Metal 3D Printing
Metal parts printed to order in 316L, 17-4PH, Ti-6Al-4V, AlSi10Mg and Inconel 718. Upload a STEP or STL, pick the alloy, get the price. From one part.
±0.1–0.2 mm
As-built accuracy, or ±0.2 % above 100 mm
5 alloys
316L · 17-4PH · Ti-6Al-4V · AlSi10Mg · Inconel 718
250 × 250 × 325
Build volume, mm (EOS M 290 class)
From 1 pc
No minimum order; best-price schedule about four weeks
What we print in metal
Metal parts a mill cannot make in one piece, or that you need without waiting for a casting pattern: channels, lattices, consolidated assemblies and one-off brackets.
Manifolds and cooled inserts
Fluid and cooling channels that follow the surface, printed hollow in 316L, 17-4PH or AlSi10Mg.
Aerospace and drone brackets
Topology-optimized Ti-6Al-4V and AlSi10Mg brackets, printed near net shape and machined at the bolt faces.
Heat exchangers
Thin-wall AlSi10Mg and Inconel 718 cores with internal fins no cutter can reach.
Consolidated assemblies
Five machined and welded pieces printed as one, with the joints and leak paths designed out.
Instruments and housings
Small 316L and Ti-6Al-4V handles, guides and housings with organic shapes, bead blasted or polished.
Spares and one-offs
Obsolete castings and single replacement parts from a scan or a drawing, without a pattern.
DMLS, SLM or LPBF
Three names for one process: a laser melts metal powder layer by layer inside an inert-gas chamber. The trade name tells you the machine brand, not what the part will be.
DMLS is the trade name of EOS (Direct Metal Laser Sintering — the word “sintering” is historical; the metal is fully melted). SLM is the trade name of Nikon SLM Solutions (Selective Laser Melting). The standards call the same process laser powder-bed fusion of metals — PBF-LB/M in ISO/ASTM 52900, LPBF in most engineering papers. Renishaw, Trumpf, 3D Systems (DMP) and Colibrium Additive (LaserCUSING) sell the same process under their own names.
Every machine spreads a 20–60 µm layer of powder, a 200–1,000 W fiber laser melts the slice, the plate drops and the next layer is spread. Parts grow on a steel plate under argon or nitrogen, attached by supports that are cut off afterwards. Machines differ in laser count, build volume, preheat and gas flow, which change speed and price, not the alloy’s properties. Specify the alloy, its standard and the heat treatment and any of them can build your part. Our DMLS vs SLM guide goes through the differences machine by machine.
| Name | Whose name | What it is | On your drawing |
|---|---|---|---|
| DMLSDirect Metal Laser Sintering | EOS; the most common name in the US | Laser powder-bed fusion. Fully melted metal despite the word “sintering”. | Write the alloy and its standard, not the trade name. |
| SLMSelective Laser Melting | Nikon SLM Solutions; used generically in Europe and Asia | The same process; the brand is known for machines with 4 to 12 lasers. | Same as above. |
| LPBF · PBF-LB/MISO/ASTM 52900 | Standards bodies, ASTM F42 material specifications | The neutral name. ASTM F3184, F2924, F3318 and F3055 are written for it. | Use this if you name the process at all. |
| DMP · LaserCUSING · othersbrand names | 3D Systems, Colibrium Additive, Renishaw, Trumpf, Velo3D | Same physics, machine-specific parameter sets. | Irrelevant to the drawing. |
Not the same process: binder jetting (Desktop Metal, HP Metal Jet) and electron-beam melting (EBM) build metal differently and reach a different density and surface; metal FDM (bound-powder filament) sinters to about 96–98 % dense. This page is laser powder-bed fusion only.
Alloys
Five powders, quoted instantly. The ranges are published as-built datasheet values and the ASTM F42 specifications named in each row; your material certificate reports the actual build.
