In 2016 for the first edition of this book we stated that people were comparing the then-current state of 3D

printing to where personal computers were in the 1980s. Now in the second edition of this book we can

report….that things have only marginally gotten better. Printing at home is still fraught with problems where

your prints may fail for any number of reasons, leaving you with troubleshooting and reprinting. 3D Printer

Even if you choose to own a 3D printer, this chapter will still be relevant to you. We compare the differences

between FDM and SLA, and chances are someday you may want a 3D print in a material that your printer

doesn’t support, in which case outsourcing the printing may be necessary.

sumer versus professional outsourcing (Figure 7-1). Please note that these are generalizations. You can receive

professionally outsourced prints as quickly as next-day if you are willing to pay double (or more) the printing cost

for expedited service. With resin printing, you can mix different ratios of resins together to get the material prop-

erties you are seeking, which is a unique feature of that type of 3D printing. The chart in Figure 7-1 describes the

“basic” comparisons of some variables.

The graph in Figure 7-1 shows that outsourcing your 3D printing jobs eliminates the need for printer setup,

though at an added cost of production and shipping time. When you send a 3D model away for production,

you don’t have to set up the printer and monitor the print as it’s being produced. You also get the benefit of

having more material choices. Speed of delivery is less attractive because you have to wait for your print to

quality on some of the most expensive machines in the market. The quality of those prints can be near “pro-

duction quality,” making this not only an attractive approach but necessary for some applications.

to participate in the benefits of 3D printing but can’t allocate the financial and time resources to bringing on

staff for it. That’s where outsourcing really has its benefits.

Luckily, there are many options for outsourcing, and it offers an alternative to otherwise costly productions

that would be out of the question for many consumers and businesses. For our clients that need 3D printing,

they are happy to consult with experts in case they need a specialized material.

Consumer-focused 3D printing services like Shapeways, shown in Figure 7-2, and Sculpteo, shown in

If you need specialized techniques or absolute precision in your final model, then moving to a more busi-

ness-oriented outsourced 3D printing service bureau might be a good option. FathomMFG, headquartered

in Oakland, California (Figure 7-4) offers not only 3D printing, but production film level prototyping and final

Another option is Forecast3D, shown in Figure 7-5. Just like FathomMFG above, Forecast3D does not have

a repository of designs you can purchase like Shapeways and Sculpteo, but it is focused on more high-end

fabrication technologies and larger volume production runs for customers with specific mechanical and

be in tens of thousands of units, and there really was not an economical method for runs of a few hundred to

a few thousand units. Companies like Forecast3D specialize in high quality smaller runs, as well as offering

multi-thousand item manufacturing services that challenge traditional injection molding, in terms of the

There are also more local options available. A service named 3DHubs has a network of printers around the