm in each axis.
High Performance Materials
These Materials require very specific temperature requirements and environments to print correctly, limiting the size of parts that we can print to 200mm. Some materials that fall into this category are; PEI, PEKK, POM, and PEEK.
FAQ’s
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Currently, our maximum part size is 1 meter³, or a little over 3 feet in all directions. These machines are not able to print every one of our materials, but most standard and several of our technical materials can be printed this large.
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Yes, but it depends on the specific material combination. Some materials are compatible with each other and some are not, if you are in need of a specific combination of properties let us know and we can work with you to find a solution!
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It depends. Different materials, part sizes, and quantities will change the price significantly. However, standard materials and small/low infill parts can start at a few dollars per print, especially in large volume orders.
When you reach out to us, please let us know all of your constraints (including budget) and what your priorities are so we can help you select the best material and process for the job. -
Our pricing is calculated by a few factors.
Part Mass, which is a rate that covers the cost of material for each part, plus an extra allotment as a safety net in the event of a print failure or if we need to re-do a part for some reason.
Print Time, which covers the cost of electricity, machine maintenance, investment in new hardware, and manpower needed to run the machines.
Engineering Time, which covers the wages needed to prepare parts for 3D printing, que files to the machines, and post process prints after they have been removed from the machines.
Urgency, making parts faster than normal requires late hours and re-working of production schedules, which adds to the cost of production.
Quantity, larger orders of parts will cost less per part than a smaller order. This is because we are able to continue production seamlessly instead of having to switch over to new materials, files, and post processing steps which saves time for each part. Savings will vary, but in general the price will always go down as the quantity of an identical part increases.
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Yes! We are able to install threaded inserts, studs, plates, magnets, electronics, and several other types of hardware in our FDM printed parts. Customers can even supply these parts to us and we will install them during or after the print is complete.
Inserts and threaded plates are some of our favorite ways to add strong metal threads to parts so that they can be assembled and disassembled frequently with little risk of wear and tear. -
Of course! We understand that most of our customers are not well acquainted with all of the various materials available for FDM 3D printing, so we are happy to provide advice and help select the best material for your use case.
Our goal is to fit you with the right material for the job, so we make a point to not upsell you on a material you don’t need and will point you in a more cost effective direction whenever possible. -
Yes, but with some caveats. We have a production line capable of producing filament from pellets, as well as several pellet extruders that print directly from pelletized plastic, both of which can be used with customer supplied materials. However, we cannot guarantee that a customer provided plastic will perform well 3D printed, as the chemistry and material properties of plastics optimized for 3D printing are rather complicated. We are happy to run small scale feasibility studies for customers who are experimenting with unique materials before moving on to production.
We can also print with various specific brands and materials with additives outside of our list of materials. Things like ESD, glass fiber filled, coextruded materials, and other specialty materials are options, contact us to see if we are able to work with a specific material that you are interested in. -
Post processing varies a bit by material and part size. Our main methods of post processing are; deburring, sanding, resin coating, prime & painting, and machining. Depending on what qualities you need, we can help you select a post processing method that fits your requirements.
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No … for now.
We are working on developing some of our large format, high temperature, and high speed machines into products that can be sold, but we are not quite ready to officially release them yet.
We have produced a few custom machines for specific customers and are open to discussing commissioned machines, however these are built to order machines that require time and development before delivery.