If you’ve ever browsed a 3D printing service page or consulted a 3D printing supplier for a custom part, you’ve probably asked: “How long will this take to print?” As someone who’s run a small, in-house 3D printing operation for five years—handling everything from tiny architectural models for local architects to industrial jigs for manufacturing clients—I can tell you there’s no one-size-fits-all answer. It’s not just a matter of how big your object is; it’s a mix of material choice, printer type, layer height, part complexity, and even the little details most people don’t think about until their print gets delayed. Let’s break this down like I do when I walk a new client through their first order, so you can understand exactly why a 3D print timeline isn’t a random number—it’s a calculation. 3D Printing
First, let’s start with the basics: the two most common 3D printing technologies you’ll run into as a small supplier like me are FDM (Fused Deposition Modeling) and resin-based printing (SLA, Stereolithography, or DLP, Digital Light Processing). These are totally different processes, so their speed varies a lot. For FDM, which uses plastic filament heated and extruded layer by layer, the print time depends heavily on layer height. Think of layer height as the resolution of your print: a thicker layer (0.25mm, for example) means fewer layers total, so the print is faster. But a thinner layer (0.1mm or even 0.05mm) makes the surface smoother and finer details sharper, though it takes twice as long. A small, simple object—say, a 2-inch plastic keychain with a basic logo—might take 10 to 30 minutes on a standard FDM printer. But a larger, bulkier part, like a 12-inch plastic bracket for a small machine, could take 3 to 8 hours, even with a medium layer height. Resin printing, on the other hand, cures liquid resin with UV light, layer by layer. It’s faster for very small, high-detail parts—like a 3D printed jewelry piece or a dental model—since each layer is thinner (usually 0.025mm to 0.1mm) and the curing time is quick, but it starts to slow down for larger objects because the resin tank has to cure a bigger area each layer. A 2-inch resin ring might take 20 to 45 minutes, while a 10-inch resin part could take 4 to 10 hours. That’s a big range, and it’s just the start.
Next, complexity is the wild card. No two objects are the same, and even two parts of the same size can have wildly different print times. Let’s say I’m printing two 4-inch plastic cubes: one is a solid block with no holes or internal features, the other has a lattice structure inside (hollow but with a grid pattern to cut material and weight). The solid cube will print in maybe an hour and a half, but the lattice cube—even though it’s the same outer size—will take two to three times longer. Why? Because the printer has to lay down material along every thin lattice line, not just fill a solid volume. For industrial parts, this is a huge factor: a jig with slots, threads, or custom features will take more time than a standard, blocky part. I also have to account for support structures, which are a must for any part with overhangs (like a bridge or a curved edge that sticks out from the main part). Supports are extra material that gets printed along with the object and removed later, and each support line adds time. If a part has a 45-degree overhang, supports are minimal; if it’s a 90-degree overhang (like a shelf sticking straight out), I might need dense supports, doubling or tripling print time for that section.
Then there’s printer capacity and workload. As a 3D printing supplier, I don’t have just one printer—I have 12 FDM and 8 resin printers, but even that, we can’t print every part at once. If a client orders a single small keychain, it can print that same day. But if a local machine shop orders 50 identical 10-inch brackets, that’s a job that has to run on multiple printers over a few days. I’ll schedule those prints in batches: print 10 on Monday, 10 on Tuesday, and so on, so we don’t overwhelm the printers or delay other client orders. Also, not all printers are the same. My larger FDM printers, which can print objects up to 24 inches tall, are slower for small parts because they’re set to larger build volumes. It’s more efficient to run a big job on a big printer than multiple small ones, so that adds to the timeline too. I always explain this to clients: if you need 100 small parts, we might run them over two or three days because we’re also filling another order for a dental lab that needs high-priority resin parts.
