Choosing the Right 3D Printing Material Material selection can make or break your 3D printed part. Here’s an honest comparison of the most common options, with real-world recommendations from our engineering team. PLA (Polylactic Acid) Best for: Visual prototypes, concept models, non-structural parts Strength: ★★☆☆☆ | Heat resistance: ★☆☆☆☆ | Cost: $ PLA is the […]
Author Archives: Shelle Parsons
Four Ways to Make Custom Plastic Parts Whether you need one prototype or ten thousand production units, there’s a manufacturing process that fits your needs and budget. Here’s how they compare: 1. 3D Printing (Additive Manufacturing) Best for: 1-100 parts, complex geometries, fast turnaround Lead time: 1-5 business days Tooling cost: $0 Materials: ABS, PLA, […]
The Crossover Point Every product hits a crossover point where injection molding becomes cheaper per unit than 3D printing. Finding that point — and planning the transition — is critical for your product’s profitability. The Simple Math 3D printing has low setup cost but high per-unit cost. Injection molding has high setup cost (tooling) but […]
What Determines 3D Printing Cost? The cost of 3D printing a part depends on five key factors: technology, material, part size, complexity, and quantity. Understanding these factors helps you budget accurately and choose the right process for your project. 1. Technology Different 3D printing technologies have different cost structures: FDM (Fused Deposition Modeling) — Most […]
Category: 3D Printing, Case Studies One of the most rewarding things we do at PartSnap has nothing to do with product development. It’s printing bone models for veterinary surgeons. The Problem Orthopedic surgery on animals — especially dogs — is challenging for the same reason human orthopedics is challenging: bones are complex 3D shapes, fractures […]
Category: 3D Printing, Product Development We review hundreds of 3D print files every year. The same design mistakes show up again and again — and they’re almost always fixable with a few simple rules. Whether you’re designing your own part in SolidWorks or sending us a file from another engineer, these five rules will save […]
Category: 3D Printing We run both FDM and SLA in-house at PartSnap. Clients often ask which one they should use — and the answer is almost never “whichever is cheaper.” Here’s how we decide. The One-Line Answer SLA when it needs to look right. FDM when it needs to work right. That’s an oversimplification, but […]