3D Printing Use Cases: What Businesses Print With Us
Six pages, six jobs. Each one gives you the lead time, the material, the price drivers, and the honest limits before you spend a dollar.
What is on these use case pages?
Each use case page covers one job people hire a print shop for, start to finish. Not a list of features. The actual job.
Every page gives you the same four things. How fast it ships. Which plastic fits. What the price depends on. And where printing is the wrong call.
They are written for buyers and engineers, not for hobby printing. Every number on them comes from work we really do.
Already know what you need? Skip the reading and upload the file at the instant quote. PLA and PETG parts get a price in seconds.
The six jobs we print most
Here are the six, with one plain line on each. Pick the one that sounds like your part.
- Rapid prototyping
Turn a CAD file into a test part in days, then print the next try.
- Low-volume production
Make 50 to 10,000 real parts with no mold to pay for first.
- Jigs and fixtures
Custom shop tools that hold a part or guide a tool, printed to fit.
- Custom enclosures
Boxes and housings sized to your board, your ports, and your mounts.
- Brackets and mounts
Parts that bolt one thing to another, sized to your hardware.
- Replacement parts
A new part for gear the maker stopped selling, built from your broken one.
Which use case fits your part?
Match your job to a row. The file you send and the plastic we reach for both change from one job to the next.
| Use case | Best file to send | Common material |
|---|---|---|
| Rapid prototyping | STL or 3MF | PLA or PETG |
| Low-volume production | STL or STEP | PETG |
| Jigs and fixtures | STL or a drawing | PETG or PA-CF |
| Custom enclosures | STL or STEP | PETG |
| Brackets and mounts | STL or STEP | PETG or PA-CF |
| Replacement parts | A sample, drawing, or photo | PETG or PA-CF |
Not sure which plastic to pick? The materials page lists strength and heat limits side by side, and the glossary defines the words on your quote.
What every job has in common
Four things stay the same no matter which page you land on. They are the reason all six jobs fit under one roof.
Parts are made in the USA and ship inside the country. Small orders ship in 2 to 5 days.
PLA and PETG get an instant price on upload. ABS, PA-CF, TPU, and STEP files go to a person, who writes back within 4 business hours.
There is no tooling bill and no minimum order. One part and ten thousand both work, on the same printers in the same plastic.
Your file stays on your account, so the next order takes a click. See how our pricing works or run your part past the 7 design checks before you order.
Common questions
- What is a 3D printing use case?
- A use case is the job the part does, not the shape of the part. A prototype, a production run, a shop jig, an enclosure, a bracket, or a new part for gear you cannot buy parts for. Each one changes the plastic we pick, the lead time, and what drives the price.
- Which 3D printing use case fits a low count of parts?
- Rapid prototyping fits 1 to 10 parts. Low-volume production fits 50 to 10,000. Both skip tooling, so a small count pays no setup fee. Orders of 1 to 10 parts ship in 2 to 5 days.
- Do you print one part or only big runs?
- Both. There is no minimum order. One test part and a run of ten thousand use the same printers and the same plastic, so the part you test is the part you get.
- What material do most business parts use?
- PETG. It pulls to about 50 MPa and holds its shape to about 73 C, which covers most working parts. PLA is the cheap pick for indoor parts. PA-CF is the strong pick at about 80 MPa and 140 C, for parts under real load.
See your price in the next 60 seconds.
Upload your STL. Made in the USA, shipped in days.