Design decisions have a direct impact on the overall cost of your custom part. During the design process, you should consider the amount of material you’d like to use, whether you’ll need support structures and what post-processing will be required.
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Let’s go over the key design considerations that will affect the final cost of your custom parts.
The total volume of your part will significantly affect how much it costs to print. Incremental reductions in part size can actually lower the cost quite a bit.
Printing support structures requires extra materials, which quickly raises the cost of any 3D-printed component. It’s important to remember the additional price that comes with support structures when choosing the right manufacturing technology.
FDM, for instance, is generally the cheapest 3D printing process available, until you start producing complex parts that need support structures to print properly. SLS and MJF have a higher base cost than FDM, but as powder bed fusion technologies, you don’t need to think about the extra cost of support structures with these processes.
How you design the geometry of your part dictates the amount of material and support structures you’ll need when it comes time to 3D print the part. To reduce geometry costs, you can split the part model into several components, reduce the length or angle of overhangs and reorient the model on the printing base to minimize support structures.
Here are several essential design tips and tricks that will help to reduce the cost of 3D printing and ensure that your designs translate into pristine 3D-printed components.
Use gradual transitions between surfaces that border one another
Make sure you don’t have significant differences in the cross-section and volume of your part
Opt for rounder corners, as sharp corners can create residual stress on the workpiece
Avoid buckling or warping by removing thin, unsupported walls (especially if they are unnecessarily high)
Flatten out shallow angles on surfaces to avoid stair-stepping
Design for manufacturability analysis as early as possible
Avoid over-tolerancing your parts, as it leads to printing with thinner layers and extra secondary machining requirements
If producing your model to scale isn’t crucial—for example, if you’re producing a visual prototype—you can 3D print a smaller part or set of parts to significantly reduce your manufacturing costs.
It’s essential to remember that we’re thinking in three dimensions. A 10x10x10 cm cube has double the volume of an 8x8x8 cm cube, so even a small reduction in the size of your model can mean having to use far less material to produce a part that still serves the desired function.
One way to scale your 3D model is to use the free software Netfabb. Here’s how:
Step 1: Download and install the free version of Netfabb.
Step 2: Open your model, click on the “Scale Part” button in the menu bar and adjust the size of your model. The software uses the millimeter unit by default, but you can change this in settings.
Step 3: Save your scaled model by going to the upper left of the user interface and navigating from Part > Export Part > as STL (binary).
Step 4: Upload your design to Protolabs Network's platform for 3D printing. Remember to specify the same units as you used in Netfabb.
You can also watch this video on how to scale a 3D model in Netfabb.
Hollowing out your part in the design stage is an effective way to substantially reduce the costs of 3D printing.
While FDM printers produce semi-hollow parts with an internal infill structure by default, other 3D printing technologies like SLA, SLS and MJF may produce parts that are 100% solid unless the original model is already hollow. If your part doesn’t have to be solid throughout, we recommend hollowing out your 3D CAD model.
Of course, this recommendation only applies to powder-based technologies and comes with the extra design tip to add escape holes so unfused materials can be removed after printing. If you hollow out your design for SLA, it may be challenging to remove resin when the part is complete.
Here is a step-by-step guide to hollowing your model using the free Meshmixer software.
Step 1: Download and install Meshmixer.
Step 2: Open your model and click Edit > Hollow and select your wall thickness. Use 2 mm-thick walls as a safe lower limit for all 3D printing processes.
Step 3: Add escape holes to your model so you can remove excess material after printing. Double-click the surface of your model in Meshmixer to add these. We recommend adding escape holes in places that aren’t normally visible in the use of your part. If you’re printing with SLS, make sure to add 2 or more holes with a diameter of at least 5 mm.
Step 4: Click Accept and export your model as an STL file.
You can also watch this video on how to hollow out your model using Meshmixer. As you will see, a few minutes of editing a CAD file may significantly impact the final cost of 3D printing custom parts.
FDM 3D printing often requires support structures to print parts with overhangs. This leads to more materials and additional post-processing to remove the support structures and smooth out the surface of the part. Eliminating the need for
support structures is a viable way to reduce the cost of FDM.
We recommend two options for eliminating the need for support structures in your FDM design.
The first option is to design your part with overhang angles greater than 45 degrees.
To dive deeper into support structures in FDM and other 3D printing methods, check out this article. You can also find our complete design guidelines for FDM here.
The second option is to split your model into two or more parts that don’t require support structures. You can assemble these pieces after 3D printing is complete.
Here is a short tutorial on how to do this in Netfabb:
Step 1: Download and install the free version of Netfabb.
