Support removal (SLA & SLM)
Supports are cut away by hand and the witness marks dressed flush. Support placement is planned before printing so the contact points land on faces that do not matter.
SERVICE · FINISHING
Post-Processing & Finishing — How It Leaves Us Is How It Arrives With You
Supports removed, surfaces prepared, colour matched, metal treated and threads cut. Finishing across SLA, SLS and SLM — quoted per part, on the same drawing we price the print from.
4Processes covered
20+Finishing operations
RALColour matching
1 pcMinimum order
OVERVIEW
Why finishing decides whether the part works
A part straight off the machine is a rough draft. SLA and SLM parts still carry supports and witness marks. SLS parts come out of the powder bed with powder in every cavity and a granular surface. Metal parts hold residual stress from the melt, and printed threads and bearing seats will not survive real use.
Finishing is what turns that into a part you can assemble, handle, exhibit, paint or put into service. It is also the step most often missing from a quote — which is why a part that looked cheap arrives unusable, or a part that looked expensive turns out to have needed nothing at all.
We quote finishing per part, on the same drawing we price the print from. If a finish adds cost without adding anything your application needs, we will say so rather than sell it to you.
STEP 01 — CLEANING
Cleaning & Support Removal
Every process leaves something behind. This is the step that removes it without damaging the part.
Depowdering & bead blasting (SLS)
Loose powder is blasted out of every cavity and the surface cleaned to a uniform matte finish. This is included as standard on every SLS order.
Wire EDM cut-off (SLM)
Metal parts printed on a solid base plate are cut free by wire EDM, which leaves a clean, flat face where the support lattice used to be.
Soluble support removal (SLA)
Where internal geometry makes mechanical removal impossible, a soluble support material is dissolved out in a wash tank, leaving cavities clean.
STEP 02 — SURFACE
Surface Preparation & Sealing
Layer lines, granular texture and open porosity are the three things standing between a printed part and a finished one.
Sanding & polishing
Progressive grits up to a fine polish. This is what turns a printed part into something that reads as injection-moulded or machined.
Bead blasting & shot peening
A uniform matte finish across the whole part. Shot peening adds a compressive layer at the surface, which measurably improves fatigue life on metal parts.
Vapour smoothing
A controlled solvent vapour melts the surface micro-texture on SLS nylon and ABS / ASA parts, giving a sealed, near-glossy skin and better water resistance. Fine features lose a little dimension — we will tell you how much.
Sealing & impregnation
SLS parts are inherently porous. A sealant or resin impregnation makes them watertight, paint-ready and safe to use in contact with fluid.
Electropolishing
An electrochemical pass that removes surface peaks and leaves stainless steel bright, smooth and easier to clean — the usual choice for hygienic and food-adjacent hardware.
Ceramic & media tumbling
Mass finishing for batches of small parts: it de-burrs edges and evens the surface without hand work, which keeps unit cost down at quantity.
STEP 03 — COLOUR
Colour & Coating
What the part looks like when it lands on someone’s desk. Colour is matched to a reference you supply, not to the nearest guess.
Dyeing (SLS)
SLS parts are dyed black or to a custom colour in a hot dye bath. Grey and white are the natural states; dyeing is what gives a uniform end-use appearance.
Primer & paint
Grey primer, then a colour-matched topcoat in matt, satin or gloss to a RAL or Pantone reference. Standard route for display models and customer-facing parts.
Clear coating
A UV-stable lacquer that slows the yellowing and embrittlement sunlight causes in untreated photopolymers. Essential for resin parts that live outdoors or under a window.
Tinting & smoke / frost finishes
Transparent resin parts tinted to a target colour, or smoked and frosted for light diffusion — used on lenses, light pipes and demo parts.
Colour matching
We match to a physical sample, a RAL or Pantone code, or a customer-supplied part. For production runs we finish one approval sample first.
STEP 04 — METAL FINISHING
Metal-Specific Finishing
Heat treatment and surface treatment that only apply to metal parts — and that a metal part usually cannot skip.
Stress relief
A controlled thermal cycle that relaxes the residual stresses built up during melting. This is what stops thin and large flat metal sections from distorting after they are cut off the plate.
HIP & heat treatment
Hot isostatic pressing closes residual porosity for fatigue-critical parts; ageing and solution treatment tune the alloy to its target properties.