| Alloy | Use it for | Tensile / yield, MPa | Heat treatment | Machinability | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 316L stainlessASTM F3184 | Manifolds, fluid parts, marine and food-contact hardware, general brackets | 500 – 700 / 400 – 590as built, ≥ 99 % dense, 30 – 50 % elongation | Stress reliefsolution anneal or HIP on request | Goodlike wrought 316L | Tougher and more corrosion-resistant than 17-4PH at lower strength; passivate for wet service. |
| 17-4PH stainlessASTM A564 Type 630 · AMS 2759/3 | High-strength brackets, tooling, valve and pump parts | 950 – 1,100 / 600 – 800as built, ≥ 99.5 % dense · H900: 1,300 – 1,400 / 1,150 – 1,250 | Solution + ageH900 or H1025; stress relief alone leaves mixed phases | Goodharder after H900 | As-built properties scatter with retained austenite; always specify the age condition. |
| Ti-6Al-4V (Grade 5)ASTM F2924 · F3001 for ELI | Aerospace and drone brackets, racing parts, strength-to-weight | 1,100 – 1,300 / 1,000 – 1,150as built, ≥ 99.5 % dense, 6 – 10 % elongation | Stress relief required650 – 800 °C in vacuum or argon; HIP for fatigue-critical parts | Fairslow speeds, rigid setups | F2924 minimums after heat treatment: 895 MPa tensile, 825 MPa yield, 10 % elongation. |
| AlSi10MgASTM F3318 | Heat exchangers, housings, lightweight brackets, ducting | 420 – 480 / 230 – 290as built, ≥ 99.5 % dense, 5 – 10 % elongation | Stress relief300 °C, 2 h; T6 trades strength for ductility | Excellent | Casting-alloy analogue: print near net shape, machine the fits. Anodizes gray, not clear. |
| Inconel 718ASTM F3055 · AMS 5662 | Turbine and exhaust parts, hot-gas ducting, oil-and-gas hardware to 650 °C | 950 – 1,100 / 650 – 800as built, ≥ 99.5 % dense · aged: 1,300 – 1,450 / 1,100 – 1,250 | Solution + double ageper AMS 5662 / 5664; HIP for pressure parts | Poorcarbide tooling, low speeds | Longest stress relief and highest powder price of the five; machine only the datums. |
Tensile and yield are as-built ranges across build directions from EOS and Nikon SLM Solutions datasheets; vertical (Z) builds sit at the low end and the ASTM F42 specifications set the minimums after heat treatment. Powder lot, machine and heat treatment are recorded on the material certificate that ships with the parts. Full library: 3D printing materials.
Metal cost against polymers
A single metal part costs about 6.5× an FDM print of the same geometry and about 9.5× at 50 pieces — the gap widens because polymers halve at volume and metal barely moves. Powder, heat treatment, support removal and machining are paid per part.
Cost per part by quantity — each technology against its own single part
100 % = one part on that technology. Metal falls only to 80 % at 50 pieces and 79 % at 1,000 because powder, heat treatment and support removal are paid per part; MJF and SLS fall to 32 % because a whole bed of nylon parts prints in one job.
| Technology | Quantity 1 | Quantity 50 | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| FDM | 1.0 | 1.0 | Cheapest material, one part per nozzle at a time — poor scaling past ~20 |
| SLA | 1.5 | 1.2 | Resin is dear, but a vat prints many parts per layer; wash + cure labour |
| MJF | 2.0 | 0.9 | Full-bed nesting; the cheapest technology per part above ~30 pieces |
| SLS | 2.2 | 1.0 | Same nesting logic as MJF; slightly slower cool-down, similar per-part |
| PolyJet | 3.5 | 2.5 | Expensive resins and support material; priced for looks, not economy |
| DMLS / SLM (Al, SS)this page | 6.5 | 9.5 | Metal powder, slow builds, supports cut off by machining, stress relief; the per-part work barely amortises, so the gap to polymers widens at volume |
Index 1.0 = FDM at the same quantity. Quantity curve for metal, relative to its own single part: 1.00 → 0.97 → 0.80 → 0.79 → 0.79 at 1 / 10 / 50 / 250 / 1,000 pieces — the flattest of the five technologies.
Not a quote. Relative figures for planning, shared with the 3D printing cost guide; titanium and Inconel run 1.5–3× the aluminum and stainless figures. For a part a 3-axis mill reaches in two setups, CNC machining is cheaper from one piece, and casting takes over above 50–200 pieces. Your part gets its own number from the quote in seconds; two schedules are shown side by side.
Tolerances and design limits
What a metal print holds as built, what machining adds, and the finishing steps every part goes through, in build order.
| Feature | Standard | Design note |
|---|---|---|
| Dimensional accuracy | ±0.1 – 0.2 mm±0.2 % above 100 mm, as built | Fits, threads and sealing faces are machined after printing to ±0.025 mm; leave 0.5 – 1 mm of stock there. |
| Layer thickness | 30 µm standard20 – 60 µm by alloy | Thinner layers sharpen small features and add build time; 60 µm suits bulky AlSi10Mg parts. |
| Surface roughness | Ra 6 – 12 µm as builtRa 3 – 6 µm bead blasted | Down-facing and supported surfaces are roughest; machine or polish faces that seal or slide. |
| Wall thickness | 0.4 – 0.5 mm minimum1 mm for structural walls | Tall thin walls warp from residual stress; add ribs or a chamfered foot rather than thickness. |
| Holes and channels | Ø0.5 mm minimumhorizontal holes to Ø8 mm unsupported | Above Ø8 mm, shape horizontal holes as teardrops or orient them vertical; drill and ream precision holes. |
| Overhangs and supports | ≥ 45° self-supportingsupports below 45° and under bridges | Supports are cut and ground off and leave witness marks; keep cosmetic faces upward and unsupported. |
| Powder removal | Escape holes requiredØ2 mm or larger, two per cavity | Trapped powder is dead weight and a contamination risk; DFM flags closed volumes. |
| Build volume | 250 × 250 × 325 mmEOS M 290 class | Larger parts are quoted on 400 mm-class machines or split and welded; the quote shows the joint. |
| Finishes | Bead blaststandard Machined faces Polishon request Anodize · passivateon request | Blasting evens the texture without changing the dimensions you designed; machining is the only route to a specified fit. Finishing guide. |
Post-processing, in build order
- Stress relief on the plate. The build is heat treated before anything is cut so the part does not spring when the supports let go. Mandatory for titanium and Inconel, standard for steels and aluminum.
