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How Much Does 3D Printing Cost? Cost to 3D Print Objects – 3D Printerly

When it comes to 3D printing, many people wonder how much it costs to 3D print an object, whether that is a small item like a miniature figure, or a larger item like a helmet or mask that they can wear.

There are quite a few costs associated with it which can get a little confusing, so I decided to write an article about how much it costs to 3D print an object in filament or resin.

If you already have a 3D printer, your cost is just the filament and electricity for the most part. To 3D print an object that uses 100 grams of filament, it will cost around $2.50 using a price of $25 per KG of filament. The same 3D print in resin will cost around $4.50 using a price of $45 per KG of resin.

Costs don’t fluctuate too much due to a fairly constant price of materials, though you’ll want to do basic maintenance and maybe some post-processing afterwards.

Let’s go through the basic costs of 3D printing so you have a better understanding of how much it costs to 3D print an object. Keep reading for a more detailed answer.

How Much Does A 3D Printer Cost?

In order to 3D print an object, we’ll need to look at the biggest initial cost which is the 3D printer. Luckily for normal consumers, 3D printers have drastically decreased in price as time has gone on.

The materials that are required for creating 3D printers are increasing in supply, as well as the number of manufacturers that are competing in the space. For a standard FDM filament 3D printer like the Ender 3 (Amazon), you can get this for around $200.

The other type of 3D printer which is growing in popularity is the SLA resin 3D printer. A budget SLA resin 3D printer like the Elegoo Mars 2 Mono is currently around $230, which is a lot cheaper than what they used to be.

Previously, you would have been looking at least $1,000 for a basic version of these 3D printers, so it’s something a lot more manageable for us average users.

These are great for entry-level hobbyists, though if you want more practical features, you’ll want to spend more.

The Artillery Sidewinder X1 V4 (Amazon) is around $450 and is a great option for a filament 3D printer.

It comes 95% pre-assembled, so a beginner can put it together very easily, and comes with a much larger build volume than the Ender 3 at 300 x 300 x 400mm.

It has a touch screen operation display, as well as a direct drive extruder which makes printing some materials a lot easier.

The design is a lot cleaner, compact, and professional looking, and since it’s a long-term machine, makes sense to invest a good amount into it.

The Anycubic Photon Mono X (Amazon) is around $700 and is a great option for a resin 3D printer. It also comes mostly pre-assembled, just requiring you to place a few parts in the right places, and put in the power supply. The bed leveling process is very quick.

The main upside of the Photon Mono X over the Elegoo Mars 2 Mono is the build volume of 192 x 120 x 245 against 129 x 80 x 150mm. This is large for a resin 3D printer and with the 8. 9” 4K resolution screen, it significantly increases printing speed (up to 3x).

Another key benefit is how the LCD screen in the base of the printer is designed to last about 4 times longer than the outdated RGB screens for 2,000 hours of printing. The screen is what produces the light to harden the liquid resin into plastic.

Now that we have the 3D printers out of the way, let’s look directly at the materials so we can accurately figure out how much it costs to 3D print an object.

How Much Do 3D Printing Materials Cost?

There are two main types of materials when it comes to 3D printing – filament and resin. Filament starts at around $20 per KG, while resin starts at around $35 per KG.

Filament is packaged up as a round spool of plastic which usually sits on top of the 3D printer with a spool holder for FDM printers.

Resin comes in a dark bottle with UV protection and is full of the photopolymer liquid resin that you pour into the resin vat of your SLA resin 3D printer. It has to be stored this way because the liquid hardens to UV light.

How Much Does 3D Printing Filament Cost?

A standard spool of filament will cost you anywhere from $20-$30 per KG, but there are many types of filaments that you can get.

PLA – Hatchbox PLA on Amazon goes for around $25 per KG.

ABS – Hatchbox ABS on Amazon goes for around $22 per KG.

PETG – Overture PETG on Amazon costs around $21 for 1KG.

TPU – Ninjaflex NinjaTex TPU costs around $33 for just 500g, or you can get Hatchbox TPU for around $31 for 1KG.

ASA – Overture ASA filament costs around $32 per KG on Amazon. Polymaker Polylite ASA is another popular brand of filament that costs around the same price.

Nylon – Overture Nylon filament costs around $35 per KG on Amazon.

How Much Does 3D Printing Resin Cost?

The two most popular brands of resin are the Elegoo Rapid Resin and the Anycubic UV-Curing Resin which cost around $35 per KG. These are great quality resins that can definitely produce high quality models.

They cure/harden fairly quickly, have fairly good levels of toughness and rigidity, as well as having excellent fluidity so it can be easily cured into complex and detailed shapes.

