What NOT to Do When Using Sculpteo’s 3D Printing Services!

As more people begin to use 3D printing services, like those offered by Sculpteo, it is easy to detect frequently occurring mistakes from the long list of how-to’s involved with any successful 3D print job. Thankfully, Sculpteo has compiled a nice compact list of 5 things not to do with their 3D printers. Think about it: if everyone who uses Sculpteo’s services (and similar companies) take the time to sit and read these 5 things to avoid, both time and money could be saved on the users’ or the company’s end. Let’s take a look at what these 5 things are (and, of course, try to avoid doing them in the future)!

The first thing that we hear so much about when it comes to 3D designing is that size really matters. In this case, I am talking about trying to 3D print something that is way too small. We have even summarized Sculpteo’s efforts to educate about the importance of wall thickness elsewhere, but apparently some people still try to print things that are just too small. These parts can throw off the entire production process, as other parts can be contaminated by the failure of a small part to print correctly. Sculpteo makes it clear that its customer support is willing to work with you on small parts, but we can also do them a big favor by simply clarifying for ourselves (using the handy Solidity Check, for example) the potential success of all of our design work.

The second thing that Sculpteo wants us to remember is that it is not keen on 3D printing counterfeit products. You know, these are files that you didn’t design and that technically, by all measures, do not belong to you. One way to avoid confusion about the status of your own uploaded files is to select the ““private” or “public” parameter when uploading your 3D file. If you select “private” you can ensure that this is exactly what you are going to get. Also, if you have any questions about the intellectual property status of a scanned or downloaded object from a marketplace, check out this handy blog post that reviews copyright, designs, and models, etc.

Next we have a very simple reminder from the Sculpteo team: don’t bother trying to 3D print firearms, because it simply isn’t going to happen!

There is also a problem with 3D printing electronics. Why? Because Sculpteo simply isn’t equipped to handle a job like this yet. Companies like Voxel8 and Nano Dimension are leading the 3D printing pack in this direction, and their innovations might make 3D printed electronics a more common service in the future, but we just aren’t there yet. So hold off on involving Sculpteo with these projects, because, like its firearms policy, it just isn’t going to happen.

Last but never least, we have the issue of not trying to change your design once it is being printed. You really don’t have much of a window of opportunity to make changes, because, as Sculpteo reminds us:

“As soon as the production has been launched (meaning the part is nested in our printing volume and sliced for the 3D printer), the object will be produced and changing it would mean delaying every other task.”

For your convenience, Sculpteo allows you to check out your order page and see if it is in queue (when you can still make changes or cancel it) or when it is production (too late, I’m afraid). The order page is constantly being updated, so keep your eye on it as a way to ensure you can change something or cancel a print job before it’s too late.

Those are Sculpteo’s 5 things we should avoid when using its 3D printers. We can all get on board with these sensible pointers, can’t we? Do you disagree with any of their information? Discuss in the Sculpteo 3D Printing No-No’s forum over at 3DPB.com.