Parts that have a job to do.
Functional plastic parts from your file: prototypes, fixtures, brackets, and small batches, with material, finish, quantity, and checks agreed in the quote.
What is agreed before printing
Approved file
The revision we print from, in a format we can open. STEP preferred; STL and 3MF are fine. A revision change is a new approval.
Material
Chosen for the part's use, or advised when you are not sure. PLA, PETG, ABS, ASA and TPU on hand; others sourced per job.
Finish
As printed, sanded, or primed for paint. Finishing is handling time and is quoted per part.
Quantity
One, a set of variants, or a batch. Order setup is paid once, so parts in the same order share it.
Checks
The features to measure and the tolerance to hold, within what FDM and calipers can do. Written into the quote.
Schedule
Standard printing takes 3–5 business days after approval. Next-day rush is confirmed per job. Design and sourced work are scheduled separately.
What comes through here
Prototypes and variants
Fit, assembly, and ergonomics checks. Variants in one batch share the setup and arrive together.
Fixtures and tooling
Drill guides, assembly fixtures, soft jaws, and holders for the line or the bench.
Replacement parts
Broken or discontinued. Modelled when needed, then printed after the design is approved. A printed replacement follows design approval; it is not a same-week promise.
Small batches
Tens to low hundreds when FDM suits the part. Beyond that, the next process is assessed per project.
Materials, and when each is right
Rendered examples, not photographs. The material is agreed per part for its actual use.
Material
The usual choice for functional parts. Tough, mildly flexible, handles moisture and mild chemicals.
Finish
Layer lines visible. The default, and the least expensive.
Supports
Overhangs past 45° need supports. They add material and cleanup, so we orient the part to avoid them when we can, and say so in the quote.
The specifications
Each value is a process limit, a design target, or a starting allowance. Requirements beyond this range need a separate process and measurement review.
- Process
- Two materials or two colours in one part, and soluble support where it earns its place.
- Build volume
- 235.5 × 256 × 256 mm when both nozzles are in play. Larger parts are split and bonded, and the quote says so.
- Heated chamber
- What lets ABS and ASA print here. Without it they warp and delaminate.
- Layer height
- 0.2 mm is the default. Finer costs machine time, and on most functional parts it buys little.
- Dimensional tolerance
- The figure Protolabs Network publishes for FDM. Requirements beyond this range need a separate process and measurement review.
- Inspection
- Measured by hand against your drawing on the features agreed as critical, within what calipers can measure. Not a CMM, and never described as one.
- Materials on hand
- Other materials are sourced per job in Chicago. Availability is confirmed in the quote.
- Machining
- Metal and tighter-tolerance work goes to an independent machine shop and is measured here on the agreed features. $1,000 supplier job minimum.
Design rules for a part that prints
The ten things checked first on a file.
- Minimum wall
- Two perimeters from a 0.4 mm nozzle come to 0.84 mm. A 1.0 mm wall gives the slicer room to lay both. Thinner than 0.8 mm prints as a gap or a single fragile line.
- Unsupported overhang
- Past 45° the plastic sags. Up to 60° prints on a cooled machine, but it prints ugly. Design to 45° or accept support material and the finish it leaves.
- Hole size
- Printed holes come out small. The inner loop cools and pulls inward. Model them oversize, or give us the fit you need and we drill or ream to size after.
- Small holes
- Small printed holes come out undersized and faceted. Design them oversize or leave them for a drill. Around 2.0 mm is where we start treating a hole as a post-print operation.
- Clearance
- Starting clearances for this process, in millimetres, checked on the part. Material, orientation and feature size all move them. Printed in place, 0.4 mm is the least that will come apart.
- Text
- Raised or recessed, on a top face. Text on a vertical wall wants a heavier stroke, and recessed beats raised there. Thinner strokes blur.
- Bridge
- The machine spans farther on a good day. Ten millimetres is where we support the span or change the geometry rather than rely on it.
- Bed edge
- The first layer squishes wider than the model. A 45° chamfer prints clean. A fillet on the bed side comes out as a lip.
- Insert boss
- Around a heat-set brass insert. Inserts push outward as they seat, and a thinner boss splits along the layer line. Larger inserts and softer materials want more.
- Layers and load
- A printed part is strong along its layers and weak between them. Put the main load in the plane of the layers wherever the geometry allows. The first thing checked on a part that carries load.
For a 0.4 mm nozzle at 0.2 mm layers. None of this is a reason not to send the file.
Timing and minimums
- Printing
- Rush
- Design and sourced work
- Minimum, print only
- Collection
- SLS, MJF, metal printing, or production injection molding. If your part needs those, we say so and point you to a provider.
- Runs in the thousands are not printed here. We prototype the part and, when the project calls for it, help plan the handoff to a production process.
- Anything requiring certified material traceability, FAI, or CMM inspection reports.