FAQ

How much does the service costs?

Below various dynamics and situations but for clarification do not hesitate to contact us

MULTIPLE PIECES

PRO: The more pieces you print, the more convenient it is (not only for the fact of spreading out the shipping costs) even more so if it is the same item because with the first prints you can refine the printing parameters managing to better distribute the initial analysis cost, which affects the price more in the case of a single piece at the same end quality;

CON: if there are many small pieces the cost of the material used, becomes irrelevant compared to other factors, such as start-up printing, cleaning, etc. …

SERIES OF PIECES: For large quantities (we measure the number of pieces or hours of printing required) we provide a ” mass production” rate that can not compete with large industrial productions but WINS for elasticity in production, customization and quantities of a few thousand pieces, a value not convenient to start an industrial series production.

Note: If you have already had a 3D sample printed elsewhere, it would be advisable to send it to us to be compared directly with the pieces we have printed, because photos can sometimes be misleading, even if it’s something minimal.

SERVICE STARTING PRICE: minimum order 10€ including evaluation of the piece/model supplied, estimate and discussion.

COLORS OR AESTHETIC EFFECTS: -No overpricing on dozens of colors, shades and effects such as translucency, silk, metallic, except in special cases with very high performance and expensive materials and / or very specific shades.

Additional Services (additional cost)

-Computer modeling from scratch of the piece to be printed, we use various software to cover all cases, the cost will be hourly, we will calculate more or less the time needed.

Note 1: if there are few pieces probably the modeling cost will be much higher than the printing cost itself, but always ask us before dismissing.

Note 2: the usage right of the model created/modified by us must be agreed upon and it must be specified if the digital file must be provided to the customer, from experience we know there are sometimes situations that need to be defined well from the beginning.

-Economic 3D scanning 40€/piece, without special equipment, approximation can exceed one millimeter, suitable for artistic pieces or design parts of mechanical parts (requires shipping or delivery of the part to be scanned).

Note: it is possible to retouch the scanned model to fix defects or improve it where required after sending a preview via email (images or photos), generally it is included in the scanning service.

-High resolution 3D scanning [ not yet available ] The digital 3D model will be already final and with a margin of error equal to that of the print itself.

Note: the cost of the equipment is high so the price will be higher than the economic scan of course.

Surface treatments (aesthetic):

-Burnishing of mixed metal materials (PLA-brass/bronze/steel) to make them aesthetically equal to metal pieces.

Note: maximum size of the pieces to be treated is 100x50x30mm approx.

-Painting with Primer base, acrylics and transparent final coat to protect the color (also in resin, accessory service)

Note: it may require a lot of work just like computer modeling even here in the case of a few pieces the cost of painting can be much higher than the printing alone (20-120€ per piece).

Surface treatments (for additional features)

-Treatment for food contact: Covering with special certified resin of the printed pieces. If the pieces are to be in contact with food and REUSABLE, the print must be free of cavities (microscopic) in addition to the use of materials certified for food contact. The total guarantee of respecting the hygienic sanitary norms can be granted only with the covering in resin.

-Object transparency (only in PVB): PVB is a material that treated with isopropyl alcohol that becomes virtually transparent, (it costs a little more and also the alcohol)

-Thermal treatment [ not yet available ] specifically for materials such as PC-PBT or metallic prints that require to undergo an “oven” passage in order to reach the maximum properties.

What information do I need to provide? (You do not have to provide all of it)

This is the information we need in order to best meet your needs and will direct us to the most important points:
1) Order priority: cost? quality? mechanical strength? thermal resistance? Aesthetics?
2) Chemical resistance, i.e., whether it will be outdoors or in contact with chemical agents (for example: oil, acetone, gasoline, etc.).
3) Tell us immediately if it is a product that has to be sold without requiring further treatment from an aesthetic point of view.
4) FOOD SAFE/MEDICAL: it must be specified a field of use that requires specific certifications such as contact with food (disposable or not and washing temperature) or medical environment (contact with the body or presence of radiation).
5) Timing: urgent? If not urgent, please tell us your needs in an approximate way.
6) Will it need to be painted?
7) Are further finishing of the holes and/or sanding of some particulars necessary?

Can you replicate a piece? I do not have the 3D project

Sure, if it is something that can be parameterized, that is for which providing a few measures will be enough; otherwise you can send us the piece. It will be more useful for a direct comparison between original and 3D print, if it is part of a mechanism that can also be useful to know the application context, (for example, if the object to be printed is a gear, it would be useful to have a comparison with an intact gear with which it gets paired).

Note: see also items “modeling” and “3D scanning” in the previous question.

What are the MAXIMUM DIMENSIONS of the objects you can print?

-Maximum dimensions for single print: Up to 600x600x660mm with high quality and a wide range of materials (PLA PETG ABS ASA CPE PC PC-PBT).
Orders bigger than our available maximum dimensions will be separated in multiple prints and than glued toghether.

-Fast series production: 250x210x210mm There is a reduction in maximum size because it requires many printers of the same size.

What MATERIALS are AVAILABLE?

