High-Detail Stainless Steel

The pricing for High Detail Stainless Steel is based on an imaginary box around your model that determines how much space your design will take up in the printer (X * Y * Z = mm³).

Additionally, a startup cost is applied to the price of your model. This is a fixed cost independent of the parameters of your model.

High-detail stainless steel is all about strength and detail. Because of its limited printing size, it makes the perfect material for board game pieces, miniatures, key chains, bolts, watch parts (e.g. dials and cases), dog tags or jewelry (please be aware that the material contains nickel).

The technology prints your model by binding together layers of ultra-fine grains of stainless steel powder in a precision inkjet-like printer. Specifically, after a layer of stainless steel powder is spread across the base of a “build box”, a special print head moves back and forth over the layer, and deposits binding agent at specific points, as directed by a computer and your design file. Once the layer is finished and has been dried with powerful overhead heaters, a new layer of powder is spread, and the process begins again. In this way, layer by layer, from the bottom up, your part is created.

Once the printing is done, your model is carefully taken out and the extra powder that was not bound, and is not part of your design, is then removed. At this point, your part is still very fragile. This so-called “green state” will be the base of some of the design rules and limitations that are mentioned in our design guide. Your part is then sintered in an oven at 1300°C. This can either be done in sand or on a ceramic plate. The sand is used most often because it’s suited for designs which are irregular and don’t have a flat base. The ceramic plate is used more often for technical pieces with a flat base.

After the cool-down process, the model is put into a mechanical polishing machine and shipped to you.

• The material is only slightly magnetic, but it's a negligible amount
• High-detail stainless steel consists of 6% boron, 10% silicon, 10% aluminum, 17% chromium, 12% nickel, and 2.2% molybdenum

We want you to have access to as many 3D printing materials as possible, so you can make the best choice for your project. If you didn’t really find what you were looking for on i.materialise, you might want to take a look at Materialise OnSite. OnSite is our other online platform, mainly used by professionals who need rapid prototyping and manufacturing in an industrial environment.

This means you can additionally find these materials on OnSite:

• Stainless Steel (316L or 1.4404) : 316L, a low-carbon alloy of stainless steel also known as 1.4404, is a highly corrosion-resistant material and offers excellent strength. This 3D-printed stainless steel is produced via Select Laser Melting (SLM) and has high ductility and good thermal properties. It can be used for food-safe applications, machine components and production tools.