We run a fully enclosed Bambu Lab X1 Carbon with a hardened nozzle, so we can print the complete Bambu filament range — including carbon-fibre, engineering and flexible materials — plus resin for fine detail. If you're not sure what your part needs, don't worry — pick "Not sure" on the quote form and we'll recommend the right one. But if you'd like to understand the options, here's the plain-English version.
The most popular 3D printing material, and our default. Easy to print, great detail, huge colour range, and the most affordable option. The catch: PLA softens in heat (it'll warp in a hot car on a summer day) and slowly becomes brittle outdoors — so it's for display pieces, prototypes, toys, gifts and indoor parts rather than anything structural or exposed.
Reliable, affordable, sharp detail and around 30 colours. If your part lives indoors and doesn't need to take a beating, this is the one.
A flat, paint-like finish that makes layer lines almost invisible. Parts look far more "finished" straight off the printer, with no sanding.
A shiny, almost metallic finish in golds, silvers and jewel tones. Purely decorative — beautiful for gifts and ornaments.
Charges in daylight or UV and glows for hours afterwards. Available in green, blue, pink and yellow.
PLA mixed with chopped carbon fibre — noticeably stiffer, with a distinctive matte industrial texture. Stiff rather than tough: it resists bending but is less impact-resistant than PETG.
A specialist foaming filament that expands when printed, producing parts light enough to fly. Niche, but unbeatable where every gram counts.
Our recommendation whenever a part actually has a job to do. PETG is tougher than PLA, handles moderate heat, shrugs off water and UV, and doesn't go brittle outdoors. It's the sensible step up for anything living outside, getting handled daily, or holding weight. Slight trade-off: marginally less crisp on very fine detail than PLA.
Our standard functional material. Strong, slightly flexible rather than brittle, waterproof and UV-tolerant. Prints fast, so it's cost-effective too.
Printed with the right settings this comes out genuinely glass-like, letting light through. Great for anything that needs to glow or be seen into.
PETG's toughness and weather resistance with carbon fibre stiffness added. One of the best all-round choices for load-bearing parts that also go outside.
Engineering plastics for parts that face real heat or long-term outdoor exposure. These need an enclosed printer and more care, so they cost a little more — but nothing else does their job.
Stiff and impact-resistant, staying solid at temperatures where PLA sags. Its party trick: ABS can be vapour-smoothed to a glossy, injection-moulded-looking finish.
Everything ABS does, plus excellent UV stability — it won't yellow or go chalky in sunlight. If a part is going to live outside permanently, this is the right answer.
Exceptional impact strength and the highest heat tolerance in our standard range. This is what you choose when a part genuinely must not fail.
A genuinely flexible material — squeezable, grippy and very hard to break. 95A is firm-flexible, roughly like a shoe sole or a sturdy phone case rather than a soft rubber band.
The strongest, stiffest and most heat-resistant option we offer, with excellent wear resistance. Genuinely engineering-grade — and priced accordingly.
A high-temperature nylon that keeps its mechanical properties better in humid conditions than standard nylon. Our top choice for demanding functional parts.
Different technologies suit different jobs. We currently run two in-house, and we're set up to add more as demand grows — if your project needs a process we don't list, ask and we'll tell you honestly whether we can help or point you to someone who can.
Melted filament laid down layer by layer. Our workhorse: strong functional parts, large builds, huge material range and the best value per part.
Our X1 Carbon is fully enclosed with a hardened nozzle, so we can run the complete material range including abrasive carbon-fibre filaments, high-temperature engineering plastics and flexible TPU.
Liquid resin cured layer by layer with UV light. Dramatically finer detail and smoother surfaces than filament — layer lines are essentially invisible.
All resin parts arrive washed and fully UV-cured, ready to prime and paint.
For jobs beyond our machines — SLS nylon, metal printing, very large formats or injection-moulded production runs — we can advise on the right process and, where we can, arrange it through partners.
Just describe your project on the quote form and we'll come back with the most sensible route — even if that's pointing you elsewhere.
Everything above is FDM — melted filament laid down in layers. Resin is a completely different process using UV-cured liquid, and it wins decisively on fine detail and surface smoothness. Layer lines are essentially invisible, so miniatures, jewellery masters and highly detailed models come out dramatically better. The trade-off is that resin parts are more brittle than filament ones and cost more, so it's for detail, not for structural jobs.
| Choose | When | Typical jobs |
|---|---|---|
| Standard resin | Detail matters most | Miniatures, figurines, jewellery masters, display models |
| Tough resin | Detail plus some durability | Functional prototypes, parts that get handled |
| Material | Strength | Heat | Outdoor | Cost | Best known for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PLA | Low–medium | Poor | Poor | £ | Detail, colours, value |
| PETG | Good | Moderate | Very good | ££ | All-round functional parts |
| ABS | Good | Very good | Moderate | ££ | Smoothable, heat tolerant |
| ASA | Good | Very good | Excellent | ££ | Permanent outdoor use |
| PC | Excellent | Excellent | Good | £££ | Impact resistance |
| TPU | Flexible | Moderate | Good | £££ | Bending and gripping |
| PLA-CF / PETG-CF | Very good | Low / moderate | Good | £££ | Stiffness, industrial look |
| Nylon-CF | Outstanding | Excellent | Good | ££££ | Engineering-grade parts |
| Resin | Brittle | Low | Poor | £££ | Unmatched fine detail |
Upload your file, choose a material, and see the cost in seconds. Still unsure? Pick "Not sure" and we'll recommend the best option for your part.
Get an instant quote