Local makers with a passion for engineering and design
3D Print Pittsburgh is a labor of love from a multitude of Pittsburgh native engineers and creatives. Custom ordered designs are completed by our 3D Print Pittsburgh staff on our heavily modified and tuned Ender 3 Pro print farm. Our shop is full of products from many local Pittsburgh hobbyist 3D printers. We're always growing, so if you're a printer yourself and you're interested in joining to sell your prints on our marketplace, shoot us an email!
Available Materials
Our printers can handle a fairly wide variety of materials, each with their own specific properties that make them unique. We can print everything from hard, durable items infused with carbon or glass fiber, to flexible pieces made of more rubbery materials. Your specific application will largely determine the best material for your needs. If you're unsure of which material to choose, don't hesitate to shoot us a message, we'd be happy to go over your project with you to determine your options.
PLA
PLA is one of the most basic 3D print materials available today. Derived from corn starch, PLA is actually considered much more environmentally friendly than a lot of other plastics. In the right conditions, PLA can actually be composted / recycled! While it doesn't offer the best mechanical properties, making it not the best choice for strong structural pieces, it does print up quickly and results in a piece with a nice finish, which is great for rapid prototyping that's still environmentally conscious.
PETG
PETG is a more traditional plastic made of a combination of polyethylene terephthalate and glycol. You'll find this frequently used in packaging and advertising. While it doesn't boast the same environmental qualities as PLA, it shines when it comes to more durable parts that are still affordable. PETG is much less brittle than PLA, meaning it will bend before breaking when subjected to stress. Our printers are tuned to handle PETG very well, and we can actually print it just as fast if not faster than PLA! This ends up reflected in the final order cost.
TPU
TPU, or thermoplastic polyurethane, is a very interesting material for certain applications. It's what's known as a thermoplastic elastomer, and is actually a blend of plastic with rubber! This makes TPU a very flexible material that will bend and mold around items. You'll find TPU in things such as roller blade wheels, or even the soles of shoes. TPU does require a bit more care in printing and can take a bit longer both for printing and post-processing, but for specific applications it is a very useful filament.
PC
PC, more commonly known as polycarbonate, is yet another hard plastic. The flexibility of this plastic is very low, much more similar to PLA, with more long term mechanical properties of a material like PETG. Since the flexibility is low, this material can be good for applications where tight tolerances are required that aren't liable to change over time. Where materials like PETG or Nylon may slowly bend or deform over time, which makes them great for over all durability, it can affect pieces where part deflection is critical and can throw off tolerances. This is where polycarbonate comes in to play. You'll find polycarbonate in eye wear, mechanical devices, cars, water bottles, and more!
PA6, 6.6, and 12
PA stands for Polyamide, or as it's more commonly known, Nylon. Nylon is actually the brand name for a number of different Polyamide blends. PA6, PA6.6, PA12, and their various combinations / blends are all polyamide variants that we can print on our 3D printers. PA has many traits similar to PETG, but with certain advantages. It's considered one of the most durable 3D printing plastics currently available. It offers a slightly higher flexibility than PETG, making it more apt to absorb mechanical forces instead of snapping. Also, we have carbon and glass fiber filled PA variants that increase the strength of parts even further! PA does come in at a higher cost than the alternatives due to the higher material costs and slower print speeds required to get good results.