Education & STEM
A thing a pupil can hold explains more than a diagram of it. Printing teaching aids and class sets is cheap per copy, and it means you can have the object you actually want rather than the nearest thing a catalogue sells.
Serving South & West Yorkshire and nearby, and posting parts across the UK · Guide prices in seconds · No account needed
Get a education & stem estimate
Upload your file or describe the part. We review printability before confirming anything.
Common uses
- Demonstration models: molecules, gears, mechanisms, cross-sections
- Class sets of a part, one per pupil or per bench
- Maths manipulatives and geometric solids
- Parts for student design and engineering projects
- Tactile and accessible learning aids
- Replacement parts for lab and workshop equipment
Class sets are the cheap bit
The cost of a printed part is mostly time and material, so the tenth copy costs roughly what the second did — no tooling to amortise. That makes a set of thirty small parts genuinely affordable, and it means a broken one is replaced rather than mourned. Small, simple, robust parts are the sweet spot for a class set. Tell us the quantity up front, because it changes how we lay parts out and what we can do on price.
Where we stop: no safety-critical or lab-approved use
This one has a hard line under it. We print teaching aids, models and project parts. We do not print anything a pupil's safety depends on, and nothing that needs laboratory approval or has to meet a tested standard — no eye protection, no guarding, no lifting or climbing components, no pressure equipment, no parts of a machine's safety system, and nothing carrying mains electricity. Printed plastic is layered, its strength varies with orientation, and none of it is approved to any standard. If your use case sits near that line, tell us what it is and we will give you a straight answer, which is sometimes that you need a proper supplier rather than us.
Working from an idea or a student's file
You do not need a finished model. Describe the concept, send a sketch or a photo of the thing you wish you could buy, and we will help work out whether it prints and what it would cost. Student CAD is welcome too, and it often needs a printability check first — thin walls, open surfaces and unsupported overhangs are the usual three, and we will explain what needs changing rather than just fixing it silently, since that explanation is generally the useful part for a student. For durable handling by many hands, PETG takes knocks better than PLA.
How it works
Send your file or describe the part
Upload an STL, OBJ, 3MF or STEP file, or tell us what you need with photos and a few measurements.
Get a guide price
When we can read the geometry we estimate from it straight away — material, print time, supports and quantity all priced openly.
We check printability, then confirm
A person reviews orientation, wall thickness and supports, flags anything that will not print well, and confirms your final quote before any work starts.
Education & STEM — example prices
Worked examples on real models from our print library, priced by the same calculator that estimates your own part. Sizes span small to large so you can see how cost moves with the part.
| Example part | Size | PLA | PETG | ABS / ASA |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10mm Calibration Cube | 10 × 10 × 10 mm | £0.32 – £0.41 | £0.34 – £0.43 | £0.38 – £0.48 |
| 15mm Calibration Cube | 15 × 15 × 15 mm | £0.97 – £1.24 | £1.02 – £1.30 | £1.13 – £1.44 |
| 25mm Calibration Cube | 25 × 25 × 25 mm | £4.03 – £5.15 | £4.22 – £5.40 | £4.63 – £5.91 |
| Tolerance Fit Gauge | 140 × 43 × 19 mm | £15.31 – £19.56 | £16.19 – £20.68 | £18.18 – £23.22 |
Guide prices for a single unit, calculated from the measured geometry of each example model — not fixed quotes. Small parts land at or near the £0 minimum order, and per-unit prices fall with quantity. Your price depends on your own part, its material and its printability. How pricing works.
Example models for education & stem
Open-source designs from our print library that show the kind of part this service suits. View any of them for a full material and quantity price breakdown.
Utensil Holder
Drawer Organiser Tray
10mm Calibration Cube
Gridded Storage Bin (1x1)
These are open-source example designs (CC0) we publish to show what the process suits and what it costs — not a record of past jobs. Prices shown are examples in PLA.
Education & STEM — FAQ
Can you print safety equipment or lab apparatus?+
No. We do not print anything safety-critical or requiring laboratory approval — no eye protection, guarding, lifting parts, pressure equipment or mains electrical components. Printed plastic is not approved to any standard and we will not imply otherwise.
Can you do a set of thirty for a class?+
Yes, and per-copy it is cheap because there is no tooling. Small, simple parts batch particularly well. Tell us the quantity and the date you need them by.
We only have a sketch, not a 3D file. Is that a problem?+
Not at all. Send the sketch or a photo with rough dimensions and we will work out whether it prints and what it costs before anyone commits.
Are the materials safe for pupils to handle?+
PLA and PETG are inert once printed and fine for handling. We break sharp edges and remove supports before parts go out. They are not food-safe or mouth-safe, so they are not suitable for very young children or anything that gets chewed.
How much does education & stem cost?+
There is no fixed per-item rate — price comes from how much plastic the part uses, how long it takes to print, how much support and finishing it needs, and how many you want. The example table above shows what real parts of this kind work out at. Upload your file for a guide price on your own part.
How long does it take?+
It depends on the size of the part, the queue and the material. Tell us your deadline when you enquire and we will tell you honestly whether it is achievable before you commit.
Can I order one of the models from your library?+
Yes. Every model in our print library is a design you can have printed — pick one, choose a material and quantity, and the example price on its page is your starting point. You can also download the file and take it elsewhere; they are all CC0.
Are my files kept private?+
Yes. Uploaded files go to private storage, are never made public, and are only used to quote and produce your job.
Worth reading first
Practical guides that help you get a better part and a more accurate quote.
Supports and Overhangs Explained
Plastic will not print in mid-air. Here is the 45° rule, what bridging really does, why supports leave scars, and how to design so you need fewer of them.
3D Printing vs Injection Moulding
Moulding is cheap per part and expensive to start. Printing is the reverse. Here is roughly where the crossover sits and how to work it out for your part.
Small Batch 3D Printing Costs
Ten parts do not cost ten times one part. Here is what actually falls when you order a batch, what does not, and where the sweet spot sits.
Other services
Get a 3D print estimate
Upload your file or describe the part. We review printability before confirming anything.