Service Bureaus – Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) and more

The 3D Printing Service Bureaus open up a lot of doors in regards to what materials you can have your pieces produced in. You can have your jewelry designs cast in precious metals such as gold and platinum. You can have functional items, such as bottle openers, printed in sturdy stainless steel. You can have your custom designed coffee cup made in food-safe porcelain.

When working with at-home FFF/FDM printers, sometimes you have to put in the investment to learn your printer and its capabilities. At the 3D Printing Service Bureaus, they have already done that assessment for you and have documented design requirements for each material:

Material requirements and design specifications from Shapeways, iMaterialise, and Sculpteo.