We're upfront about the technology we run. FDM - Fused Deposition Modeling - across consumer-grade and prosumer printers. We don't offer resin or large-format right now, and we'd rather tell you that on this page than waste your time with an inquiry that doesn't fit.
What FDM is
Fused Deposition Modeling builds parts by extruding a thermoplastic filament through a heated nozzle and laying it down in layers. Think of it as a robotic hot-glue gun, much more precise. Each layer fuses to the one below, building the part from the bottom up.
It’s the most mature, most accessible 3D printing technology and the dominant process for consumer and prosumer printers. The materials are familiar plastics - PLA, PETG, ABS, TPU - that have well-understood properties.
What FDM is good for
- Functional prototypes that can be load-tested.
- Display pieces, props, models, miniatures.
- End-use parts where layer lines are acceptable or part of the aesthetic.
- Parts in real-world materials - same plastics as injection-molded products.
- Iterative work where same-week turnaround matters.
- Small-batch production runs where tooling doesn’t make sense yet.
What FDM is NOT good for
- Tiny micro-detail. Resin (SLA / MSLA) holds finer detail. Sub-millimetre features may print but won’t be sharp.
- Optical-quality transparency. PETG gives translucency, not optical clarity. If you need a clear lens, FDM isn’t the process.
- Surface finish without post-processing. Layer lines are inherent to the process. They can be smoothed (vapor smoothing for ABS, sanding for PLA/PETG) but that’s a separate workflow.
- Mass production. Above ~500 units of a single SKU, injection molding generally beats FDM on cost. We’ll say so when we see it.
- Engineering-grade thermoplastics requiring controlled atmosphere. PEEK, PEI, and similar high-temp materials are out of scope.
What we don’t currently offer
- Resin (SLA / MSLA / DLP) printing. If your project needs resin-level detail or transparency, we’ll be honest and recommend a partner rather than force-fit your project to FDM.
- Large-format printing above 250 × 250 × 250 mm in a single piece. Larger pieces we produce in sections and assemble - we’ll discuss the seam strategy in advance.
- Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) / Multi Jet Fusion (MJF). Out of scope today; suited for production-grade nylon parts that we don’t run in-house.
Future capabilities
We may expand into other technologies as the workshop grows. For now, FDM is our focus and where we can vouch for the result. We’ll update this page if and when that changes.