- Plate and support removal. Wire EDM or band saw off the plate; supports are broken, cut and ground flush, leaving witness marks on the faces they touched.
- Bead blast. Uniform matte finish at Ra 3 – 6 µm; removes loose powder and evens the as-built texture. Standard on every part.
- Hot isostatic pressing (HIP). Closes internal porosity for fatigue- and pressure-critical parts, specified per ASTM F3301. On request; adds cost and about a week.
- Machining of critical features. Bores, threads, sealing faces and datums are milled or turned to ±0.025 mm. Design the stock and a fixture datum into the model.
- Heat treatment per alloy. H900 or H1025 for 17-4PH, solution and double age for Inconel 718, T6 or stress relief only for AlSi10Mg, anneal for Ti-6Al-4V. Each is named on the certificate.
Sequence is set per alloy and listed in the quote; dimensions are inspected after the last step. Self-supporting angles, channels and residual stress in detail: DMLS design guide.
When not to print metal
Metal printing earns its price with geometry a tool cannot reach. For everything else another route is cheaper, usually from the first piece.
How to order
- Upload a STEP or STL file. Choose metal printing, the alloy, quantity and finish. The price appears in seconds.
- Check the DFM flags. Thin walls, unsupported overhangs, closed powder volumes and undersized holes are marked on the model before you order.
- Order online. Parts are stress relieved, cut from the plate, bead blasted, inspected and shipped tracked with the material certificate.
Questions about metal printing
What is the difference between DMLS, SLM and LPBF?
None that matters to the part. All three describe a laser melting metal powder layer by layer: DMLS is the EOS trade name, SLM is Nikon SLM Solutions’, and LPBF (PBF-LB/M in ISO/ASTM 52900) is the standard name. Specify the alloy, its ASTM F42 specification and the heat treatment; any of these machines can then build it.
How much does metal 3D printing cost?
Roughly 6.5× a polymer FDM print of the same geometry at quantity one and 9.5× at fifty; titanium and Inconel 1.5–3× more than aluminum or stainless. Powder, heat treatment, support removal and machining are per-part costs, so quantity helps far less than with nylon. Upload the file for the exact price at your quantity.
Is metal 3D printing cheaper than CNC machining?
Usually not. For a part a 3-axis mill reaches in two setups, machining is cheaper from one piece and gives wrought properties. Printing wins when the geometry cannot be machined — internal channels, lattices, five parts consolidated into one — or when a casting would need a pattern for a handful of pieces.
How accurate are metal printed parts?
±0.1–0.2 mm as built on dimensions up to 100 mm and ±0.2 % beyond, with Ra 6–12 µm surfaces. Fits, threads and sealing faces are machined afterwards to ±0.025 mm; design 0.5–1 mm of stock and a datum into those features.
Are printed metal parts as strong as machined ones?
Tensile and yield land in the wrought range as built — 316L prints at 500–700 MPa tensile against roughly 500–600 MPa for annealed bar — but elongation and fatigue depend on porosity, surface and build direction. Stress relief is standard; specify HIP (ASTM F3301) for fatigue- or pressure-critical parts and quote the alloy standard on the drawing.
Which alloy should I choose?
316L for corrosion and general parts, 17-4PH where you need 1,300 MPa after H900, Ti-6Al-4V for strength-to-weight, AlSi10Mg for heat exchangers and light housings, Inconel 718 above 600 °C. The alloy table above lists heat treatment and machinability for each; the quote flags alloys that need HIP.
Can I order just one part?
Yes. There is no minimum order; one-offs and spares are the most common metal jobs. Parts ship on the best-price schedule or a faster one, and both are shown in the quote.
How long does a metal print take?
The build itself takes one to three days; stress relief, support removal, blasting and any machining or HIP add the rest. The best-price schedule delivers in about four weeks; the quote shows a faster schedule beside it for the same part.
Price your metal part now
Upload the model, pick the alloy and finish, and the price is on screen in seconds. No minimum order.
Get an instant quote