What we make
Nine ways in, one process behind them. Every one of these links straight into the form with the right questions already picked out, so you are not answering anything that does not apply to you.
Pick a starting point
Send an STL, 3MF, OBJ or STEP file. We look it over, work out which way up it should be printed, and print it.
We check it for the things that ruin a print before it starts: holes in the surface, walls too thin to survive, parts that overhang thin air, and whether the size looks right.
Start hereA clip, gear, knob, bracket or housing that failed and is not sold any more. Send photos and a couple of measurements and we redraw it.
We rebuild the shape from your photos, add material where the original gave way, and print it in a tougher plastic than the one that snapped.
Start hereA first version you can hold, before you commit to an expensive mould. Change it, print it again, keep going until it is right.
We can measure the finished part against the drawing and send you the numbers. Typically within a sixth of a millimetre on plastic filament, and finer than that on resin.
Start hereJigs, fixtures, enclosures, adapters, mounts. Made for the load they carry, the heat they sit in and the weather they live in.
We pick the plastic to suit the job and can set brass threads, bearings and magnets into the part so it takes real screws and real hardware.
Start hereNo file and no drawing? Describe the part, photograph it next to a ruler, and mark the sizes that have to be exact.
The computer reads sizes out of your photos to give us a head start, and then a person checks every single number before anything is drawn.
Start hereLamps, vases, planters, wall pieces, models of buildings — printed with the finish the piece deserves.
Resin or fine-layer filament, sanded, primed and painted if you want it that way.
Start hereCharacters, busts, tabletop miniatures and collectibles, printed in resin so the small details actually show up.
Layers a fortieth of a millimetre thick, supports removed and cured. We can paint them too.
Start hereA sketch, a render, or a photo of a thing that is nearly right. We turn the reference into something printable.
We use software to rough out the shape from the image, then a designer fixes the proportions and makes it actually printable.
Start hereWrite what you need in ordinary words. We propose a design, you approve it, we print it.
Good for organisers, holders, signs, gifts, and anything that is far easier to describe than to draw.
Start hereWho we work with
The process is the same for all of them. What changes is how much we need to ask you.
Repeat runs of your own parts, an account with somebody who already knows your tolerances, and one invoice at the end of the month rather than nine. Tell us on the form that you are ordering for a business and we will set it up.
The part that failed, from the appliance that is out of warranty, from the manufacturer that stopped making it. This is most of what we do. Bring photos.
If the object is too complicated to measure with a ruler — a curved handle, a moulded grip, something organic — post it to us or bring it in and we will capture the shape ourselves.
Something you can hold by the end of the week, in cheap plastic, so the expensive decision comes later and better informed.
Included, or on request
Some of these come as standard and some cost extra. Either way they are on the price you are shown, never added afterwards.
Brass threads melted into the plastic so bolts go in and come out again without wearing the hole away. Bearings, magnets and captive nuts too.
Taking the supports off and a light sand are included. If you want it smoother, filled, primed, painted or lacquered, we do that as well.
Name the bits that have to be exact — a hole, a shaft, an overall length — and we will measure them on the finished part and send you the numbers. Up to five, free.
Small batches come off the same plate in the same plastic from the same reel, so the colour and the fit are the same across all of them.
Holes in the surface, faces pointing the wrong way, a model that thinks it is a metre tall. We fix it, print it, and send the mended file back if you want it.
Prototype work includes revisions. Each one comes with something to look at and a list of what changed, so you can compare versions rather than guess.
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