Before printing
Design guidelines
Practical rules that save you a full trial-and-error cycle, written from what we actually see in customer files.
- Minimum wall thickness
- 0.8 mm
- Expected dimensional tolerance
- ±0.3 mm
- Maximum unsupported overhang
- 45°
- Smallest hole
- 2 mm
Practical limits
Practical numbers from experience. Stay within them and your part comes out right the first time.
360×360×360 mm
Maximum size
Larger parts are split and bonded, or rescaled.
0.8 mm
Minimum wall thickness
Thinner than this will not fill two perimeters, so it snaps under the first load.
1.6 – 2.4 mm
Recommended thickness
Multiples of 0.4 mm give solid walls with no internal voids.
0.6 mm
Smallest raised detail
Finer lettering and engraving merge together.
2 mm
Smallest hole
Holes come out roughly 0.1–0.3 mm tighter than drawn.
45°
Maximum unsupported overhang
Beyond this needs supports, which leave marks on the surface.
0.3 – 0.5 mm
Clearance for moving parts
Less than this and the two parts fuse during printing.
0.1 – 0.2 mm
Clearance for press fit
For interference assembly.
±0.3 mm
Expected dimensional tolerance
Or ±0.3% of the dimension, whichever is greater.
Before you upload
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1
Export in millimetres. The most common mistake we see: a file exported in inches arrives at 1/25 of its intended size. Check the dimensions on the quote page right after uploading.
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2
Make sure the mesh is closed. We check this automatically and warn you. An open mesh means the volume — and therefore the price — is an estimate.
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3
Merge separate bodies if you want one part, or upload them as separate files if you want separate parts.
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4
Do not over-refine the export. A 5-million-triangle file does not print better than a 200,000-triangle one, but it is slower at every step.
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5
Think about print orientation. Parts are weakest between layers. If yours will carry tension along a particular axis, say so in the order notes.