You can get more premium resins that offer characteristics such as higher durability and strength, more flexibility, mechanical-grade tough resins and even professional-grade dentistry resin.

Elegoo Water Washable Resin costs around $40-$45 per KG and it allows you to wash your resin models with just water rather than isopropyl alcohol.

Siraya Tech Tenacious Flexible & Impact-Resistant Resin costs around $65 per KG and provides users with a premium resin that works very well.

The great thing about this resin is how it can actually be mixed with other resins to increase their strength, flexibility, and even detail. One user even tested a piece printed with this resin by running over it with his truck without the 3D print breaking.

Formlabs Model Resin costs around $150 per KG and is a specialized resin that is high-precision and high accuracy. It’s specifically used in the dental field but can still be used to create high detailed models.

This is only compatible with Formlabs 3D printers such as the Form 3, Form 3L and Form 3BL.

Just to complete the knowledge with 3D printing materials, I’ll briefly mention metal powers for metal 3D printers.

A popular metal power like Aluminum Alsi7mg can cost between $24-$26 per KG, though the 3D printer itself can set you back $50,000 – $1,000,000, so this isn’t too relevant for individuals like us – rather industrial companies.

How Much Does 3D Printing Cost? Other Materials

When it comes to 3D printing, after you have your 3D printer and filament, there are other costs associated that is worth paying for.

You have the option to be as cost-effective as possible, but if you want the best 3D printing experience, I’d recommend getting some extra items.

Elmer’s Disappearing Glue

Elmer’s disappearing glue is one of the best glues to use when it comes to 3D printing purposes. It is called disappearing glue because it is usually purple when you apply it but turns clear once it dries.

This glue has been manufactured using an acid-free formula which makes its adhesive properties spectacular. You can glue different parts of your model without worrying about them coming off.

It is also non-toxic, which makes it suitable for use when 3D printing at home, school or in a workplace.

One user found it particularly useful because it helped his prints stick to the hot bed until the print job was completed.

Check out Elmer’s Disappearing Glue on Amazon.

Sandpaper Assortment

Austor sandpaper is made from silicon carbide which provides a wet or dry sanding experience. One package of this Sandpaper assortment comes with 102 pieces of assorted abrasive sheets in different grits ranging from 60 to 3,000.

This sandpaper has been specially manufactured to be efficient with automotive sanding, and wood furnishing, but works very well with 3D prints. It is one of the toughest sandpaper out there offering high quality natural abrasion.

This makes it suitable for sanding and polishing 3D models after printing. One user said that he used it when working on his resin print and it helped him achieve an almost glass finish.

Check out the Austor Sandpaper Assortment on Amazon.

Primer/Spray Paint

Rust-Oleum primer is a water-based primer designed for exterior use in a wide range of products like furniture, laminate, PVC, railings, galvanized steel and thermoplastics.

This primer has a low odor which makes it favorable to use on 3D models before painting. It is also dries in 30 minutes. You can also spray it in humid environments and it should still work great.

One user said that she sprayed this primer to on his prints before sanding and finishing and it worked fantastically.

You can find a can of Rust-Oleum 2-In-One Filler & Primer Spray from Amazon.

Paint & Paintbrushes

Painting finished models improves their aesthetic value and enables you to add a personal touch to them. You want to use the right type of paint that works well for 3D printer objects and miniatures.

I’d recommend going with the Caliart Acrylic Paint Set with 24 Vivid Colors from Amazon.

Acyrlic paints and paint brushes are the perfect tools for coloring your printed models. They are bright and can be used on a variety of surfaces e.g. ABS, PLA, PETG and wood.

In terms of paint brushes, I’d recommend going with the Soucolor Acrylic Paint Brushes Set 20 Pcs from Amazon. They come with many fine brushes that can paint some great detail on miniature 3D prints and other 3D printed objects.

Store paints from the hardware can be too thick and even end up clumping and forming unpleasant layers. Acrylic paints are used since they cover a greater surface and are easy to use.

These aren’t necessary for 3D printing, but it will definitely give you a better overall experience with the kind of quality you can get from your models.

3D Print Cleaning Kit

Having a 3D print tool kit/cleaning kit is a great set of parts that you’ll want when you start 3D printing.

A great set is the Rustark 42-Piece 3D Print Tool Kit from Amazon.

