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Here's a little resource that I put together for all the designers, engineers and makers out there. It's called Build List and is a long list of on-demand manufacturers of various kinds, perfect for creative projects and prototyping.
So far I've included a few different categories:
3D PRINTING
This includes regular PLA/ABS FDM printers, MJF and SLS powder printers, SLA and DLP resin printers, and some SLM metal printers. A bunch of these services have finishing options for sanding, polishing and painting parts.
LASER CUTTING & ENGRAVING
These services offer a wide range of sheet materials that come in various thicknesses. From plastics, to metals, woods, and paper & cards. Again a few of them offer finishing, which could be very handy, for example if you want custom metal pieces with professional powder coating.
CNC MILLING
Not much to choose from here, but PCBWay allows you to upload your 3D files and get 3D milled plastic, metal and rubber parts.
BOOK/ZINE PRINTING
It's now fairly cheap to get completely custom books printed. This could be useful for zines, manuals, textbooks, comics, photobooks, whatever. Most offer both hardback, softback and multiple binding options and with some you can even print a single book at a time.
BOOK/ZINE PRINTING
I tried to include the most well known suppliers which have instant quoting here. Most are in China, and have comparable offerings. Some do have interesting niche services like flex PCBs, so maybe that'll be useful. It would be nice to find some more in Europe and North America which aren't so expensive.
QUICK INFO
I've tried to include a range of suppliers from around the world, as well as any relevant information, such as if there are setup fees, minimum order prices or minimum quantities, so it's all easily available at a glance.
None of the listed sites require user accounts or email sign ups in order to see prices. You simply upload your project files, and they will instantly tell you how much it will cost and how long it will take. This makes things very easy when you want to check multiple prices quickly.
I know not everyone has access to makerspaces and these kind of machines, so hopefully this will be useful, and to be clear, even though I've used a few of these sites, I'm not associated with any of them, so still do your research if you're going to use their services.
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BY NODE