3D Printing & UK Manufacture

UK manufacturing, without the setup cost

Tooling is what stops small companies from manufacturing their own parts. A single injection tool routinely costs more than the first two years of demand, and commits you to a volume before the product has proved itself. Additive manufacturing removes that barrier: no tool, no lead time to make a change, and a part that can be economically produced in quantities from one upwards.

3D printing is not the right answer for everything. Below roughly a few hundred identical parts, or for large components in simple materials, injection or CNC will usually beat it on cost and finish. We will tell you which side of that line your project sits on, and quote accordingly.

Processes

• FDM. Robust, cost-effective layer-by-layer extrusion. Wide range of engineering thermoplastics including ABS, ASA, PETG, Nylon and PC. Good for jigs, fixtures, enclosures and larger parts.
• SLA / DLP. Resin printing cured by laser or projector. Fine detail, smooth surfaces and tight tolerances. The usual choice for form prototypes, dental and medical models, and display pieces.
• SLS. Nylon parts built from sintered powder. No support structures, consistent mechanical properties and more usable in quantity than FDM. Strong for functional and snap-fit components.
• Post-processing. Support removal, deburring, sanding, polishing, priming, spray finishing, heat treatment, assembly and inspection, all under one roof.
• Conventional manufacture. Where volume justifies it, CNC machining, sheet metal and injection moulding through our UK and partner capacity.

What we typically make

Enclosures and casings, brackets and mounts, ducting and cable management, bespoke fixings and hardware, jigs, fixtures and gauges, machine guards, robotics and automation parts, drone and model aircraft components, automotive interior and trim parts, point-of-sale and retail display, medical teaching models, and one-off replacements for obsolete parts.

Finishing and compliance

Printed parts can be supplied as printed, or finished to a painted, powder-coated or plated standard. On request we can work to customer-specified RAL or Pantone references and provide surface finish records.

We are happy to quote work that forms part of a food-contact, medical-device or PPE supply chain, subject to the relevant material certifications being available for the process in question. Where a use requires a specific standard, tell us at enquiry stage so it is designed in from the start.