Step 2: Open your model in Netfabb. Select the “Cuts” field and specify the location and angle where you want to split the part. Make sure each component has a flat surface to be used as a base for printing.
Step 3: When you’re happy with the placement, click on “Execute Cut” and export your file to STL.
You can also watch this video on how to split your model for FDM in Netfabb.
While there are many extra costs to watch out for throughout the 3D printing process, overall the value you get with this additive manufacturing technology far outweighs an unexpectedly high price tag.
3D printing has the incredible potential to reduce your part count, produce parts that are lighter and more structurally sound and lower the cost of assembly. Using 3D printing to manufacture parts means gaining access to part features that are either impossible or much more challenging to achieve with traditional methods.
As well, it’s vital to remember that 3D printing doesn’t involve fixtures, molds and different types of tooling. This balances out those extra costs you’ve seen so far. What’s most important is to consider the overall value you get with 3D printing, which is incredibly impressive for a growing list of applications and industries. A few extra costs associated with 3D printing now may reduce manufacturing costs in the long run, and leave you with more design freedom and better parts.
Every engineering team that we’ve talked to over the decades has had three simple goals: save time, save money, and beat the competitor. Well, 3D printing can achieve all three of these goals. Compared to traditional machining, it’s a better option in a lot of scenarios.
In this guide, we’ll explain it. We’re going to outline exactly how your engineering team can save time and money with 3D printing. We’ll give you specific examples so you understand how 3D printing can fit into your operation.
3D printing comes in a lot of flavors. You can use plastic-based printers like an FDM (which you’re probably familiar with). The parts are very inexpensive, but not as strong. The machines themselves are also affordable and it’s easy to get started with them.
The next option is SLA, which uses resin and ultraviolet rays to make stronger parts. The machine is a little slower, more expensive, and harder to use, but the final part is much sturdier.
Another option for engineers to know about is DMLS printing. This is 3D printing that makes parts out of actual metal. It uses a laser to fuse together metal powder into a solid part, then an oven to cure it together.
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With a DMLS printer, you can make parts out of titanium, stainless steel, or aluminum. The final part looks, acts, and feels just like a part you would machine on a CNC milling machine. The difference? It was 3D printed at a fraction of the cost and turnaround time.
To get your parts 3D printed, you can either buy and operate your own 3D printer in-house, or you can contract the work through a commercial 3D printing shop.
If you handle manufacturing or any fabrication within your company, there’s a good reason to have an in-house 3D printer. For design firms, maybe you can stick with outsourced 3D printing shops, since the need isn’t as prevalent.
3D printing is great for almost any application. We have customers in the aerospace, automotive, medical, electronics, consumer products, defense, and logistics industries (just to name a few) that have plenty of applications for 3D printing. Regardless of your industry, there’s a good chance that you can benefit from a 3D-printed part.
We strongly believe that no engineering team is complete without a 3D printer. The benefits are seemingly endless. These printers mesh perfectly with your 3D CAD models, so it’s easy to implement. Let’s discuss how your engineering team can save time and money by 3D printing parts.
3D printing is one of the best options for prototyping a part. It’s a quick and affordable way to get parts made, re-made, and made again.
During prototyping, there are a lot of things going on. Your project probably can’t continue until you flesh out the prototype and ensure the design is perfect for the next phase.
As a result, there’s a lot of pressure when it comes to running the prototyping phase. Your budget and timeline would both be better off if you 3D print the prototype.
Instead of waiting for a machinist to take care of your part, you can have the print made within a few hours and have a new version prepared for printing tomorrow.
Another potential problem during the prototyping phase is how many iterations you need to go through. It’s commonplace to revisit your design multiple times before moving into production.
Every iteration adds even more time and money if you choose traditional machining methods to get the part made. All of these issues go away with 3D printing. Again, it’s much more affordable and the turnaround times are quicker.
It’s common to pay $20 and wait 2 days for a 3D-printed part that would otherwise cost $200 and require 2 weeks of waiting through a machine shop. This is the beauty of 3D printing as compared to machining a part.
A traditional machine shop has certain limitations when it comes to custom parts. Certain features can’t be made, and the parts can’t be too intricate. The more customized and unique the part is, the more expensive it is.
With 3D printing, the machine doesn’t care how intricate or customized the part is. The price is going to be the same, it just depends on how much material you use.
3D printing is built from 3D CAD models, and they’re pretty limitless. It means that you can put together a funky 3D model right now, and have it printed and on your desk tomorrow morning without any problems.
When there are limits to your design work, things will slow down, and the results might not be perfect for your operation. The compromises could hurt the function of the part.
