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Industries
3D printing for the work you actually do
The right machine and material depend on your industry and what the part has to survive. These are the seven we print for most. Each page shows the jobs, the materials, the kit and the work we have already done.
01Automotive & motorsportVehicle manufacturers and tier suppliers, Motorsport teams
02Aerospace & defenceAerospace engineering and MRO, Defence equipment and support
03Medical & orthoticsOrthotic and prosthetic labs, Podiatry clinics
04Product design & consumerProduct and industrial design studios, Consumer goods brands
05Jewellery & giftwareJewellery designers and goldsmiths, Casting houses
06Arts & creative industriesSculptors and fine art foundries, Museums, galleries and visitor attractions
07Manufacturing & toolingProduction and manufacturing engineers, Maintenance and line support teams
Where your part sits
Seven industries, the jobs they send and what we print them in
The same 3D printers serve every industry. What changes is the job and the material it has to be made in.
Automotive & motorsportJigs that hold a panel where it needs to be, ducting nobody makes any more, brackets in a fortnight rather than a quarter, plus trim in numbers too small for a tool.The jobsObsolete and discontinued partsAir and fluid ductingBumpers, grilles and dashboards in one pieceLamps, lenses and clear partsPrinted inPA12 NylonPA11 NylonSomos TaurusSomos WaterShed XC
Aerospace & defenceWeight comes out and lead times come down.The jobsDucting and cable managementWind tunnel and fit modelsObsolete sparesLarge one-piece prototypesPrinted inPA12 NylonPA11 NylonSomos PerFORMSomos Taurus
Medical & orthoticsInsoles and splints made to one person rather than to a size, printed in batches overnight in PA11 nylon from a scan of the patient.The jobsInsoles and ankle-foot orthosesWrist and hand bracesCranial helmets and face masksProsthetic sockets, covers and fittingsPrinted inPA11 NylonPA12 Nylon
Product design & consumerSomething to put on the table at the review, in the right colour, at the right size, days after the CAD was finished rather than weeks.The jobsAppearance modelsFit and assembly checksClear partsShort production runsPrinted inSR-9PA12 NylonPA11 NylonSomos WaterShed XC
Jewellery & giftwareCastable patterns clean enough to burn out without residue, master models for rubber moulds and one-off pieces that would take a week by hand.The jobsChains and production castingMaster models for rubber mouldsPersonalised commissionsDirect pieces in digital stonePrinted inDWS Fusia Digital WaxDWS Fusia DC905DWS Fusia DC800DWS Fusia 445
Arts & creative industriesA 7 ft Lemmy for the Punk Rock Museum in Las Vegas, foundry patterns for life-size bronzes and showpieces for flagship shop windows.The jobsPatterns for bronze castingMuseum and gallery piecesShop windows and retail displayScaling up a maquettePrinted inSR-9PA12 Nylon
Manufacturing & toolingThe parts that make the parts: fixtures, gauges, end-of-arm tooling and the spare that stopped being available in 2009.The jobsEnd-of-arm tooling and grippersWorkholding, fixtures and checking gaugesFunctional production partsMoulds and tooling insertsPrinted inPA12 NylonSomos PerFORMSomos EvoLVe 128Somos TaurusDone before
One job from each industry
Automotive & motorsportSeat Leon Cupra R Mk1 grilleScanned from an original, modified to the customer’s request to replace the badge with honeycomb, then printed in PA12 with a matt black finish.
Aerospace & defenceRapid3D: a fifth UnionTech SLA 3D printerA prototyping bureau serving Formula One, aerospace and defence runs five UnionTech 3D printers on five resins, including a rigid one for wind-tunnel models and tunes each machine itself.
Medical & orthoticsCrispin OrthoticsAn HCPC registered clinic that invested in HP Multi Jet Fusion and Siemens NX through us, reporting devices accurate to 0.2 mm as well as savings of around 40% per part.
Product design & consumerTriathlon bike storage boxScanned in two minutes, designed in Geomagic Design X, prototyped overnight, redesigned with a snap-fit lid, then a first batch of 100 in PA12.
Jewellery & giftwareA hidden gem in jewellery 3D printingHow DWS SLA works for jewellery and how Rome designer Francesca Gabrielli printed her bracelets in Irix.
Arts & creative industriesWallace and Gromit in bronzeA maquette scanned in 45 minutes, scaled and cut into sections with Castle Fine Arts Foundry. We printed the detailed pattern pieces for the 7ft bronze in Preston.
Manufacturing & toolingBowman International bearing cagesBowman make end-use bearing cages on an HP 4200 we supplied, the first in the UK to use PA11, reporting up to 70% more load capacity and up to 500% longer working life.FAQ
Not on the list?
The list is where the volume is, not the limit. We have printed for film, for archaeology, for a brewery and for a zoo. Upload the file for an instant price, or ring and describe the part and an engineer will tell you what is realistic.
Or ring 0330 229 0175, Monday to Friday, 8.30am to 5pmHow quickly can I get a price for a printed part?
Straight away. Upload the file to our instant quote, choose the material and the quantity and the price is on screen. You can order there and then. Get an instant quote
Which process do you use for brackets, jigs and other functional parts?
Most of this work goes on HP Multi Jet Fusion, because the nylon parts come out equally strong in every direction and need no supports, so there is no weak axis to design around. HP Multi Jet Fusion
When is SLA the better choice?
When the surface matters more than the strength, such as appearance and styling models or clear parts. SLA parts come off the machine smooth enough to finish properly. Fine features like snap fits, living hinges and text survive. SLA printing
Can you print parts that have to cope with heat?
Yes. Where heat is the constraint rather than load, we print in SLA using a high temperature resin. Patterns and moulds can be printed in Somos PerFORM, which takes the heat. High temperature resin
Can you make a part when the drawing has been lost?
Yes. Our scanning service captures the part, Geomagic Design X turns it back into CAD you can edit, then we print it. Scanning and printing are done in one building. Reverse engineering services
What material do you use for orthotics and insoles?
PA11 nylon. It is bio-based and takes repeated flexing without cracking. Multi Jet Fusion prints it in batches of hundreds, so a lab can run a day of patients through one build. Orthotics and insoles
Can you print castable patterns for jewellery?
Yes. The DWS X-Fab jewellery 3D printers use resins formulated to burn out without leaving anything behind in the investment, with detail measured in tens of microns. DWS X-Fab jewellery 3D printers