3D printing projects
A workflow is a documented process that you’ll follow when 3D printing your products. It starts with designing your item in CAD software, then preparing the file for printing, creating your prototype, and testing the new product.
Some entrepreneurs avoid rigid workflows because they fear it will interrupt the creative process. In reality, you still have the freedom to experiment with new ideas and printing techniques within the parameters of your workflow. They just act as guardrails to make sure the product development process is consistent.
Your first prototype can be 3D-printed for less money and time. Maintain and calibrate your 3D printers.
3D printers are just like any other machine. If you take good care of them, they will last for years, but if you don’t, it will cost you money to fix or replace them. Here is a handy maintenance checklist for your equipment: Clean the machine to remove dust and filament buildup, particularly the nozzle.
Lubricate moving parts to prevent friction.
Check for loose screws or belts.
Updating software and firmware Replace faulty or broken parts.
3D printers also need calibrating to make sure that the machine uses the correct amount of material for each product. Calibration options are available on most printers to do this for you. Select the appropriate materials for various applications. There are several materials you can use when 3D printing: plastic, metal, and ceramic. However, there is no such thing as the “best” material because certain three-dimensional objects are compatible with various substances. Polylactic acid, for example, is ideal for 3D-printed toys because it’s cheap to source and biodegradable. Metal powder would be better suited to 3D printed jewelry where the items need to be more durable and sturdy.
Cost is also a factor in your material choice. “We can print a 3D model of a knife for $30 instead of creating tooling, which could cost a thousand dollars to iterate on a new version of a knife,” says Alex Commons of Bulat Kitchen. “I mean, it wouldn’t cost that much—you just make it by hand—but if you have particular contours or you’re using different materials or whatever it might be, it can be really expensive.”
Implement measures for quality control. High-quality products don’t just let you charge premium prices—they result in long-term revenue for your 3D printing business. Items won’t be returned by satisfied customers. They’re also more likely to come back and make multiple purchases.
The issue is: There’s a lot that can go wrong when 3D printing your own products. The materials you used might not have melted as expected, or the machine might need to be calibrated. Quality assurance measures can identify these issues and rectify them before they affect your customers.
“Quality is key to making sure our customers are happy,” says Plastiwave’s David Chacón. Utilizing dependable printers, ensuring that the design and file preparation are appropriate for the finished product, and selecting high-quality materials are our three main areas of focus. Before we deliver the item to the customer, we carefully inspect it for flaws after it has been printed to ensure that it meets our standards. 5 Tips to Make Your 3D Prints Cheaper
5 Tips to Make Your 3D Prints Cheaper
The most important thing for most people who are interested in 3D printing is getting a print of good quality for a reasonable price. As a result, it’s time to share a few straightforward tips that can greatly reduce your 3D printing costs. Compare Materials for 3D Printing Each material comes with its own price. That’s why comparing prices between (similar) materials makes sense. For example, you might want to print a prototype in the cheapest plastic material, or you may want a material suited for a particular purpose, such as our flexible rubber-like material. If you are not dead set on a certain material, then you should start by comparing the prices of similar materials and finishes.
A two-step approach is the best way to compare material prices: Take a look at our material pages to compare various materials in terms of their properties, manufacturing times, and design guidelines. Upload your 3D file here. You will see the price of your 3D print in 100+ materials and finishes immediately. This means that you can now compare which material is the cheapest for your item.
Standard Resin, for example, offers great quality at a great price. Standard Resin has a “get this part with support” option, which means that the part needs less manual labor and thus will be cheaper. And what’s best: in terms of quality, resolution, smoothness, and details, Standard Resin is definitely comparable to our other resins.
Compare materials screen
Play with Size to Make Your 3D Print Cheaper
In the world of 3D printing, the size of your print makes a difference. Keep in mind that decreasing its size means that it will be decreased in all three dimensions. And as a result, your print will become cheaper!