It has several parts for 3D printing, including:

14-Piece Knife Set
Scraper
Flat File
Pliers
Flush Cutters
Electronic Digital Calipers
Cutting Mat
Deburring Tool
6-Piece Deburring Blades
3-Piece Cleaning Brushes Set
Glue Stick
10-Piece Cleaning Needles
Zipper Bag

This set of tools helps anyone involved with 3D printing with cleaning up 3D prints to make them look closer to that professional quality. It helps with maintaining the 3D printer also with the cleaning brushes that can be used to clean up the nozzle.

You also have the cleaning needles to help with clearing out the nozzle, as well as the pliers and flush cutters to get rid of excess support material.

One user said that she had been using it for her 3D printer for close to a month now and so far, they were holding up well.

Oils & Lubricants – PTFE 3-In-One

The 3-In-One Multipurpose PTFE lubricant is designed for usage in high temperature environments to reduce friction and protect parts from wear and tear.

This lubricant can work well in temperatures ranging from -50°F to 500°F. It can be used on the Z-axis threaded rod, X-Y guide-rails, lead screws, and bearings to help parts that are in contact to move smoothly.

One user purchased it to lubricate the rails and rods on his printer and it coated better than many oils he found on the market. The only minor issue that he had with it was that the twist close cap would sometimes leak from under the cap while he was applying it.

You can find the 3-In-One Multipurpose PTFE Lubricant on Amazon today.

Cleaning Wipes & Rubbing Alcohol

When it comes to cleaning printer beds and removing dust from 3D printing machines, you want to make sure you do this on a regular basis with the right products.

You can get some pretty bad bed adhesion when you have grease and marks from handling your print bed, so you want to avoid this for more successful prints.

Most 3D printer users have either a bottle of isopropyl alcohol with paper towels, or simply some sterile alcohol wipes. I’d recommend going with Dynarex Alcohol Prep Pads (200 Count) from Amazon for your cleaning needs.

One customer said that the Dynarex alcohol pads were very helpful in dissolving residue on his glass print bed and restoring its surface.

You can also get yourself a bottle of Solimo 99% Isopropyl Alcohol from Amazon. It’s another great cleaning solution for your print bed, and can be used with paper towels or a washcloth.

Replacement Parts

A lot of FDM printer’s parts will need to be replaced after being used for some time. The nozzles last for long when printing with PLA and ABS.

Brass nozzles
Hardened steel nozzles
Stiff bed springs
PTFE tubing
Timing belt

Brass & Hardened Nozzles

In terms of brass nozzles, they can be used for a fairly long time when you print simple materials like PLA and ABS, but they’ll need replacement at some point. You can go with the Creality 10 Pcs Brass Nozzles Set from Amazon.

It includes 8 brass nozzles ranging from 0.2mm up to 0.6mm, along with 2 0.4mm hardened steel nozzles.

Compression Springs

A great upgrade that many 3D printer users implement with their machine are those yellow compression springs that go underneath your bed for leveling. The stock springs are usually quite weak and require regular leveling.

When you get something like the 8mm Yellow Compression Springs (20 Pcs) from Amazon, you won’t need to level your 3D printer very often. Some people have leveled it properly once and have not had to level it for months.

This upgrade is likely to save you plenty of time and frustration by giving you consistent and successful 3D prints.

PTFE Tubing

The stock PTFE tube can work fairly well on 3D printers, but after a while they can start to deteriorate. You’ll be better off upgrading it to Creality Capricorn Bowden PTFE Tubing from Amazon.

It has a much higher heat resistance and less friction to give you better successes with your 3D prints.

Timing Belt

The belts on your FDM 3D printer are one of the main moving parts, making them susceptible to wear and tear over time. These can last a good while of printing but after some time, you may need to replace these.

I’d recommend going with the Befenybay 2GT Timing Belts from Amazon when you do need to replace it.

It has a nice copper buckle that has been pre-pressed in order to lock in the belt on your 3D printer.

Although you may think there are many costs with 3D printing and maintenance, when you regularly maintain your 3D printer, it can actually decrease your overall costs because you won’t have to replace parts so often.

Beginners are more likely to have failures due to incorrect bed leveling, incorrect slicer settings, tangled filament or not adding support material. This can significantly drive up the cost of producing prints.

This cost will decrease as you gain more experience from 3D printing regularly.

How Much Does 3D Printing Cost Per Hour to Run?

With a standard flow rate of filament from a 0.4mm nozzle, a 0.2mm layer height, along with standard electricity and maintenance costs, 3D printing costs around $0.40 per hour. Filament costs around $0.24 per hour, electricity costs around $0.09 per hour, and maintenance costs around $0.07 per hour.

The main costs when it comes to 3D printing is the filament which goes for around $25 per KG of plastic. After doing some calculations with some standard settings, you can figure out how much filament is extruded on an hourly basis.

