From an STL to Your Loading Dock
Four things decide whether an order goes well: whether the price is real, whether the process suits the part, whether anyone tells you when it does not, and whether the box arrives when we said it would. Here is how each of them is handled, in order.
Six Steps, and a Person on Every One of Them
No account, no minimum order, no gatekeeping. The only step that needs anything from you is the first one.
Send the file
Upload an STL, OBJ or 3MF straight into the quoting engine, or email a STEP file. Up to 100 MB through the browser, and over 26 MB the file arrives as a download link in our email rather than as an attachment — it is stored either way. Any STEP file is welcome by email. You do not need an account and you do not need to tell us your budget.
Get an indicative price
The engine reads your model in the browser and prices it in the process, material and quantity you choose. It takes seconds. It is an indication rather than a binding offer, and we say so on the page rather than in the small print.
An engineer reads the geometry
Before anything is quoted firmly, a person looks at the model: build orientation, wall thickness, overhangs, the features that have to fit something else. Most jobs get a written price the same working day and always within one.
You approve, we book the slot
You approve the written price and pay the deposit. Production starts from the moment the file is frozen and the deposit lands — not from the day you first wrote to us, and not from the day we replied.
Production and recorded inspection
Every process we list runs on our own lines in Guangzhou. Every job is measured against the drawing before it is packed, and the measurements stay with the job record.
Inspect, settle, ship
We send photographs after inspection, and on request we will do a live video walkthrough with the parts on the bench. The balance settles before dispatch. Then it goes out tracked, with the customs paperwork done.
What to Send Us
The more of this you include the first time, the fewer questions come back — and the less chance of printing a part that fits nothing.
- The model: STL, OBJ or 3MF for the instant quote; STEP or IGES if you want the geometry itself reviewed rather than a mesh approximation of it.
- Quantity — and whether it is a one-off, a first article, or the beginning of a series. The pricing shape is different for each.
- The process and material if you have a view. If you do not, describe what the part has to do instead and we will pick.
- Anything the part has to mate with: bearing seats, threads, an existing housing, a bolt pattern. Send the mating part if you have it.
- Critical tolerances, marked on the drawing. Unmarked dimensions are held to the comfortable default for the process, which is not the same number on every geometry.
- Surface finish: as-printed, sanded, primed, painted to a RAL, dyed, vapour-smoothed, anodised, passivated, polished.
- Deadline and destination country, so that shipping and duties are quoted with the part rather than discovered afterwards.
Where the Number Comes From
The two prices you will see are not rivals. One is a fast estimate that lets you decide whether the project is worth pursuing; the other is the price we will hold ourselves to.
The instant quote is calculated in your own browser, from the geometry of your file, at published market rates for on-demand printing. Reading the file and doing the arithmetic happen on your own machine, and you get a number before anything is sent anywhere.
The written price comes from an engineer who has looked at the model and decided how it will actually be built: which orientation, which supports, how parts are nested on the bed, which machine, which finishing route.
It can differ from the estimate, and when it does it is usually one of these: an orientation chosen to protect a load-bearing feature; support or rafting that a thin-walled part needs; mesh repair before the file can be built; a tighter tolerance on one dimension than the process default; a finishing step (painting, smoothing, anodising) that is not in the estimate; or the metal price itself, which is quoted on the day.
Freight and import duties are never in the production price. Tell us the destination and we will quote the shipping that applies to it.
If a cheaper process will do the job, we say so before you order. Running a housing in SLS instead of SLA saves money and loses nothing that matters, and it is a short conversation to have.
Inside Production
What we decide, and the one part of the job we hand to somebody else.
Orientation is the single biggest decision and it is not a machine setting — it is an engineering one. It decides which faces carry the layer lines, where supports land, how strong the part is in the direction it will be loaded, and how long it takes. We choose it, and we will explain it if you ask.
Our own lines run SLA, SLS and SLM in Guangzhou. Resin is printed and then washed, post-cured and finished; nylon comes out of the powder bed, is bead-blasted and dyed or left natural; metal is stress-relieved, cut from its build plate, support-removed and finished to the callout.
Every job is inspected before packing. Dimensions on the features you marked critical, visually across the rest. If something is marginal we photograph it and tell you before it ships, not after.
Inspection and the Video Walkthrough
You should not have to take a photograph's word for it — but photographs are a good place to start.
- Photographs of every job after inspection, from several angles, as standard on every order.
- A measurement record against the critical dimensions on your drawing, available with the shipment.
- A live video walkthrough on request: book a time, and we will have your parts on the bench, show you the features you care about and put a caliper on them while you watch.
- Third-party inspection arranged if your quality system requires it — tell us which inspector and we will make the parts available.
- Anything we find that is marginal or out of specification is reported before dispatch, with photographs. You will not discover it when you open the box.
Packing, Shipping and Duties
Delivered by courier or by freight forwarder, depending on what you are buying — and the paperwork is done either way.
- Express courier (DHL, FedEx, UPS) for parts that fit in a box. Tracked door to door, typically a few days in transit to Europe, North America and East Asia.
- Air or sea freight for pallets, powder orders and anything large. Priced EXW Guangzhou; carriage is arranged with the forwarder of your choice or one of ours, and quoted separately.
- Duties and import taxes are the importer's, which is you. Courier orders ship DAP, so the carrier collects them before delivery.
- Every shipment goes out with the commercial invoice, packing list and the certificates the destination requires. Some countries need an export licence for metal powders — check the export eligibility list before you order.
The Questions This Page Always Raises
The things customers ask once they have read the six steps.
What happens if my file will not print as it was sent?
We tell you before we quote, and usually we fix it. A small mesh repair is routine and is not charged for; if the change would alter the part we show you what we found and only quote once you are happy with it.
Can I change the model after I have approved and paid?
You can, up to the point where the file is frozen and the job is queued. A change after that is a re-quote and can move the lead time, because the build orientation and the supports were planned around the version you approved.
Who do I deal with once the job is running?
The same team that quoted it. You have one contact for the order, and your questions reach the people standing at the machines rather than an account manager who has never seen your file.
Where does the price of an unusual part come from?
An engineer chooses the orientation, supports, nesting and machine, then prices the finishing route. Anything the browser estimate cannot see — a tight tolerance on one feature, a paint spec, certification or freight — is quoted as a separate line so you can see what each one adds.
What paperwork travels with the shipment?
A commercial invoice, a packing list and the certificates your destination requires. Some countries require an export licence for metal powder, so check the export eligibility list before ordering powder.
Ready to see what your part costs?
Upload a file for an instant indicative price, or send a drawing and an engineer will come back with a written one within a working day.
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