3D printing companies

[xm607]

Does anyone use 3rd party’s (ie 3D printing companies other than Shapeways) for their 3D printing needs?

steve.

[Mike Harvey]

I have used Hexa-cubed with satisfting results.

[JSModels]

I use both Hardy's Hobbies and Sparkshot Custom Creations for 3D printed stuff (resin prints) and have no complaints about either. I would happily recommend both of those.

 

Jonathan

[Quarryscapes]

Hexa Cubed, 3D Labs, i.Materialise, Sculpteo to name a few I've used. James at Hexa is my first choice for resin printing stuff, Have never seen results like his from the same printer anywhere else. 

[Paul_sterling]

I've had a couple of people request prints from myself before, which has worked well, but by and large I print my own work, as I can tune the cad as required. I generally think my work comes out quite well, and feedback has been pretty good. 

 

 

I haven't used shapeways, as they seemed to become quite expensive a while back, and by feedback from others, their print technology seems to have become dated. 

 

What I will say is,for anyone who has the means to produce CAD, I'd encourage you to invest in a printer of your own if you can accommodate it, the benefits of being self-contained are substantial, particularly with development work, as you can quickly rack up the cost of a printer in repeat prints when trialling your work. 

 

Paul. 

Edited May 14, 2021 by Paul_sterling

[NScaleNotes]

I've used Shapeways and iMaterialise. Both good in their own way but I have always have hassles with going under their minimums even though they subsequently print without problems.

 

So recently I experimented with some different companies with higher resolution machines with even lower minimums and different resins; the one based in the UK was SGD https://www.sgd3d.co.uk/. Now a very good choice as most of the big 3D printers are based in mainland Europe with all the potential shipping issues. SGD produced some very finely detailed, very strong models for me at very good prices, worth checking out if you want something UK based. My only complaint was the packing of the final objects but I'm sure that can be worked out. I think I'll be sending my next models there for printing.

 

I've also tried an Italian company called Fama3d https://www.fama3d.it/en/. If you want multiples of the same (known good*) model these guys are brilliant as they have very low prices for more than one copy of something. Perhaps not so much since Brexit unfortunately as they don't take Italian VAT off so you risk being double taxed plus all the other possible shipping costs. Interestingly though, even if I'd been double taxed all of the models would still have been cheaper than being printed by anyone else.

* I say know good because it'd be a very expensive way to test/prototype a model

 

I was going to try FacFox but even though they offer amazing minimum part and wall thicknesses on their ultra-high resolution printers at fair prices they won't let you use them because they say it'd probably break in transit. Oh well, their loss plus that led me to find SGD so it didn't work out badly.

[Quarryscapes]

4 hours ago, NScaleNotes said:

I've used Shapeways and iMaterialise. Both good in their own way but I have always have hassles with going under their minimums even though they subsequently print without problems.

 

So recently I experimented with some different companies with higher resolution machines with even lower minimums and different resins; the one based in the UK was SGD https://www.sgd3d.co.uk/. Now a very good choice as most of the big 3D printers are based in mainland Europe with all the potential shipping issues. SGD produced some very finely detailed, very strong models for me at very good prices, worth checking out if you want something UK based. My only complaint was the packing of the final objects but I'm sure that can be worked out. I think I'll be sending my next models there for printing.

 

I've also tried an Italian company called Fama3d https://www.fama3d.it/en/. If you want multiples of the same (known good*) model these guys are brilliant as they have very low prices for more than one copy of something. Perhaps not so much since Brexit unfortunately as they don't take Italian VAT off so you risk being double taxed plus all the other possible shipping costs. Interestingly though, even if I'd been double taxed all of the models would still have been cheaper than being printed by anyone else.

* I say know good because it'd be a very expensive way to test/prototype a model

 

I was going to try FacFox but even though they offer amazing minimum part and wall thicknesses on their ultra-high resolution printers at fair prices they won't let you use them because they say it'd probably break in transit. Oh well, their loss plus that led me to find SGD so it didn't work out badly.

 

SGD Website doesn't work for me, stuck in a log in loop and nothing uploading. 

 

Fama3D have insane shipping price, which is a shame as the individual part price is very good. I'd like to put them to the test, but €75 for a prototype is a bit steep! 

[xm607]

Many thanks for your input and help, I shall check the file and get it done.

Steve

[NScaleNotes]

21 hours ago, Quarryscapes said:

 

SGD Website doesn't work for me, stuck in a log in loop and nothing uploading. 

 

 

Weird, perhaps it's a browser based issue, I'm using Firefox and no issues.

Just drop them an email, I've found they are helpful and very quick to respond (info [@] sgd3d.co.uk)

 

Wow, I should get a discount on my next order

[JCL]

7 hours ago, NScaleNotes said:

 

Weird, perhaps it's a browser based issue, I'm using Firefox and no issues.

Just drop them an email, I've found they are helpful and very quick to respond (info [@] sgd3d.co.uk)

 

Wow, I should get a discount on my next order

@Quarryscapes It could easily be. I sometimes get website functionality glitches and clearing the cache normally sorts it out. If that doesn’t work then reinstalling the browser is the last resort. First thing to try would be a different browser.

Edited May 16, 2021 by JCL