Engineering & DFM specifications

Print & File Preparation Guidelines

Practical guidance for preparing geometry that our FDM, resin and injection-molding processes can actually make. Exact capability for your part is confirmed with your quote.

Choosing a Process

What each in-house process is good at, and where it struggles. Exact capability is confirmed with your quote.

FDM / FFF

Our workhorse for functional parts, enclosures, jigs and larger objects. Strong along the print plane, with visible layer lines unless finished. This is also the process behind multi-colour printing.

· Best for: brackets, housings, fixtures, everyday objects
· Watch for: very fine detail, thin unsupported features

Resin (MSLA)

Chosen when surface detail and small-feature resolution matter more than impact strength — dental models, miniatures, master patterns.

· Best for: fine detail, smooth surfaces, small precise parts
· Watch for: sealed hollow voids, large or load-bearing parts

Injection Molding

The step after prototyping, once volumes justify a mould. We quote this as a project rather than a per-part price.

· Best for: repeat production runs of a settled design
· Watch for: uneven wall thickness, undercuts, draft angles

On tolerances and maximum size: achievable tolerance and the largest part we can build depend on the geometry, the material and which machine the job runs on. Rather than publish a number that may not hold for your part, we confirm both with your quote — upload a file or configure something in the Studio and ask.

1. Wall Thickness & Minimum Feature Sizes

Walls thinner than the nozzle extrusion width or resin cure beam will fail to resolve or delaminate under post-processing stresses.

Give embossed and engraved text real depth — shallow lettering disappears into the surface finish.
Leave clearance between parts that must move against each other. Resin tolerates tighter gaps than FDM.
Upload the file and our automatic check will measure the thinnest wall in your actual geometry.

2. Overhang Angles & Support Rules

Features extending past specific self-supporting angles require sacrificial support geometry.

Shallow overhangs generally print self-supported; the steeper the overhang, the more support it needs.
Long horizontal bridges sag. Where you can, orient or redesign so spans are short.
Supports leave marks. Keep them off the faces that matter to you and tell us which those are.

3. Hollow Resin Printing & Drain Escape Holes

Hollowing SLA parts saves material but creates liquid resin entrapment and suction cups during build vat peeling.

Provide at least two opposing drain holes so resin can escape.
Keep the hollow shell an even thickness — thin spots warp during curing.
Never submit a sealed hollow void. If you are unsure, leave the part solid and we will advise.

4. Supported File Formats & Ingest

ModelForge reads these mesh formats directly in your browser and analyses them before anything is uploaded to us.

.3MF (Preferred)

Carries units & colour

.STL

Binary or ASCII mesh

.OBJ

Standard polygon mesh

Something else?

Ask us — we handle other CAD formats by hand

Acceptable Use & Manufacturing Refusal Policy

MetaFuse3D operates under strict safety and intellectual property standards. We reserve the absolute right to refuse any production run or file upload violating local or international laws:

Strictly Prohibited Items

Firearms, receivers, triggers, silencers, or lethal weapon components
Military defense articles subject to ITAR without explicit license
Counterfeit branded merchandise, logos, or trademark infringement
Biohazardous materials, drug paraphernalia, or unsafe items
Explicit or non-consensual adult physical likenesses

Permitted & Encouraged

Custom dental models, clear aligners, surgical drill guides
Industrial tooling, end-of-arm tooling, replacement gears
Scale architectural models, urban topography, and competition dioramas
Original artistic sculptures, consumer housings, and electronics enclosures
Open-source hardware projects with compliant permissive licenses

DESIGN FOR ADDITIVE

Ready to Validate Your Geometry?

Upload your file into ModelForge for instant automated DFM checks and 3D preview.

Launch Studio Assisted Quote

Initializing Precision Pipeline

SLICING_GEOMETRY // CALIBRATING_BUILD_CHAMBER

“Bringing Idea into Reality within Minutes”