How it works
Most of this happens on our side. You are asked to do three things: describe the part, tell us whether the design is right, and decide whether the price is worth it.
The short version
Answer a handful of questions about the part — what it is, where it sits, what broke. Add photos if you have them. It takes about five minutes.
About five minutes. No account.
A person — the same person, all the way through — works out the shape and sends it back to you to look at. Not right yet? Say so. We do that as many times as it takes.
Changes are free at this stage.
Once the design is settled you get a price for the finished part, including postage. Nothing has been printed and nothing has been charged. Say no and that is the end of it.
Nothing printed, nothing charged.
We print it, clean it up, check it against the design and pack it. Then you collect it from the workshop or it arrives in the post with a tracking number.
Usually a few days.
The long version
This is what goes on behind those four. Nothing here costs you anything until stage seven.
Five to ten minutes of questions
Pick the thing that matches what you have, describe the part, add photos and any sizes you managed to measure. You can stop halfway and come back — your answers are kept.
You:Fill in the short form.
Files checked, photos studied
Files are checked for the problems that ruin a print, photos are studied for sizes and features, and a summary is put together listing what we know and what we still need to ask.
You:Nothing — this happens on our side.
A person checks every number
Somebody goes through every measurement by hand. If something important is missing you get one short, specific question rather than a form to fill in again.
You:Answer a question or send one more photo, if we ask.
The design gets made
The shape is built or repaired on the computer, with the thicknesses and clearances a printed part needs to survive being used. This is where a snapped part gets made stronger.
You:Nothing yet.
Turn it round before it exists
You get the design in your browser — turn it round, look at the sizes, see whether it is what you pictured. Ask for changes as often as you need. Nothing has been printed.
You:Say yes, or say what is wrong.
One number, fixed
Material, machine time, finishing and postage are priced once, after the design is settled. That is the price you pay; there is nothing added afterwards.
You:Accept the price, or don't.
Card or bank transfer
Through our payment provider, once you have accepted. Your part joins the queue the moment the payment clears.
You:Pay online.
Printed, checked, packed
Printed, cleaned up, measured against the design and packed. Collect it from the workshop, or we post it with a tracking number so you can see where it is.
You:Collect it, or wait for the courier.
Your project page
Waiting is the worst part of ordering something that has to be made. So there is a page that answers it.
When you send the form you get a private link to your project. Every email we send links straight back to it. There is nothing to remember and nothing to sign up for.
Received, being designed, waiting for you, paid, being printed, checked, ready, done. You can see which one it is at, and whether we are waiting on you or you are waiting on us.
Your photos, your measurements, the design, the price, our messages and your receipt all live on that page. Nothing is buried in an email thread.
Five minutes, no account, no payment, and nothing is made until you have seen a design and a price you are happy with. If it turns out we are the wrong workshop for your part, we will say so and point you somewhere better.
Would rather just write to somebody? Office@niceprints3d.com