With the Spider-Man model below, 182g of filament gets extruded in 18 hours and 51 minutes. To calculate this on an hour basis, we take 182g / 18.85 (18 hours and 51 minutes) = 9.655g of filament extruded every hour for this specific print.

To figure out how much this is, we can take $25 per KG of plastic which is 1000g, then divide it by 1,000 to get the price per gram – $25 / 1,000 = $0.025 per gram.

Now we do 9.655 grams * $0.025 = $0.2413 or $0.24 rounded down.

Next up we got the electricity costs.

I already did an article called “How Much Electric Power Does a 3D Printer Use?” where I figured out that a standard 3D printer uses around $0.09 in electricity every hour by seeing readings of electricity use for an hour and getting an average cost in the US of electricity for a kWh.

Last but not least we have the maintenance costs. This can vary from printer to printer, but generally speaking, 3D printers don’t need a lot of maintenance if you have the right parts. You may have to replace thermistors, cooling fans, belts etc.

Once you install some durable parts and have a process, you may have to spend $30-$50 per year on items. If we take an average 3D printer user and say they use their 3D print for an average of 2 hours every day, that would be 730 hours of printing every year.

Let’s take the upper estimate of $50 per year on maintenance, then divide that by 730 hours, and we get an hour maintenance cost of $0.07.

How Much Does it Cost to 3D Print Objects?

By going to Thingiverse.com, you can download a model you like and print it. Using an average cost of $25 per KG below are the approximate prices of some common objects that people 3D print.

How Much Does it Cost to 3D Print A Miniature?

A standard tabletop miniature costs around $0.12 like the Elf Ranger (28mm scale) and uses only 5g of filament. Some miniatures may use more or less filament so you adjust the cost based on the amount of filament you use.

How Much Does it Cost to 3D Print A Phone Case?

A 3D printed phone case for an iPhone 6 Case (Halo Themed) costs around $0. 58 and uses roughly 23g of filament. It measures at 70 x 9 x 140mm and is based on using PLA plastic which costs around $25 per KG.

How Much Does it Cost to 3D Print A Helmet (Stormtrooper Helmet)?

A Stormtrooper Helmet uses around 1.5KG of filament which would cost around $37.50 for a full-sized model. It can be printed in around 45 hours with 17 individual prints, or you have the choice to print the whole model in one if you have a big enough 3D printer.

How Much Does it Cost to 3D Print A Mask?

A Loki Mask from “The Mask” movie uses around 180g of filament and would cost $4.50 in PLA at $25/KG. Its dimensions are 165 x 87 x 220mm but can easily be scaled up or down as you desire. There are many other masks out there that can use a lot less filament which would be cheaper.

A Covid-19 Mask V2 from Thingiverse uses around 40g of filament which would cost around $1.00.

How Much Does it Cost to 3D Print A Car?

A company called XEV started the production of a $7,500 dollar electric car in 2019, which weighs 450KG. The Strati which was designed by Michele Anoé and made 3D printable by Local Motors is another 3D printed car which costs around $24,000, though not highway worthy as it doesn’t meet requirements.

One popular story about a 3D printed car is by Sterling Backus who 3D printed a Lamborghini at home with his son, costing just $20,000.

He used a Creality CR-10 to print different parts before joining them together.

Check out the full video below.

The Strati is another well-known 3D printed car that has got plenty of traction and was first printed in just 44 hours in 2014, but with a goal to get that down to just 10 hours per vehicle.

It hasn’t really have much news recently that I could see, so they could have moved onto other projects now, but it’s still a great project and insight into the potential for 3D printed cars.

How Much Does it Cost to 3D Print An Organ?

A bioprinter can reportedly create a 3D printed organ for as little as $10,000 which is likely to decrease in price as technology improves. Researchers are trying to 3D print many organs such as a pancreas, bioprinted skin, corneas, a heart, kidneys, and even bioprinted ovaries.

To 3D print an Anatomical Heart in PLA, it would cost around $3. 65 and use 146g in filament.

How Much Does it Cost to 3D Print A Prototype?

For a simple prototype that requires 100g of filament to print, it would only cost $2.50. For a more complex part that requires professional designers, the cost can range in the hundreds to thousands of dollars depending on the complexity of your prototype. The main cost would be in the design.

A full Nintendo Headrest Prototype measuring 94.7 x 87.6 x 121.8mm will cost you $0.98 when using PLA filament. It was fully designed in Fusion 360 which made the locking mechanism a lot easier to use.

A prototype can be a small object which would only require 15 grams of material or a large object that consumes several KGs of material.

