Custom 3D Printing Services

What 3D printing is for

Additive manufacturing builds a part by adding material layer by layer rather than removing it from a block. That single difference is what makes it useful: there is no tool to reach into the part, no cutter radius to leave behind, and no tooling to pay for before the first piece exists.

The three situations where that matters most are worth stating plainly.

The geometry cannot be machined economically. Internal channels that curve, lattice structures, hollow sections with no access, parts that would need to be made in several pieces and joined. A cutting tool has to be able to reach the surface it is cutting; an additive process does not.

The quantity is too small to justify tooling. A single part, or five, or twenty. There is no die to cut and no fixture to build, so the first part costs the same as the hundredth — which is the opposite of how casting and moulding behave.

The design is still moving. Where a part may change next week, a route with no tooling is a route you can change next week too.

The honest corollary is that 3D printing is not a replacement for machining. Where a part has to hold a tight tolerance, take a machined surface finish, or be produced in any real quantity, machining is still the faster and cheaper answer. The two processes do different jobs, and the interesting question is usually which half of a job belongs to each.

The processes we arrange

Additive covers a family of processes rather than one, and they differ in how the layers are formed, what materials they accept and what the resulting part can do.

Process	How it works	Suits
SLA	A laser cures liquid resin layer by layer	Fine detail, smooth surfaces, visual models
SLS	A laser sinters powder, layer by layer	Functional nylon parts, no support structures needed
MJF	Powder is fused by an agent and heat	Functional nylon parts, good consistency across a build
FDM	Thermoplastic filament is extruded	Simple parts, large sizes, quick checks
Metal printing	Metal powder fused by laser	Metal parts with geometry that cannot be machined

The distinction that matters most to a buyer is between resin processes and powder processes. Resin gives a finer surface and better detail, and is usually the choice for a visual model. Powder-based nylon gives a part that behaves like a part — it can be snapped, loaded, threaded and used — which is what most functional prototypes need.

Work is arranged through our vetted partner network and managed as one job with any machining that follows, rather than being handed off as a separate errand. The materials page lists the grades we run across all processes.

Materials

We name only the grades we have confirmed we can supply.

Material	Process	Typical use
Nylon PA 2200	SLS / MJF	Functional prototypes, brackets, housings, living hinges
TPU	Powder and filament processes	Flexible parts, grips, seals, impact covers
Aluminium AlSi10Mg	Metal printing	Lightweight metal parts with geometry that machining cannot reach
Engineering plastics	Per process	See the materials page for the full confirmed range

Where a drawing calls for a grade outside that list, the right move is to say what the part has to do rather than to assume a substitution. Additive material properties vary more between suppliers than machined metal does, and confirming availability before quoting is better than discovering it afterwards.

Tolerance, and where printing stops

Additive processes build in layers, and that shapes what they can achieve. Layer thickness, thermal shrinkage, support removal and the orientation of the part in the build all affect the result, and the achievable tolerance is looser than a cutting process can hold.

The practical guidance:

• Treat the printed form as the shape, not the accuracy. Where a feature has to be exact, it is machined afterwards.
• Orientation affects more than the surface. A part printed in one orientation can differ measurably from the same part printed in another, in strength as well as finish.
• Small features and thin walls have process limits. What is achievable depends on the process, so confirm on the drawing rather than assuming.

Where a printed part needs accuracy, the hybrid route solves it: print near-net, then machine the critical features on our floor to ±0.01 mm with ISO 2768-m as the general tolerance block. Bores, sealing faces, threads and locating diameters all benefit — see tolerances we hold for what the machining stage delivers.

Design rules that change the price

Additive design is different from machined design, and a part designed for one is rarely efficient in the other.

Wall thickness. Every process has a minimum, and it is thicker than a machined wall can be. Very thin walls may print but not reliably, and the failure is not always visible.

Support structures. Some processes need supports under overhangs, which have to be removed afterwards and leave a mark. Others work in a powder bed that supports the part itself, which is why SLS and MJF handle complex geometry so well.

Trapped material. Hollow sections and internal channels have to let unused powder or resin out. A closed cavity is a cavity you cannot empty, and a sealed void inside a part is a problem waiting to appear.

Orientation. The build direction decides where layer lines run, which affects both the appearance and the strength of the part. A feature that loads across the layers behaves differently from one that loads along them.

Threads. Printed threads are possible but weaker than cut threads, and where a thread has to take load the answer is usually to print a pilot and cut the thread afterwards.

None of this is a reason to avoid the process. It is the set of decisions that turn a printable model into a good printed part, and raising them at the enquiry costs nothing.

Documents and shipping

Every order ships with pre-shipment photos of the actual parts before dispatch. Where the additive supplier issues a material certificate, that ships with the batch as well.

For the machining stage of a hybrid route, the same documents apply as for any machined part: a material certificate (MTR) traceable to the mill heat, plus the pre-shipment photos. What ships with an order is set out on the quality documents page.

Orders for printed parts have no minimum quantity. Where a project moves from a printed prototype into machined production, orders for the machined stage start at 50 pieces per style and material, with samples from a single piece in 5–10 days and production in 25–35 days after sample approval.

How to start

Send the model or drawing, the quantity, and what the part has to do — whether it is a fit check, a functional test, a display model or a production component. The reply comes back within 24 hours with DFM feedback that says which process suits it, what the achievable tolerance is, and whether a hybrid route of print-then-machine would give a better part for the same money.