Additive vs subtractive.
Traditional manufacturing — milling, lathing, sawing — starts with a block of material and removes everything that isn't the final part. It's called subtractive manufacturing, and it produces a lot of waste.
3D printing inverts this. It starts with nothing and adds material only where the final part needs it. This is why it's called additive manufacturing. The implications are huge:
- Complex internal geometry (lattices, channels, hollow cavities) is easy.
- Customisation costs the same as mass production — there are no moulds to retool.
- Material waste drops from 30 – 80 % to under 5 %.
- Turnaround drops from weeks (tooling) to hours (a button press).
How a print actually happens.
Every 3D print follows the same five-step pipeline, regardless of technology:
A digital 3D model is created — in CAD software (Fusion 360, SolidWorks), sculpted in Blender or ZBrush, or scanned from a real-world object.
The model is exported as an STL and loaded into a "slicer" — software that mathematically cuts it into thousands of paper-thin horizontal layers and generates the machine path.
The printer executes the machine path. A nozzle or laser fuses material one layer at a time, each layer bonding to the one below until the part is complete.
Support structures (temporary scaffolding for overhangs) are removed. The part is sanded, cleaned, painted, or assembled as required.
Quality-checked, photographed, packaged. Collected from the studio or couriered to you.
The three technologies we use.
FDM — Fused Deposition
A heated nozzle melts plastic filament (PLA, PETG, ABS, TPU, Nylon) and squeezes it out in a precise pattern, layer by layer. Most affordable, largest build volumes, widest material choice.
SLA / MSLA — Resin
A UV light cures liquid photopolymer one layer at a time. Resin produces ultra-fine surface detail — invisible layer lines, sharp edges, smooth curves. Ideal for jewellery, dental, miniatures.
Multi-material FDM
An FDM printer with an automated tool-changer or filament-mixer swaps between colours and materials mid-print. We use this for everything multi-colour, dissolvable supports and dual-material assemblies.
What it's good for. What it isn't.
3D printing is a tool, not a magic wand. It has a sharp sweet-spot — and equally sharp edges.
Reach for it when:
- You need 1 to 500 units, not 50,000.
- The part has complex internal geometry or hollow features.
- You need it now — days, not the weeks injection-moulding tooling needs.
- Every unit needs to be different (custom-fit, personalised, dated).
- The part is obsolete or no longer manufactured.
- You're prototyping and need to iterate cheaply.
Reach for something else when:
- You need 10,000+ identical units — injection mould.
- The surface must be perfectly glass-smooth as-printed (use SLA or vapour-smoothing).
- The part needs to be certified for aerospace / medical structural use.
- You need materials we don't print (most metals, ceramics, silicone).