A prototype can cost anywhere from $30 to upwards of $30,000 without including the post-processing costs. Well, all this depends on how big the design is and its complexity.

How Much Does it Cost to 3D Print A Shoe?

A 3D printed shoe called the Pigalle Pump Shoe uses around 114g of filament and would cost $2. 85 to create. Another popular footwear that is 3D printed is the Recreus Sandals which you would want to print out of TPU. It similarly uses around 115g of filament and would cost around $2.90 .

How Much Does it Cost to 3D Print A Mug?

This 3D printed Fish Mug uses 156g of material and would cost $3.90 in PLA filament. You would want to coat this in a food safe epoxy to be able to be used safely.

How Much Does it Cost to 3D Print An Iron Man Suit?

A Full MK6 Iron Man Suit would require about 20kg of filament when using the CR-10. It would also cost about $360 when using PLA and a 15% infill rate. This is much cheaper compared to a professional Mark 43 Basic Armor Package which can cost upwards of $1,300.

How Much Does it Cost to 3D Print An FPV Drone?

The Nanolongrange V2 GPS FPV Drone is a modern and very light drone which only uses 7.5g in filament for the frame, which is $0.18. It requires other parts like a flight controller, a motor, 4 blade propellers, a GPS antenna module, an FPV camera, M2 screws and rubber bands, all costing around $110.

The cost of these parts were gathered from going on Banggood (product site) on the Thingiverse page, and adding up the relevant costs. This is a very minimal drone, only having a flight time of 20 minutes and 4.65km distance.

For a more capable drone, you’re probably looking at a much higher price, but that is due to parts rather than the 3D printing aspect of things.

How Much Does it Cost to 3D Print A Real House?

A 3D printed house can cost as low as $4,000 and only take around 24 hours to complete. SQ4D are at the forefront of the 3D printed home industry, being able to create a 1,900 SQ FT. home in just 48 hours and used less than $6,000 in materials. Costs are decreasing as times move forward.

Homes are being built for low-income families in Mexico, as well as throughout the US.

Large industrial grade printers extrude cement in layers to form walls. Fittings such as windows and doors are placed after the main structure is completed.

3D printing homes is still at its infancy, so we can expect to see more 3D printed homes in the market in the near future.

How much does 3D printing cost?

As a 3d printing company, we always get asked: "how much does it cost to 3d print?".

Our answer has always been "it depends" as there are factors that contribute to the cost of 3d printing. You're looking at anywhere between $3 to $1000(or even more) for the cost to 3d print based on these factors.

So today, we're breaking down each factor for you. If you're 3D printing at home, then those factors are your material, electricity and 3D printer cost. But if you're looking for a 3d printing service or looking into starting a 3D printing business, this guide should help you understand how pricing works when it comes to 3d printing.

Factors that affect the price of 3D printing

Cost of buying and running a 3D printer

If you're starting a 3D printing business or looking to make money with 3D printing, you might want to consider the price of a 3D printer in calculating the cost to 3D print something. 3D printers can cost anywhere between $200 to $150,000 depending on the technology being used.

Let's say you purchased a $1500 3D Printer that you plan to use 8 hrs / day for 2 years. We're going to ignore repair cost, electricity, etc. for the sake of simplicity.

8 x 365 x 2 = 5840 total hours

$1500 / 5840 hrs = ~ $0.21/hr

So if your 3D model would take about 4 hours to 3D print, then you need to charge $0.84 on top of your price to account for your machine upkeep.

In a way, the time it takes to 3D print also adds to the cost of 3D printing.

3D Model

3D model of a dinosaur trophy

"Send us the 3D model" is the second thing we tell our clients after telling them "it depends". Without the 3D model, it's tough to come up with an accurate quote for a 3D print even for seasoned veterans.

The 3D model gives us essential information that can help us quote a 3d print.

Model volume

With the 3d model on hand, we can calculate the total volume of the model, including the generated supports. The total volume lets us know how much material is needed to 3d print your file.

In short, the larger the volume, the higher the cost. There are ways to reduce the cost of 3D printing, and one of them is to hollow your model.

A 3ft model can have less volume than a 1ft model if the 1ft model is solid on the inside, while the 3ft model is hollow.

That is why coming up with an estimate price of 3d printing without the 3d model is not easy.

Complexity

Not all 3d models are created equal. Some are 3d print-ready, while some are just plain crazy. 3d printing takes preparation and planning. For some 3d printing services, everything is automated, which can make transactions faster. For simple products, this can be the right solution.

