3D Printing Manchester

STL is the standard file type for 3D printing. If you have a different format, send it anyway and we will check whether we can convert it. Our software then tells us how much material and print time the job needs, so we can give you an accurate quote.

When you send an STL through our contact form, zip it first. The upload accepts .zip files but not .stl files on their own.

That is common, especially with new inventions. Our design team can work from 2D drawings, sketches or photos, or from the broken part itself in the case of legacy parts, and recreate it in CAD.

We don’t use 3D scanners. When we trialled them, recreating the file ourselves proved more accurate and more cost-effective.

Our commercial printers print items up to roughly the size of a shoebox in a single run. Larger items can often be printed in sections that fit together to make one piece. That doesn’t suit every design, so we will tell you whether it can work for yours.

It depends on the size and complexity of the part. A small, simple plastic part can take around 30 minutes, while a larger item can take several days. Once we have reviewed your design, we can tell you how long yours will take.

We print in a range of plastics, including PLA and flexible TPU, and in carbon-fibre composites for parts that need to be strong and light. Tell us what the part has to do and we will recommend the most suitable material.

The two terms are often used to mean the same thing. Strictly, 3D printing builds an object up layer by layer, while additive manufacturing is the wider term for any process that adds material together to form an object, including electron-beam manufacturing and selective laser melting.

3D printing is by far the most common type, so additive manufacturing is generally taken to mean 3D printing, and the term is used more often in industrial and commercial settings.

Commercial 3D printing usually means printing parts a business will put to practical use, rather than decorative items. Our commercial-grade printers work in a wider range of materials, including carbon-fibre composites, and handle small batch runs as well as one-offs.

No. Most of our customers are in Manchester, Greater Manchester and Lancashire, but because the work starts from a digital file, we work with customers across the UK and send the finished parts out to them.