Cost of 3D Printing Projects

Customers often compare the cost of printing to Injection molding, and find that 3D printing often costs more per unit. Here’s how and why that happens:.

  • Injection Molding:

    • High initial cost due to labor-intensive mold creation, even with modern machining techniques (such as CNC).

    • Low cost per item when producing large quantities, as each item is made quickly.

    • Small quantities may be uneconomical due to set up costs.

  • 3D Printing:

    • Higher initial cost if an electronic model needs to be created.

    • The printer can produce one or multiple copies, but production time for each unit may be measured in hours.

    • Creating an electronic model takes less time than making a mold.

Cost Efficiency:

  • Injection molding has a lower cost per unit for large batches.

  • 3D printing is competitive for prototyping or small quantities and has shorter overall production times. It is economical for single-unit production, unlike injection molding. These factors also lend themselves to the development stages of a product, with the short turn-around aiding the design and testing process.

Large versus small

There is another comparison folks often employ when considering quotations: the price of printing a project using a small local operator such as Tech3Dprint, compared to the price of a competitor large printing concern, sometimes overseas.

An overseas operator in a place like US or Asia has a different market, with commensurate considerations. They have a much larger market size, and can afford to have a much larger setup, often hundreds of printers. Their labour costs may be more or less. Moreover they sell to customers in New Zealand in export mode, meaning they do not charge any tax on their products. So, they have economies of scale and a tax break to their advantage. However the much larger concerns cannot offer the same individual attention and responsiveness that a local operator can.

Whereas New Zealand 3D printing operations tend to be much smaller, in line with the smaller population. In addition, products are subject to GST of 15% even when they are not GST registered because input costs are taxed (but this may not be reflected expressly in the Invoice). These factors are outside of our control, of course.

Professional versus Amateur

Many are the folks who purchase a 3D printer hoping to make a killing manufacturing 3D printed products. But not necessarily having the skills to back it up, and not having a proper business plan to properly reflect all costs in the products produced, making their operation unsustainable. Corners are cut on the quality of printing equipment, and it’s not necessarily properly maintained and kept up to date. Of course the pricing of such operations will be lower than those who do have a business plan, have decent quality equipment and maintain it properly.

We at Tech3Dprint pride ourselves on implementing a continuous improvement philosophy, and our pricing sustainable for the long term. Our lifetime of technical experience is leveraged to properly understand the 3D FDM printing technology and process. The results speak for themselves, but not always understood by those just seeking a quick quote and making their decision based on lowest price. We spend a deal of time on every quote to ensure its accuracy and we recommend material choices appropriate to the task, from a wide range available and familiar to us. There is no turning off the tap to make a cheap quote at an unsustainable price level, and produce a product not reflecting our philosophy.

We urge customers to take these factors into account when considering our quotations.

Factors Influencing 3D Printing Costs

Modelling:

  • This is discussed elsewhere, but in general modeling is largely a labour cost, with the time spent manipulating software such as Autodesk Fusion to create a model or adjust an existing model. Reducing the cost is all about improving productivity.

  • The customer has it within their power to reduce the cost of modelling by preparation of information informing the design requirements, shape and dimensions, which may include a drawing, or an existing model. The more information that’s provided, the better the productivity, with fewer iterations required. Even a simple sketch can go a long way to improving the communication between the customer and the modeller.

  • The use of a scanner makes the modelling cost higher I’ve found. The results just do not stack up to the hype. Regular photographic techniques work better and more accurately.

  • The actual modelling charge reflects a low hourly rate, and this also includes the cost of the modelling software annual license fee.

Material and Time:

  • Costs vary by material weight consumed (including supports, if needed) and printing time.

  • Overhead costs such as energy, rent, maintenance, advertising are factored into the prices.

  • We try whenever possible to use material from local suppliers, to the benefit of the New Zealand economy. But we source our higher grade materials direct from European and US Suppliers, as they just work better, with easier printing and improved quality.

  • Material prices range from 5 to 50 cents per gram.

  • For a 50-gram model, material costs range from $2.50 to $25 (for example).

  • Printing time, which greatly impacts cost, typically varies from 1 to 24 hours for small models depending on physical size and design complexity, particularly if supports are required. Note that size affects costs by a cubic factor as it primarily reflects geometric volume.

  • The use of support material impacts the amount of material used, and the time taken to print. It may also negatively affect the surface quality of the model parts in contact with supports. The need for supports is dictated by the design of the model, particularly if the model was not designed with 3D printing in mind.
    We just try to minimise them, so far as possible. Our latest MK4S printer upgrade will help in that regard with improved cooling and high flow nozzles.

  • A Management charge may be added to cover the labour time used to: prepare a model for printing, supervision, post-processing and shipping.

Getting a Quote

Customized Quotes:

  • Each project is different. We provide fixed price quotes based on an existing model or a sketch/drawing. The key determinate is the complexity of the design. When factors might change, prior to printing, we provide an estimate (not fixed price) instead.

  • Contact us via the form Here to get started.

Electronic Model Requirement:

  • The absolute best and cheapest way of making an electronic model is from source material such as an engineering (blueprint) drawing.

  • Modeling converts a real-world object or drawing into an electronic file for 3D printing. Scanning, Photogrammetry and direct geometric measurements might be techniques used in such work. Artificial Intelligence (AI) based modeling is a recent innovation that promises to reduce modeling costs.

  • An electronic model file (".stl" or “.step”) is required to begin a 3D print. You could supply this from your own source, if available.

  • If unavailable, modeling is necessary to create one, which can be time-consuming for complex geometries.

Modeling

Set Prices for Modeling:

  • We have a fixed hourly rate for modeling. When we create a custom quote, the assessed charge is an estimate of the time it will take based on assessed complexity.

  • Send a photo, drawing, or sketch for an estimate. We provide a quote for the 3D printing stage after modeling is complete.

Printing Element Costs:

Costs depend on time and materials, varying with the model size and design. The larger the model, the more it costs to print, and scaling varies by volume (ie a cubic function). A 150 mm model will cost 9 times more than a 50 mm model of the same shape.

Supports:

  • The need for supports depends somewhat on the design of the model. Supports are said to be needed if the model overhangs or exceeds a 40-degree angle from vertical (even by a small amount). Our recent printer upgrades may see this factor challenged (allowing overhangs to extend to 70 degrees without supports).

  • We try to avoid using supports due to the effect on costs and print quality. Use of support material increases both material and time costs. Surface quality of the model may degrade when supports are needed. But, when the model was not designed for 3D printing, supports are inevitably required.

  • We vary the print orientation to reduce the need for supports as much as possible, but in some cases, it’s just not possible to completely avoid the need. If the supports are really an issue, then the first step to avoiding them is the task of the person making the original design.