WHICH 3D Printing Material SHOULD YOU USE?

Knowing your 3D Printing Materials is essential before planning the 3D Project - as you will need to know the properties and durability for your part to ensure maximum efficiency. 

Step 1 - 3D Modelling

Design & Model your 3D Product - Make sure you determine the materials required based its required properties. Use the recommeded software to design your project - or talk to one of our Engineers about converting your sketch into a 3D Scan compatible with our 3D Slicing Software. Contact Our Team about Your Project >

Step 2 - Choose Your 3D Medium

Plastic, Carbon Fiber or Metal. See the details below to help you make your choice. See the list below >

Step 2 - Get 3D Printing

Our team can help you get your project printed in as little a a couple of days. Talk to us about your project to get a quote send us an email here.

3d Printing Materials

• PLA - Polylactic Acid
• ABS - Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene
• PETG - Polyethylene terephthalate
• TPE - Thermoplastic elastomers
• Nylon - Synthetic polymers 
• PC - Polycarbonate
• Metal Filament - Professional metal filament comprises a high percentage of metal powder plus binders resulting from a 3D printable filament sintered into fully dense metal parts. Once printed, the debinding and sintering processes are applied to remove the binder and produce the final whole metal part.
• Conductive Filament
• Magnetic Filament
• Carbon Fiber Filament
• PVA - Polypropylene Polycarbonate
• ABS alloy - Polyoxymethylene (Acetal filament)

Talk to Our Engineers About Which Filament to Use For Your Project >

3d Printing TERMS

3D file / 3D model	Three-dimensional object presented as a file, created either by a 3D modelling software or a 3D scanner
3DP	3-Dimensional Printing
ABS	Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene - opaque thermoplastic and amorphous polymer
AM	Additive Manufacturing, also known as 3D Printing
.amf	Additive Manufacturing File
BJ	Binder Jetting -3D Printing Technique. The binding liquid is deposited to join powder material together to form a 3D part
Bridge	Terminology for sections of a print that are supported at both ends but not in the middle
Bowden tube	Also called Bowden cable guides filament from the feeder to the print head on material extrusion printers
Build envelope	This is the maximum volume the Printer can print and determines how large  an object the Printer can build
Build plate	Also known as a Bed and Platform - Surface or area of the 3D Printer on which parts are formed
CAD	Computer-Aided Design
CAM	Computer-Aided Manufacturing
CDLP	Continuous Direct Light
CNC	Computer Numerical Control
Control Interface	Used for controlling the #D Printer, older Printer has an LCD Display, an SD Card slot or USB port
DED	Direct Energy Deposition
DLP	Direct Light Processing is part of the vat photopolymerization AM method where a photopolymer liquid resin is cured to make hard plastic parts
DMD	Direct Metal Deposition
DMLS	Direct Metal Laser Sintering
DOD	Drop-On-Demand
EBAM	Electron Beam Additive Manufacture
EBM	Electron Beam Melting
Extruder	Filament is pushed through a Bowden tube to the hot end of the rotating gripping wheels known as the 3d printer Head.
FDM	Acronym for Fused Deposition Modeling
FFF	Acronym for Fused Filament Fabrication
Filament	Used by FDM printers to melt plastic filament, typically made of either ABS or PLA
Fill / Infill	Terminology to printing the interior structure of a 3D object. The interior is printed with a mesh type structure. The infill is expressed as a percentage (e.g. 10% infill).
G-code	G-code -A file format used to store information that 3D printers can interpret
GDP	Gel Dispensing 3D Printing technology. Uses movement similar to FDM systems using UV sensitive material that hardens when exposed to UV light
GF	Glass-Filled
Hot end	The material extrusion method, also known as additive manufacturing. Material extruders reach temperatures to melt plastic (hot end)
Kapton tape	Heat-resistant polyimide adhesive tape. Used in material extrusion printers to cover the surface of the print bed to prevent it from warping
LCM	Lithography-based Ceramic Manufacturing is a process for the additive manufacturing of high-performance ceramics
LENS	Laser Engineered Net Shape
LMD	Laser Metal Deposition, a printing process that casts and fuses metal with a laser beam
LOM	Laminated Object Manufacturing
LS	Laser Sintering
Material Extrusion	A continuous filament of thermoplastic. Used to construct 3D parts.
Mesh	Dividing a model into basic blocks or structures that are small
Micro	Terminology to describe a unit of length equal to one-millionth of a meter
MJ	Material Jetting
MJF	Multi Jet Fusion
Nozzle	Deposits melted plastic material.
NPJ	NanoParticle Jetting
OBJ	Object File
PA	Polyamide
PBF	Power Bed Fusion
PC	Polycarbonate
Photopolymer	Polymer material that changes its properties when exposed to light
PIM	Plastic Injecting moulding
PLA	Polylactic Acid – Biodegradable thermoplastic polymer made from plant starch.
PP	Polypropylene
Print Head	Typically, one extruder on it. On the top of the print head is a tube that feeds filament into the print head
PVA	Polyvinyl Alcohol – Water-soluble filament used as support material in 3D Printing
RAFT	Horizontal mesh of filament deposited directly onto the build platform. to minimize warping.
RE	Reverse Engineering
RM	Rapid Manufacturing
RP	Rapid Prototyping
SLA	Stereolithography Apparatus
SLICER	Software used to convert the digital 3D file into a machine-readable code. The Slicer cuts the model into skinny horizontal layers called slices and generates tool paths in the two-dimensional plane
SLS	Selective Laser Sintering
Thermoplastic	Material such as synthetic resin becomes plastic when heated above a specific temperature and hardens when cooled
TPU	Thermoplastic Polyurethane

Talk to Our Engineers About Your Project >