We have talked about 3D printing service providers all across the world and today we are going to talk about 3D printing London. How is this business going on there, how are the service providers providing, which type of 3D printing service, and at what price?
Below is a list of companies, the website of whom we visited to find out, how are things working on their website? What all do you need to upload and how do they quote you, what do they offer you in return of the quote, and much more…
Makers Café
This is said to be the UK’s first 3D printing café. How cool is it to have a café that offers 3D printing services just like coffee? This café was opened in Shoreditch in the year 2014 and since then it continues to offer a creative space for makers.
Now there are a lot of platforms offering makers and designers of the world to socialize and experience 3D printing, but no interaction is as effective as a physical interaction. Here in the Makers Café, you can engage with the public while simultaneously democratize the maker movement.
The café allows you by paying a fee of £1 per minute you can do many cool kinds of stuff. You can rent time on one of the machines which is on offer at that time in the café or simply come in for watching the machines while enjoying the social setting of a coffee shop.
These guys have currently shut their Shoreditch pop-up and are looking for new premises in London. In the meantime, their operating place is their headquarter in East Dulwich, 24 St Francis Road, London, SE22 8DE.
Their opening hours are from Monday to Friday, from 9:30 AM to 6:30 PM, and they offer services in FDM printing in PLA material as well as laser cutting and engraving services.
How is it like being on their website?
Instead of the boring white and black combo or black and blue, you have some change in the background color of the website’s homepage, and that instantly catches your eye. There are four tabs on the homepage of their website i.e. Clients, Services, Press, and Contact Us.
The texts are simply written, with huge claims, you are told that they facilitate experiential personalization and customization needs by using innovative technologies like laser cutting and engraving as well as 3D printing, etc.
Scrolling down, not much, but a little, you get to see the clients they’ve worked with. The first row of four clients impresses you as a user instantly, because they are Gillette, Google, Adidas, and Victorinox. There are five such rows meaning twenty clients on display.
They have also not ended their webpage with some countable number of colors with titles and some options beneath them. Their page ends with some more photographs of their café, presumably.
But there is one question altogether i.e. if they have provided information about their clients on their homepage, why have they given separate tab of clients though?
For finding this thing, when we clicked on the client’s tab, we actually found out that this was the running tab, meaning there was no different tab titled clients that were offered by the company’s website.
Services offered for 3D printing London
They help people make things. They provide digital manufacturing and consultancy services, on top of serving top-class coffee to our makers, so don’t worry, your coffee is safe, it’s not just a café that serves completely on 3D printing technology.
Currently, they are focusing on building spaces, pop-ups, and events. Their goal, since their foundation in 2014, has been to empower the public and engage with them while democratizing the maker movement. In doing so, they’ve attracted a diverse variety of age groups, from 8 to 80 years old.
And their main strength for doing so lies in an attempt to bring together innovative technologies with inspiring clients, via their network within the maker community. This café’s laser cutting and engraving services are powered by Razorlab online.
Make it Quick – 3D Printing UK
You land on this website to know that the NEW THINGS ARE COMING. The makers of this website have an exciting seven slides display for 3D printing technology. There are seven tabs that you find on the homepage of this website.
You have services, SLS 3D printing, and materials, about us, learn, contact us, and upload and quote. It is a seen pattern of 3D printing service provider’s website to lay more and more stress on the upload and quote tab. It might be because they have based on their experience of getting more and more enquires about people asking for the quote.
Scrolling down you get three options as a user i.e. either to order a prototype or batch of parts or upload and STL file and find a quote.
Scrolling down even further you have a display that is asking out a question whether you are still using CNC machines for manufacturing parts or functional prototypes or injection molding?
About the company
When it comes to low volume production, 3DPRINTUK likes to call themselves specialists. They 3D print using the art SLS 3D printing systems. The aim of the company is to bridge the void between prototype and injection molding.
So, a convincing line given by the company to all their users is that “if tooling costs are prohibitively expensive for your product, or you don’t require the volume demanded by injection molding, it’s time to email us or give us a call.”
The company also claims to have mastered the process of printing in PA2200 Nylon. Not just that, the claim goes higher when the company writes, they do it with no need for support material, and the final part that you get to see has virtually no layer lines and is produced in short turnaround times, so you are guaranteed a great print.
Using selective laser sintering, the company claims to produce one-off rapid prototypes if that’s what you require or production runs of tens of thousands of parts, on-demand.
