When you are outsourcing a part from one of the many listed “here”, it is important to note the cost of the material but also the mechanical properties and surface finish of the material. These may influence your tolerances as well as some critical dimensions related to strength & stiffness.
Because Generate has lower budgets for each team, we often choose cheaper materials. These generally include standard FDM printing (FDM 3D Printing ), multi-jet fusion (MJF) (HP printers), and SLA (SLA 3D Printing) .
Just as an overall comparison between the three major types of printing you should consider please see the chart below.
| SLA (Resin) | FDM (PLA, ABS) | MJF (Nylon) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mechanical Properties | Stiff, Brittle, Thermoset (cannot be melted and cannot be used with heat-set inserts), Can be translucent. | Wide range of stiff to flexible, Wide range of brittle to ductile, generally thermoplastics (can be melted and cannot be used with heat-set inserts) | Stiff, brittle, a thermoplastic can be melted (can be melted and cannot be used with heat-set inserts) |
| Custom Improvements (generally cost more) | Can be super high resolution, Can be tough (resistant to fracture), or flexible. | Can be flexible, color-changing, wood-infused filaments | Glass-filled (very tough), carbon fiber or Kevlar filled |
| Major Benefits | Ultra-high dimensional accuracy. | Very cheap and kind of the bare-bones print material | Very cheap and great for large print batches. Strongest print option. |
| Major Drawbacks | Expensive and not forgiving for post-print modifications (drilling, cutting, etc.) | Major mechanical failures along layer lines. Inconsistent surface finish. Hollow parts can respond poorly to heat as the air inside will expand and deform the outer surface. | Generally rough sandpaper-like finish. Lower resolution and dimensional accuracy. Not great for a part-to-part moving interaction. |
Regardless of the final vendor, it's suggested to look at more in-depth information by referring to the Protolabs material guide:
Manufacturing Materials Comparison Guide
Another important tip to note is that in the Protolabs portal, you can compare the total cost of your order by material! It will quote every material price on one nice table!
On the part material selection page click the “compare prices” link:
Then from there, you can see which manufacturing process is best suited for your budget and the corresponding resolution you are looking for! It's important to note that Protolabs is not the cheapest option, HOWEVER, the relative pricing between materials generally stands true across manufacturers.