We print with all basic materials available for 3D printing

Note: As for the choice of material ask us for advice.

-In plastic filament: PLA, ABS, ASA, PET/PETG, TPU (rubber), silk effect, opaque, translucent, phosphorescent etc…

-Resin: rigid, rubbery (hardness: A82 A95 A98 D45), translucent, matt; Some special materials as they come available on the market

-Aesthetics: mixed wood or metals (which have no strength equal to metal but have the same aesthetic and plastic effect)

-Resistant: Nylon, PC, PP, HIPS, and enhanced versions and with carbon; CPE (better PETG), PETG-CF or CPE-CF (15-20% carbon fiber), GreenTechBio (always from a PET base); and/or mixed such as: PC-ABS etc…

Note: some particular material might have to be ordered at the time of the request, we will then check the quantities needed and propose possible solutions.

-Materials for VERY HIGH TEMPERATURES or very high strength: PEEK, ULTEM and PC variants and nylon/PA in higher quality [ not yet available ]

Note: aimed more than anything else at industries in the replacement of components, normally produced in metal

Material quality: We use the most famous brands and that we have found more reliable after extensive testing brands of all types.

Brand: Mainly Extrudr, Fillamentum, Formfutura. Unless a specific request for maximum economy and no particular resistance needed, in that case we can order but it is seldom necessary if not for obtaining particular shades.

What payment methods do you accept?

Bank transfer, IBAN will be provided in the quote.

Other methods may be added in the future.

What file formats do you accept?

The formats we accept are “.stl“, “.obj“, “.step” and “.amf” We also accept other formats if it is not possible otherwise: we will check the convertibility, in some cases it happens that the file is convertible but it creates many defects on the model that will need additional work to be removed on the PC and/or physically.

Note: often the “corruptions” of the model can be generated as a result of cuts during creation or editing with modeling software.

What software do you recommend to model an object?

As software we recommend Fusion 360 (mainly for mechanical objects). It is free for students and once you have watched some tutorials is quite easy to use at least for the main functions. Other free software are: Meshmixer and Blender.

HOW DETAILED can you print an object?

The precision is 0.1mm, with some materials it can reach up to 50 micrometers (0.05mm) with thermally stable materials and 0.02mm with resin printing. Some clarifications to avoid misunderstandings:

Minimum object size: more than 1mm, 0.1mm refers to details and overall measurement (such as 15.2mm 2.4mm etc.., i.e. up to the decimal), but constructively an object less than a millimeter is not feasible with filament printing and is instead feasible but not very convenient in resin printing. The suspended parts are even more critical so it must be considered a higher value sometimes, for example in the presence of edges that should support a “ceiling” but contact us, we evaluate or test if it must be a borderline case.

When will my order be printed?

If you have an urgent need to communicate it immediately because usually the times are very variable, from 2 days to 2 weeks if there are aspects to be clarified or corrections to be agreed upon.

IT IS VERY URGENT, can you guarantee delivery in 48-72 hours?

YES, if the actual printing time does not take a day or more excluding non-working days of the courier.

Note: there will be an extra cost because the piece (or the few pieces) will be printed simultaneously several times and with different approaches so even in the case of a failed or imperfect print there will still be another backup printer with the piece ready to be shipped or delivered.

How will the order be shipped and in how long?

For shipments we need: name, surname, street, house number, zip code, city, province acronym.

Parcel: It will be shipped in 24 or 48 hours from the end of the job, by an insured courier and safely packed.

Note: The courier can send notifications by sms and/or email but it is not mandatory to provide us with this data.

Mail: If the order is under 14€, it will be shipped by standard mail (unless otherwise agreed) to contain costs, the shipping agent will provide the appropriate packaging: To stay within the parameters of the price it may seem at first glance like poor packaging but it will be a packaging based on the experience of working in the field of deliveries.

If the product has defects or does not arrive what assistance can I expect?

We do everything we can to avoid this from happening, as our costs are higher after shipping, but something can always happen:

1) If there are many duplicate pieces, we usually print an extra 10% margin, if over 10% have problems, we send replacements, but this is usually enough.

2) If it’s an object with extremely fragile parts we will talk about it before: in some cases we can simply use an invisible glue and that will be enough (non-mechanical parts) but we will agree before shipping whether we will send it in parts or if the risk is accepted.

3) If the shipment arrives with broken packaging or does not arrive: it is very rare but we take care of it of course, you will receive a reprint if necessary.

4) The quality is not good: we try to send photos, sometimes with a size reference or other, to give you the most accurate visual impression possible on the result before shipping. If all the information has been correctly provided, there shouldn’t be any quality flaws, except rare errors of management.

How can I contact you?

Here on the site through the direct chat.

– By phone in the contact section. (If we do not answer immediately we will call you back shortly, so any numbers that prevent you from being called back will not be considered. If there seem to be technical problems you can write us via whatsapp or email)

– Email: In addition to all the information that are relevant to the questions read in F.A.Q. attach images, sketches, or 3D models to be evaluated, for large files you can use Drive, Dropbox, Wetransfer or Mega links.