Scrolling down you get options of navigating to their services which are express printing, 3D printing, and carbon black. A little more scrolling down gives you options of knowing more about the company by pricing app, sample box, Vibro polishing, case studies, pricing structure, and their machines.
Champion 3D
Another service provider of 3D printing London, Champion 3D keeps it a lot straightforward than 3D printing UK. You just have one webpage to navigate, arguably a little lengthier than 3D printing UK’s homepage, but overall shorter than the former’s complete website.
Also, the company directly mentions four areas that concern them i.e. 3D printing, CAD services, Portfolio, and no-touch key ring. The last one wasn’t familiar with us as well, but we will find out.
There is an animated video going on in the background of the text YOUR 3D PRINTING PARTNER. So, if you thought that 3D printing UK was claiming too much, there is a competition.
You can place your order on this website 24*7 as if websites really had visiting hours like offices! Just beneath this text, we have our favorite cliché in terms of 3D printing service providers i.e. Instant Quote.
Clicking on it takes you down to that section of the webpage which has how to order, the procedure mentioned on it. There are three steps, the first one being upload and analysis, the second one is set preferences and the third one is cost.
While we thought it is just three, scrolling down made us expose to three more, i.e. Checkout, production, and receive.
So, all in all, you have to upload the STL file that you have, the designers or company’s employees are going to take some time in analyzing your file and then tell you the cost. There is also an option of batch or bulk discount in case you want to buy in larger quantity.
Champion 3D, unlike 3D printing UK, does not claim to be a low volume production specialist. But neither does it offer any information about the machines that it is going to use for 3D printing your part or a functional prototype.
All you have on the website is the information regarding the printing materials that you can use i.e. PLA, Polymax, and NinjaFlex or TPU and what customers say about them as well as some of their clients. And then you have typically many photographs arranged in the rectangle with an option to load more.
3D Printer Hub
Two people in white aprons talking to each other. One explaining the other one after looking at the part, probably asking for improvements or some sort of analysis stand out of the text,” Welcome.
3D Printer Hub offers a wide range of services for your project. We do all the leg work and find the best price possible for your project.” Confusing you to take them as someone who is into market research rather than a service provider of 3D printing London.
Beneath it, you have our clichéd option i.e. Find the Best price for your project.
Clicking on it surprisingly leads to Page 404 i.e. page not found. Going down you find a four-step procedure in which the company works. And yet you guessed it right the first step is to upload an STL file.
You can then choose the material and process with which you wish to 3D print and then the delivery. Scrolling down, the website gives you the option of checking their reviews out on Google.
Scrolling down a little more it offers the same option on Facebook. Going down you have a little overview of the company.
The Three Tabs that lead to the same webpage
Apart from Home, and Blog, you have 3D printers, 3D Designing, and 3D printing services, all of which leads to the same webpage that has a cute baby in the hand of a man who is holding a firecracker and the baby is watching that burst with all sorts of amazement one would as a baby.
On the left of this picture, you have something written about the company values. Scrolling down you have a picture of a desk, chair, besides which there is a little of the company’s story mentioned.
Then in the blog section, you are given information about the basics of 3D printing as well as 3D printers. Making us wonder, what does this website really intend to do, whether it’s providing the correct information about 3D printing or providing services of 3D printing London.
Or maybe it’s still a developing website which has made its mark, but not made it up to date as the other three websites that are mentioned in this article before it.
The Conclusion
For those who are new to it and finding it really exciting, let us tell you that in reality, finding a reliable 3D printing service is vital in many ways.
Starting with ensuring a timely turnaround for your rapid prototyped parts, to sourcing work to 3D printing service which is close to where you live or work, to ensure that the delivery is fast and cost-effective, everything counts.
Here in this article, we have mentioned four service providers of 3D printing London.
If you live in London, you know that there certainly aren’t maker hubs on every corner of London, but there are still some great options. And this goes for each of the three key additive manufacturing techniques i.e. FDM, SLA, and SLS.
Another option if you are in London and wish to have some 3D printing services for yourself, you can go online. Search not only for 3D printing London, but also just 3D printing services in general.
Nowadays with the advancement in technology, it is possible to get a 3D printed part or functional prototype delivered to you at your doorstep from any part of the world, thanks to the Internet and the fact that you only need an STL file to communicate with other person regarding the printing of 3D part.
