Most product teams in New York find a 3D printing service the same way: a search, a few websites, a quote request. The websites look alike. They list processes, show a few parts and promise speed. What they leave out is how the shop works, and that is what decides whether your parts come back right.
This is a short guide to the questions that separate shops, for engineers and industrial designers ordering prototypes and production parts. We compare Makelab with three other New York shops in our guide to NYC 3D printing services. This post covers how to judge any of them.
Why local is worth something
A part that ships across the country spends days in transit. A part made in Brooklyn can be picked up in Brooklyn, or delivered across New York City the next day. With a design review on Thursday, that can decide whether the team reviews a printed part or a screenshot.
Local also shortens the loop when something is wrong. A replacement part does not wait on a cross-country shipment.
Local only helps if the shop can print what you need, so start with processes.
Which processes run on the shop's own floor?
A process list on a website tells you what a shop sells. It does not tell you which machines it owns. Some shops run one or two technologies themselves and send the rest to partners. That can work well, but it changes who you call when a part comes back wrong, and it puts shipping time back into the schedule.
Ask directly which processes run in the shop and which go out.
For product work, FDM covers fast functional prototypes, SLA covers smooth surfaces and fine detail, and MJF nylon covers parts that need to behave like production parts. Large housings and fixtures need a large-format process as well.
How big can it print in one piece?
Build volume decides whether a housing prints whole or in sections. Sections are often fine for a display model. On an enclosure that has to seal, or a bracket that takes load, a seam is a design decision you should make on purpose.
Ask for the largest one-piece size in inches for each process, and ask how the shop joins split parts: alignment pins, adhesive or fasteners.
How do you get a price, and how long does that take?
Some shops quote a file online in seconds. Others review it and reply by email, which can take a day or more. Both are reasonable, but if you iterate every week, quote time adds up. Send the same file to every shop you are comparing so the prices mean something.
Who checks the file before it prints?
Thin walls, unsupported overhangs and tolerances tighter than the process holds are the usual reasons a print fails or a part does not fit. Ask whether a person reviews the file before it runs, and whether the shop can repair a broken mesh or redesign a feature that will not print. Our design guidelines list wall thickness, holes and tolerances by technology, a useful baseline for any shop.
What happens on the reorder?
Prototypes turn into production parts faster than most schedules expect. When that happens, the second batch has to match the first. Ask whether reorders run on the same process and material, and what inspection paperwork comes with a production batch.
Where Makelab fits
Makelab is a 3D printing factory in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, and most parts are printed on our own floor. We run FDM, SLA, Industrial SLA, MJF and FGF, in 21 materials, and ship 5,000+ parts a week.
- The instant quote prices a file in seconds and checks wall thickness and part size as you upload. An engineer reviews every file before it prints.
- Parts print in one piece up to 94 x 94 x 39 in (2400 × 2400 × 1000 mm) on FGF and 67 x 31 x 24 in (1700 × 800 × 600 mm) on Industrial SLA.
- Pickup in Brooklyn is free, and delivery across NYC and northern New Jersey is next day.
- Our design engineers repair files, rebuild parts from scans and redesign them for printing.
- Production orders come with certificates of conformity, material data sheets and inspection reports.