But what about complex parts and architectural models? We found that even with the most sophisticated algorithm, you still need some human guidance when it comes to 3d printing these type of projects.

A quick story, a client sent us a 3d model of an actual stadium. They wanted a 3d printed version of this. As we inspected the file, we saw that the model had multiple problems. There were loose joints, the walls were too thin, and there were 3d models inside the stadium itself.

If we just 3d printed it right away, it would have cost us thousands of dollars on wasted material!

Take this into consideration. Are you willing to risk having your 3d model printed as is? Or do you want to make sure that the final print exceeds your expectations?

Type of material

The materials that you choose matters when it comes to the cost of 3d printing. There are tons to choose from so we are going to focus on the popular ones, thermoplastics and resin.

Thermoplastics: Filaments and Powder

Cost: $

Even if you are new to 3d printing, you have probably heard of "ABS" or "PLA". That's because these two are the most widely used 3d printing material out there. Hobbyists love these thermoplastics as they are cheap. These filaments can cost between $20 to $70 per kg.[1]

Although they are cheap, getting a high-quality 3d print out of them is not easy. It will take hours of post-processing time to get smooth finishing from these prints. (More on that later.) In addition to that, 3d printing complex 3d models are nearly impossible using this type of material.

Thermosets: Resin

Cost: $$$

Resin is, in our opinion, the best 3d printing material out there. It's versatile for almost any complex project, and it would give you the best quality 3d print. But at the same time, resin material can get quite costly. Standard resin, on average, cost $50 per litre, and some resin materials can go up to $300 per litre. Luckily, 3d printing companies usually have access to discounted prices for this type of material.

Want to find out how much your 3D model will cost?

Use our instant quoting system to calculate how much it will cost to 3D print something.

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Post-processing

Most don't realize that 3d printing is not an instant process. Drop your file, print, and it's ready. (We hope it was).

After 3d printing, the resulting print needs to be cured, cleaned and polished before you can consider them useable. That is if the 3d printing service company cares about the quality of their product.

Polishing

Imagine polishing the one on the left to make it smooth? Photo courtesy of Formlabs.

For filaments, don't even waste your time. As someone who spent hours removing supports, we don't want to you put you through that hell. If you value your time, the amount of time you will spend sanding these prints would cost a lot. And even then, the quality wouldn't be on par compared to resin.

For resin, it's simpler. Once the pieces are UV cured, we can polish it by hand or using a sandblaster.

Again, the 3d model matters as it could affect post-processing. Some models are so complex that the generated supports are very hard to clean. It would take some expertise and a lot of patience for someone to clean these prints.

Finishing

At PrintAWorld, the projects that we work on usually require more than just 3d printing. Our clients would ask for their 3d print to have a gold finishing, chrome or even an exact Pantone color. With current 3d printing technology, this is impossible to accomplish. So we offer metal plating and painting on top of our 3d printing services.

Profit margin

For 3D printing companies to stay in business, they need to add a profit margins on top of the 3D printing cost. Profit margins for a 3D printing business can be somewhere between 50% - 90% of material cost. We're using material cost as a basis for the sake of simplicity. But profit margins are actually much lower once you start including labor and overhead costs.

There is also a base price (or a minimum fee) that gets added if if the cost of 3D printing is less than a certain amount. It wouldn't make sense for a company to 3D print something for you for a print that costs $3. Even in a highly automated 3D printing service, there's still some labor involved. Either you add more quantity or pay the base price which is around $30-$90.

3DHubs has a minimum order of $90. It would be wiser if you order multiple quantities of your part to lessen the cost.

3D printing service price comparison

Now that we know what factors affect the price of 3D printing, let's see how much it would cost to 3D print this popular WallStreeBets mascot by ChaosCoreTech.

For this test we will be using SLA 3D printing.

We modified the file so we can stress test the on-demand 3D printing services that offer SLA printing.

Scaled it up to 152mm or ~6" high
We hollowed the 3D model. Meaning, the insides are empty.
- This makes it use less material, making it cheaper.
- Speed up the 3D printing time for SLA, which should lower the cost.

3DHubs
Price: $537
3DHubs won't even allow you to print this in resin as it's bigger than what their manufacturers can print.
i.materialise
Price: $211.17
Cheaper than 3DHubs but they won't clean the supports for you at this price. If you need it cleaned, you need to pay extra.
Shapeways
Price: $2061.56
We're not sure why it's this expensive. They might have miscalculated the model volume which made it seem that this piece would require half a liter of resin to print. But, either way, Shapeways is the most expensive one out of this group.
Most Affordable
PrintAWorld
Price: $136.32
Disclaimer. This is our 3D printing company. For SLA 3D printing, we are definitely the cheapest compared to the others in this group. Removing the supports and polishing is even included in the service.
Try it out

Why are 3D printing services expensive?