Anodising
Type II decorative and Type III hard anodising for aluminium parts — corrosion protection, wear resistance and a durable coloured surface.
Passivation & pickling
Chemical treatment for stainless steel that removes free iron and welding-scale contamination from the surface, restoring full corrosion resistance.
Electroplating
Copper, nickel or chrome plating for genuine metallic appearance, wear resistance and EMI shielding. Polymer parts are plated over a conductive primer coat.
STEP 05 — MACHINING
Machining, Threads & Assembly
The operations that make a printed part behave like an engineered component: real threads, real bearing fits, real mating faces.
CNC machining of printed parts
Mating faces, bores, bearing seats and sealing surfaces are machined after printing, because a printed surface cannot hold a bearing fit or a sealing face reliably.
Tapping & threading
Threads are cut rather than printed. We tap the printed boss, or install a threaded insert where the joint has to come apart repeatedly.
Heat-set insert installation
Brass heat-set inserts for machine screws and repeated assembly cycles — the standard fix for a printed thread that would strip.
Facing, flatness & reaming
Large printed faces machined flat, and holes reamed to size, where the printed tolerance is not enough for the assembly to close.
Assembly & bonding
Multi-part builds are pinned and bonded, then seams filled and refinished so the joint disappears. We can deliver a finished assembly rather than a box of parts.
Laser marking & engraving
Part numbers, serials, logos and batch codes marked on the finished part, for traceability or for the finished look.
BY PROCESS
Which Finish Suits Which Process
Not every finishing route works on every material. This is the honest matrix — where a cell says no, it means the material will not take it.
| Finish | SLA resin | SLS nylon | SLM metal |
|---|---|---|---|
| Support / powder removal | Supports cut and dressed | Depowder + blast — standard | Cut off plate, dressed |
| Sanding & polishing | Yes — best surface | Limited (granular) | Yes — up to mirror |
| Bead blasting | Yes | Standard on every order | Yes, incl. shot peening |
| Vapour smoothing | No | Yes | No |
| Dyeing | Tinting only | Yes — black or custom | No |
| Painting | Yes | Yes, needs sealer first | Yes |
| Heat treatment | UV post-cure | Not applicable | Stress relief, HIP, ageing |
| Anodising / passivation | No | No | Aluminium / stainless steel |
| Electroplating | Yes — conductive primer | Limited | Yes |
| CNC machining | Occasional | On mating faces | Routine |
Finishing is quoted per part against the drawing, not by a percentage of the print price. and we will price both together.
FAQ
Post-Processing — Common Questions
Do I actually need finishing?
It depends what the part has to do. An SLS bracket that bolts inside a machine needs nothing beyond the standard bead blast. A part that a customer will hold, a part that has to be painted, a part with a bearing bore or a thread — those need finishing, and skipping it is why printed parts get a reputation for not being good enough.
How much does finishing add to the price?
It is priced per part against the drawing, because the work depends on the geometry and the finish, not on a percentage. Sanding a large flat panel costs more than sanding a small block. The instant quote on this site covers printing; finishing is confirmed when we review the file, and you will always see it as a separate line.
Will finishing change my dimensions?
It can. Material removal — sanding, machining, electropolishing — only takes material away. Vapour smoothing and coatings both move the surface slightly. On a part with tight tolerances we agree the order of operations up front: machine first, then finish, or leave a finishing allowance on the drawing.
Can you match a specific colour?
Yes. Send us a physical sample, a RAL or Pantone code, or a production part. We will finish an approval sample and send you a photo before running the batch — colour on a screen is not a colour reference.
Can you finish parts that were printed elsewhere?
Usually yes, if we can see what the material is and what has already been done to it. Resin parts from an unknown source are the awkward case, because finishing behaviour depends on the exact resin and its cure state. Send us a photo and the material grade and we will tell you honestly whether it is worth it.
Which finishes are available on every order?
Bead blasting on SLS is standard and already included. Support removal is standard on everything that needs supports. Everything else — sanding, painting, dyeing, anodising, machining, plating — is quoted as an option, so you only pay for the finishing your part actually needs.
GET STARTED
Not Sure What Finishing Your Part Needs?
Send us the file and tell us how the part will be used. We will recommend the finishing route that does the job — and tell you which operations you do not need to pay for.
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