How a quote is put together
Every job is different, so there's no price list — but there's no mystery either. Four things decide what a part costs.
1. Material used
Measured by weight, including supports and waste. A hollow bracket uses a fraction of what a solid block does — often the biggest lever on price.
2. Machine time
Charged by the hour. Driven by size, layer height and how much detail the part demands. Fine layers look better and take longer.
3. Setup
A flat charge per job covering file prep, orientation, supports and a plate change. It's why ten of something costs far less than ten times one.
4. Finishing
Only if you want it. Support removal is included; sanding, filling, smoothing or painting are charged as labour.
What makes a part cheaper
- Order more than one. Setup is charged once, and parts that share a plate share the machine time.
- Let us choose the orientation. Unless the finish matters on a specific face, we'll pick the one that needs fewest supports.
- Accept a coarser layer height. 0.28 mm instead of 0.12 mm can nearly halve the print time on a tall part.
- Don't over-specify the material. PETG does most jobs. Carbon-fibre blends cost several times as much and are rarely necessary.
- Send a good file. A clean model we can print as-is costs less than a photo we have to model from scratch.
Design work — if there's no model to start from, drawing one is charged separately at an hourly rate, quoted before we begin. Simple brackets are quick; organic shapes and reverse-engineering a worn part are not.
Minimums and turnaround
There's a small minimum charge per job — a 10-cent widget still needs setting up, printing and packing. Turnaround depends on the queue and the size of the print; most small jobs are a few days. Urgent work can usually be accommodated, so ask.
Payment
Bank transfer on completion for small jobs. Larger runs and any job needing special-order material are invoiced with a deposit up front to cover the filament.