3D printing services are expensive because we have to account for factors mentioned beforehand such as labor, post processing and overhead costs. We also have to account the industrial 3D printers that they use, which cost at least $100,000 and upwards. Plus, they have to add profit margin on top of that cost.

This begs the question, is it better to buy a 3D printer instead?

Should you buy a 3D printer or hire a 3D printing service?

3D printing services can sometimes cost more than an entry level 3D printer. So you might be wondering if it's better to buy a 3D printer instead.

Here's our thoughts on that:

If cost is a problem for you and you're only 3D printing for fun, then buying a 3D printer might be the better investment in the long run.
If your time is more valuable for you, then hiring a 3D printing service would be the better option. You'll have access to large scale 3D printers and capabilities that is impossible to achieve with DIY 3D printing.

Best Budget 3D Printer

Anycubic Photon Mono

The Photon Mono is the best LCD 3D printer that we've gotten our hands on. We own 8 of these machines and use it as part of our manufacturing process. It's cheap but the print quality is almost the same as the ones that we get from our Formlabs 3. If you're looking to buy your first 3D printer, we recommend going for a resin 3D printer like this one instead of buying an FDM printer.

$229. 00 from Anycubic

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In Summary

Multiple factors affect the price of a 3d printing service. If you add in all these variables, you're looking at anywhere between $30 to $15,000 for the cost of 3d printing. The price can even be lower or higher, depending on the scale of your project.

Cellulose based 3d printing ink

3D printing

Researchers at the Swiss Institute for Quality Control and Laboratory Research EMPA have succeeded in developing an environmentally friendly 3D printing ink based on cellulose nanocrystals. This development can be used to produce microstructures with outstanding mechanical properties that will find applications in prosthetics and other medical fields.

To create 3D microstructured materials, EMPA used an additive 3D printing technology called robocasting (Direct Ink Writing, DIW). During this process, a viscous substance, the printing material, enters through the nozzle and immediately takes the desired shape due to pseudoplasticity. Dr. Gilberto Siqueira and Dr. Tanya Zimmerman of the Wood Materials Laboratory, together with Jennifer Lewis of Harvard University and André Studart of ETH Zurich, have succeeded in developing a new sustainable 3D printing material based on cellulose nanocrystals (CNC).

Along with lignin and hemicelluloses, cellulose is the main component of wood. This biopolymer is composed of glucose chains organized into long fibrous structures. In different areas, there is a different degree of ordering of cellulose fibrils. “Sites with a more ordered structure are characterized by a pronounced crystalline form, and it is these areas that we use for our research,” explains Dr. Siqueira. After acid treatment of these areas, the researchers obtain a product in the form of cellulose nanocrystals - rod-like structures 120 nm long and 6.5 nm in diameter. It was these formations that served as the material for creating environmentally friendly "ink" for 3D printing. On their basis, it was possible to obtain "ink" with a CNC content of about 20%, while previous developments contained no more than 2.5% of this biomaterial.

“The main challenge was to achieve a viscous elastic consistency so that the consumable could easily pass through the nozzles of the 3D printer,” says Dr. Siqueira. At the same time, the material had to be dense enough so that the model held its shape before drying or polymerization, without melting immediately after printing. The first "ink" with cellulose was water-based, which made the prototype very fragile. Therefore, the EMPA research team invented another method for manufacturing consumables, already based on a polymer. This method has a significant advantage: after printing and polymerization using UV study, cellulose nanocrystals are “glued together” by polymer blocks, which gives the composite material additional strength.

Despite resistance

Researchers admit that they had to seriously puzzle over the solution of individual problems. “Most polymers are water-repellent or hydrophobic, while cellulose, being hydrophilic, attracts water. As a result, they are incompatible,” laments Dr. Siqueira. To create favorable conditions, the scientists resorted to chemical CNC surface treatment.

After the first printing attempts and X-ray analysis of the resulting microstructures, the laboratory specialists noticed that the cellulose nanocrystals were almost perfectly aligned in the direction of printing. It turned out that the degree of ordering depends on the force with which the “ink” is forced through the nozzles of the 3D printer. This feature can be used if it is necessary to obtain a model that has a certain rigidity in one direction or another.

A sea of possibilities

The above advantages of CNC proved to be decisive when compared to other materials such as carbon fibres. In addition, cellulose is a renewable material and the most abundant natural polymer on Earth. It is found not only in trees, but also in other plants and even bacteria. Crystals obtained by isolation from various sources differ from each other only in size, and not in properties.