By using a 3D printer to get rid of these limits, your engineering design team will enjoy more freedom, parts that work better, and more flexibility.
We keep mentioning the price, and we want to bring it up again. The cost of 3D printing a part is significantly less expensive than machining the part.
With machining, you need to consider raw material costs (metal is expensive), labor time for the machinist to make the part, logistics issues of getting the part delivered to you, and added costs that go towards the machine shop’s profits that keep their shop running.
If you have an in-house 3D printer, you need to pay for the material used… and that’s it.
3D printing filament is incredibly affordable. Printing with plastic might cost you pennies or dollars for a full part. Doing the same print with a DMLS metal printer might bump the price up to $10 to $100, depending on how much metal powder is used.
Comparatively, the same part made in a machine shop will easily be hundreds of dollars. It’s very rare to get double-digit quotes from a machine shop.
Every single print you make on your 3D printer will save you that money. How long until the printer pays for itself?
Destructive testing is often a part of the initial prototyping and design phase of a part. It involves doing thermal, stress, cyclic, and pressure testing until the part breaks.
If you can 3D print the parts, then you can make a batch of six parts for these tests overnight. In the morning, you can run all of the destructive tests and truly break the parts.
Doing the same operation with machined parts wastes time and money. It feels even worse, since these parts are built just to be broken. You’re better off setting a pile of money on fire.
3D printing makes it very quick and affordable to run exhaustive destructive tests.
Later in your process, you might be gearing up for mass production. Alternatively, maybe you just need to make a unique one-off part to put into your product.
In either case, 3D printing will help you get to your goal. For mass production, a 3D-printed part can be used to create the mold for a urethane-cast production run. Even better, you can use a metal 3D printer to make the physical tooling with cavities that are used in an injection molding machine.
That alone can save you upwards of $100,000 each mold. Yes, injection molding tooling is incredibly expensive and typically takes 16 weeks to make, at a minimum.
You can 3D print the same tooling in metal for maybe $200 and less than a day of effort. For one-off machining, your 3D printed part can be used for testing, proof of concept, checking the fitment, getting stakeholder buy-in, or to getting funding.
When you 3D print a part, you don’t need to make a 2D detailed drawing. A machine shop won’t be reading the dimensions and creating the part, so these drawings are useless.
Instead, the 3D printer will accept the 3D model on your CAD program. It gets converted to an STL and then into a series of G-code before running through your 3D printer.
Typically, it takes as long to make a 3D model as it does to make the 2D machining drawings. That means that each part can be done twice as fast, since the machined drawings will be skipped altogether.
Whenever you design something with tight tolerances, it translates to a much more expensive quote for fabrication. Trying to make a precision part that has tolerances within 0.005” might even require a specialized shop to do the manufacturing.
With 3D printing, tight tolerances are the default. Even an entry-level machine can create parts with tolerances down to 0.005” and the operating price doesn’t change at all. Your parts are the same price. When tolerances matter, consider 3D printing.
There’s a nice shortcut that you can use when it comes to reverse engineering. Instead of measuring, drafting, drawing, and modeling a part, you can do it in two steps:
3D scan it, then 3D print it. This operation takes a few minutes to complete, then the 3D-printed part will be ready in a few hours.
Compared to the days or weeks of effort doing the traditional method, this is a no-brainer.
You just saved a week of engineering time that you can place somewhere else. You also saved all the money you would have otherwise spent on labor costs to do all that.
Whenever a new product is introduced, it has to go through a proof of concept phase. This involves making the part and making sure it actually works.
The more novel the solution, the more proving you need to do. With 3D printing, you can quickly prove out your concept and continue through the product lifecycle.
As you’ve probably noticed by now, 3D printing saves time in almost every phase of design and production.
A fitment check is another very important test before going to production. In this case, you’re going to put your part into the process line, on the assembly, or in the machine to see if it fits correctly.
Even though something fits nicely on your screen in the 3D model, it might not fit in real life. This is why fitment checks are essential before getting too far.
A 3D-printed plastic part is really great at fitment checks. Even if the final part will be metal, you can check the dimensional clearances and tolerance requirements with a plastic part.
The best part? The plastic 3D-printed part will be a fraction of the cost and be done in a few hours.
You can realistically design, 3D print, and check the fit of a part all within the same working day. It doesn’t get much better than that.
This streamlines your project while saving you money.
As you just saw, 3D printers can save your engineering team a ton of time and money. During almost any phase of your project, a 3D printer can be used to help. All you need is a great 3D model to get started. Need help making these models and expediting your project?
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