Let’s look at an example: at 15 cm in height, our adorable penguin costs 15452.78. Now, if we reduce the height of this penguin by 50%, the smaller 3D print will not cost half of the original price as you might think but around one-eighth of it (2118.64)! That’s because your print will be reduced in length, width, and height at the same time. The imaginary box around our original penguin could be filled not only by two but by eight smaller penguins.
Luckily, finding the best price for each size of your model is easy with our scaling tool. Once you have uploaded your model, you can simply up- or downscale your model according to your needs. The price for each material will automatically be updated.
Conclusion: Play around with the size of your 3D print, scale it down whenever possible, and save some money while you’re at it. Your best friend will be our scaling tool! 3D printing size comparison
Attach 3D Prints to Non-Printed Parts
This may seem odd to someone who works for a 3D printing company, but not everything needs to be 3D printed. 3D printing works its magic for sophisticated designs, customized models, or low-volume orders. This indicates that not all parts of your objects need to be printed. By attaching regular, non-3D-printed parts like metal rods, tubes, and blocks, 3D prints can always be improved. Understand Price Calculations
The starting point of any advanced price-reduction strategy. Before you can learn how to cut costs, you need to understand how online 3D printing services work. At first glance, this doesn’t seem to be an easy task: Online 3D printing services use complicated price algorithms to determine the costs of a 3D print. These price algorithms use various factors to calculate a price (such as the volume, the box around the model, surface area, etc.). And to top it all: these algorithms are different for each and every material.
It is extremely challenging to comprehend how the 3D printing service determines its prices if it does not provide this information to its customers. Now for the good news: our online 3D printing service, i.materialise, has publicly disclosed how we calculate our prices. This information takes away the guesswork and lets you concentrate on designing a low-cost 3D print. So, let’s get started! The fundamental factors that influence the price of a 3D print are.Model volume: The volume of your model is used to calculate the material cost (mm³).
Box around your model (bounding box): The amount of space your design will occupy in the printer is determined by creating an imaginary box around your model (X x Y x Z = mm3). Required machine volume: An imaginary shrink wrap around your model determines how much machine space your design will take up in the printer (the size of the shrink wrap depends on the geometry of your model).
Density: Your model’s price can be influenced by the ratio of the box surrounding it to the model volume. For instance, designs with a large surrounding box and a low model volume can have their prices adjusted (percent mm³/mm³). Orientation: The support generation and, consequently, the cost can be affected by the position of your model on the print platform. Model surface: Your model’s surface area (in mm²) can affect your pricing because it may affect post-production. Additionally, there might be startup costs or a minimum price for your 3D print…
Startup cost (fixed handling fee): This is a fixed cost independent of the parameters of your model (EUR/piece or /piece).
The minimum price that must be paid for each item that is ordered This cost disappears when the price exceeds the minimum price (/piece or /piece), unlike the startup cost. Now, this might sound complicated at first, but understanding these eight factors will help you to understand the price algorithms of all 3D printing materials. The price of your model is typically only affected by two of these factors. On our website, you can find a list of the materials, which details the factors that affect each material’s price. Number Five: A Quantity Discount A quantity discount can help you save money if you want to order the same model multiple times. This discount is applicable to two similar prints and increases with every further copy.
You can order several prints of your 3D file on our website by adjusting the quantity counter once you upload a 3D file. Doing this will heavily influence the price of your 3D prints—to your advantage. In order to test how big the price reduction for your 3D prints would be, we use a model of our very own mascot, the penguin, once again. This model has a height of 120 mm and requires a bounding box of 276 cm³. Our most well-liked nylon plastic, polyamide, has one of the highest volume discounts of any 3D printing material. Let’s examine this illustration in greater detail. This 120 mm tall Polyamide figurine costs 1490.02 when ordered only once. If you order a quantity of two prints, you will reduce the cost from 1490.02.48 per piece—a price reduction of 6.7%!