The automotive and packaging industries can also use this versatile material, which can be chemically modified through 3D printing if needed. However, according to Dr. Siqueira, the most important application of "ink" with cellulose nanocrystals is biomedicine and prosthetics in particular.

The possibilities of new "inks" are currently being studied within the walls of EMPA. At the same time, the development of new environmentally friendly consumables for various areas of 3D printing is being carried out.

You can read about other 3D printing technologies in our review.

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When will we be able to print new organs on a 3D printer?

Photo: Alexander Ryumin / TASS In China alone, there are 1.5 million people on the waiting list, in the United States - 113 thousand, of which, on average, 20 people die a day without waiting for a donor. A new kidney - the most demanded organ - has to wait from three to five years. This problem can be solved by printing the necessary organs on special 3D printers.

True, not earlier than the next ten years.

Bioprinting technology: how and why are organs printed today?

(Video: RBC)

The principle is about the same as in conventional 3D printing: we get a three-dimensional object on a special printer.

The first stage is preprinting : first, a digital model of the future organ or tissue is created. For this, images obtained on MRI or CT are used.

Then they print, layer by layer - this technology is called additive. Only instead of a conventional 3D printer, there is a special bioprinter, and instead of ink, there are biomaterials. These can be human stem cells, which in the body perform the role of any cells; porcine collagen protein or seaweed-based cell material.

If the cells are alive, they are biopsied and prepared in a bioreactor until they multiply by division to the desired number. During printing, the bioprinter polymerizes the cellular structure - that is, binds it with the help of ultraviolet light, heating or cooling. Cell layers are connected using a hydrogel - organic or artificial.

The resulting structure is then placed in a biological environment where it "ripens" before transplanting. This is the longest stage: it can last several weeks. During this time, the structure stabilizes, and the cells are ready to perform their functions.

Then the organ is transplanted and they monitor how it takes root.

Bioprinting: how living organs are printed on a 3D printer

(Video: RBC)

In addition to conventional additive bioprinters, there are other bioprinters. Some of them print collagen directly on an open wound: this way you can quickly build up new skin even in the field. In this case, the ripening (post-printing) step is skipped.

There are also printers that print in outer space, in zero gravity. In the future, they can be used on the ISS:

There are more than 100 companies worldwide that produce 3D bioprinters. 39% of them are in the USA, 35% are in Europe (of which more than half are in France and Germany), 17% are in Asia, 5% are in Latin America.

In Russia, bioprinters are produced by 3D Bioprinting Solutions, which is also engaged in research in the field of bioprinting.

The cheapest and most compact bioprinter — Tissue Scribe by American 3D Cultures, costs from $1.5 thousand

In second place - Australian Rastrum from Inventia for $5 thousand

Aether bioprinter from the USA can be bought from $9 thousand biosystems.

3D Bioplotters from the German EnvisionTEC cost from $100,000, and the Russian FABION (3D Bioprinting Solutions) is even more expensive.

Finally, the most expensive bioprinters — more than $200,000 — are NovoGen MMX from Organovo (USA) and NGB-R from Poietis (France).

In addition to the cost of the printer, the printing process itself is an additional 15-20% of the cost of the entire project. It will cost even more to obtain the necessary cell material.

So far, the most successful experience has been the transplantation of cartilage - the very ears of Chinese children.

Small artificial cell bones are printed on a printer and then coated with a layer. They are planned to be transplanted instead of a broken or damaged area, after which they completely regenerate in three months. In the future, they want to use the technology for spinal injuries.

The most promising direction is 3D printing of leather. Already in five years they promise that this can be done directly on a person, over or instead of the damaged area. Skin and other tissues are being printed from cells from cancer patients to test various therapies.

More complex organs, such as kidneys or hearts, have so far only been printed as prototypes or transplanted into mice, not humans.

In order for the organs to take root and function well in the human body, they take the patient's cells, and then they divide until they are enough for printing. There are entire institutes that create cell lines for bioprinting. But the problem is that cells have a division limit, after which they are no longer usable. Therefore, it is possible to print a model of the heart, but not in life size - that is, it is not suitable for transplantation into a person.

The second problem is that the printed organ must function in conjunction with the rest of the body : digest food, secrete hormones, deliver blood and oxygen. A complex system of cells, tissues, nerves and blood vessels is responsible for all this. So far, it has not been possible to reproduce it exactly.

Finally, bioprinting technologies are not yet regulated in any way. All research must go through all stages of testing, including on humans, and then obtaining patents.