Application
Functional end-use parts, no tooling cost.
Get end-use parts in engineering-grade polymers (PA12, PA12-CF, PC, PEEK, ULTEM) and metals — from a single spare to production runs of 1,000+ — without paying for a mould or waiting weeks for tooling.
Batch sizes
- 1Upload STL / STEP + drawing
- 2Engineering + material review
- 3Print in polymer, composite or metal
- 4QC + certificates + ship
Quick answer
To get a 3D-printed functional part for your company, upload an STL or STEP file with a drawing that calls out critical dimensions and any certification needs. 3DadditHub selects the right process (MJF, SLS, SLA, industrial FDM or metal SLM) and material for the load, temperature and environment, and returns a technical quote within 24 hours. Batches from 1 to 1,000+ units, no tooling, worldwide shipping.
What we make
Functional parts we ship every week
Concrete end-use parts we produce for B2B customers in automotive, aerospace, industrial machinery, medical devices and consumer electronics.
- Custom brackets, mounts and supports in MJF PA12 for machinery retrofits
- Air ducting and manifolds in PA12 or ULTEM 9085 for aerospace and rail interiors
- Housings, enclosures and covers for electronics in SLS PA12 with EMI-coating options
- PEEK bushings, spacers and insulators for high-temperature or medical applications
- Sealing gaskets and grips in TPU 95A for industrial equipment
- Spare parts for legacy machines no longer supported by the OEM
- Robotic end-of-arm tools (EOAT) and grippers in PA12-CF for pick-and-place cells
- Metal brackets and heat exchangers in aluminium AlSi10Mg or titanium Ti6Al4V
- Short-run consumer product bodies (50-500 units) as a bridge before injection tooling
How it works
From CAD to end-use parts in four steps
Upload
STL or STEP plus a drawing with critical dimensions, tolerances and any certification requirements. Quantity and target delivery date.
Engineering review
We check DFM, material selection, orientation, wall thickness and tolerances. If needed, we suggest design edits with reasoning.
Produce
Print, post-process (support removal, media blasting, dyeing, machining, threading) and inspect against the drawing.
Deliver
Ship with QC report, material certificate on request and traceability by build/lot. DHL / UPS / FedEx worldwide.
Materials & processes
What we would suggest for functional parts
Process choice depends on load, temperature, environment, batch size and finish.
- Everyday load-bearing housings and brackets: MJF or SLS PA12 — see /technologies/mjf, /technologies/sls
- Stiff, lightweight, high-strength: PA12-CF (carbon-filled) or PA12-GF (glass-filled)
- High-temperature end use (>150°C): industrial FDM in PEEK, ULTEM 9085 or PPS
- Chemical / medical / food-contact: PEEK or medical-grade PA12 with documented lot traceability
- Transparent or optical parts: SLA clear resin, post-polished — /technologies/sla
- Elastomeric functional parts: TPU 95A on SLS/MJF for durable grips and gaskets
- Metal parts (loads, thermals, corrosion): SLM/DMLS in aluminium, stainless or titanium — /technologies/metal-printing
- Cost-sensitive interior parts in short runs: FDM in ABS, ASA or PC-ABS — /technologies/fdm
Typical case
120 pick-and-place gripper jaws, MJF PA12-CF, 6 business days
A packaging integrator needed 120 custom gripper jaws for a pick-and-place cell handling a new SKU. Requirement: PEEK-like stiffness at < 30 g per jaw, cycle life > 500k picks, delivery in 8 business days. Injection moulding was not on the table — tooling would have cost €14k and taken 5 weeks for a part they expected to iterate again in 6 months.
We printed the 120 jaws in MJF PA12-CF: €22 per part, €2,640 total, delivered on day 6 with a QC report on the mating face dimensions. 8 months later they ordered a revised v2 with 8% more gripping area — same file pipeline, another €2,900, no tooling write-off.
Vs alternative approaches
When 3D printing beats machining or injection moulding for < 500 units
vs CNC machining
Machining wins on isotropic material properties, surface finish and tight-tolerance features. It loses on complex internal geometry (conformal cooling, lattices, honeycomb infills), part consolidation and setup cost for small batches. For 10-200 parts of complex polymer geometry, MJF or SLS is typically 40-70% cheaper than CNC on plastic and days faster.
vs injection moulding (< 500 units)
Injection moulding wins per-unit above ~800-1,800 pieces (part dependent). Below that, tooling amortisation crushes the maths. Under 500 units, additive typically wins on total cost by 50-90% and by 3-6 weeks on lead time, and lets you keep iterating the design.
vs off-the-shelf + adapters
Off-the-shelf is unbeatable when it fits. When it does not, a chain of adapters, spacers and bushings adds tolerance stack-up, weight and failure points. A single 3D-printed custom part removes the stack, saves 15-40% weight and usually costs less than the sum of the standard components once assembly labour is counted.
vs sourcing legacy spares
For machines whose OEM no longer stocks parts, sourcing a replacement can take weeks or fail entirely. A scan + reverse engineer + reprint cycle brings the machine back online in 5-10 business days, and gives you the STEP file for the next time the part breaks.
FAQ
What engineering and procurement buyers ask us
Yes — with the right process and material. PA12 in SLS or MJF gives ~48 MPa tensile strength and near-isotropic mechanical behaviour, suitable for load-bearing brackets, ducting, housings and connectors. PA12-CF (carbon-filled) climbs to ~75-90 MPa. PEEK and ULTEM 9085 are used in aerospace interiors and downhole tooling. Metal SLM parts (aluminium AlSi10Mg, stainless 316L, titanium Ti6Al4V) reach or exceed cast equivalents. FDM is more anisotropic — tensile strength drops 30-50% in the Z direction. For load-bearing FDM parts we orient the print so load is in-plane, or move to SLS/MJF/metal.
Get end-use parts, no tooling, no minimums.
Upload your CAD and drawing. We select the right process and material, hold the tolerances that matter, and ship with QC and certificates.