Material choice also plays a role, surprisingly. Most people think of plastic as just “plastic,” but different filaments have different extrusion speeds. PLA (Polylactic Acid), the most common, is easy to extrude and can run at faster speeds than engineering filaments like ABS (Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene) or PETG (Polyethylene Terephthalate Glycol). ABS needs higher heat to prevent warping, so the printer has to slow down to keep the material from curling or cracking, adding 20-30% to print time. For resin, specialty resins (like flexible rubber-like resin or high-temperature resin) have longer curing times than standard clear or white resin, so that adds a few extra hours to the print. If a client needs a part made of a specific engineering material for industrial use, that timeline shift is unavoidable.
Post-processing is another part of the total time most people forget. I can’t hand a client a fresh-off-the-printer part and call it done, because 3D prints aren’t perfect right away. For FDM parts, I have to remove supports—sometimes with pliers or sanding, especially if the supports are dense. For resin parts, I have to wash them in isopropyl alcohol to get rid of uncured resin, then cure them in a UV oven for 10-20 minutes to make sure they’re fully hardened. If a part needs painting, sanding to a smooth finish, or assembly (like multiple small parts glued together), that adds 1 to 4 more days to the total timeline. I always tell clients: the “print time” is just the time the object is physically being built. Post-processing takes just as long, often more, depending on the finish they want.
Let’s put this all together with real examples from my shop, so it’s not just theory. Last month, a local artist came to me with a request for a 6-inch tall resin bust of their dog, with fine details like fur texture and a collar. That part: print time was 1 hour 45 minutes, support removal and washing took 20 minutes, UV curing took 15 minutes, and touch-up sanding of the ears took an extra 30 minutes. Total turnaround was 2 days, which I quoted upfront. Another client was a small business owner who needed 30 custom plastic name tags, each 2 inches wide, made of PLA. Each tag prints in 12 minutes, so a batch of 30 prints in 6 hours total (I ran them on 3 printers at once), support removal took 1 hour, and I shipped them the next day. Total time from order to delivery was 3 days. A third example: a manufacturing client needed 10 large PETG jigs, each 18 inches long, for assembly lines. Each jig had internal slots and overhangs, so print time per jig was 7 hours. I ran 5 at a time on our two large FDM printers, so the print run took 2 days, then post-processing (sanding the slots, checking for warping) took another day. Total turnaround was 4 days, which I communicated clearly because the jigs were needed for a production deadline.
Now, what about delays? Even with careful planning, things go wrong. A print might fail mid-way because of a filament jam, a resin tank scratch, or a small calibration issue. When that happens, I don’t just start over immediately— I troubleshoot first, but if the failure is due to something I can’t fix quickly, I have to reprint, which adds time. I always build a small buffer into timelines (usually 10-15%) for these unexpected issues, but I’ll tell a client right away if a print fails and how it will adjust the delivery date. Transparency is key here; I’ve learned over the years that clients appreciate honesty more than being promised a timeline that falls through.
So, if you’re thinking about getting a 3D printed part, what should you expect? For a small, simple FDM part made of PLA, it can be as fast as 1 day for a single unit. For a high-detail resin part, add 1-2 days. For larger, complex industrial parts, or bulk orders, expect 3-7 days—sometimes longer if the order is very large (like 100+ units) or uses specialty materials. As a supplier, my job isn’t just to press a button and watch a print; I have to balance speed with quality, and make sure the timeline I give you is realistic, not rushed, because a rushed print often has defects that require rework anyway.
If you have a specific project in mind—whether it’s a prototype, a custom part, a small batch of items, or something else—feel free to reach out to discuss your timeline and needs. I can walk you through exactly what’s possible, answer any questions about materials or finishes, and make sure your order is delivered when you need it.
Polyester Polyol BG Series References
- Gibson, I., Rosen, D. W., & Stucker, B. (2015). Additive Manufacturing Technologies: 3D Printing, Rapid Prototyping, and Direct Digital Manufacturing. Springer.
- Huang, S. H., Liu, P., Mokasdar, A., & Hou, L. (2013). Additive manufacturing and its societal impact: A literature review. International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology, 67(5-8), 1191-1203.
- Petrovic, V., Vicente Haro Gonzalez, J., Jordá Ferrando, O., Delgado Gordillo, J., Ramón Blasco Puchades, J., & Portolés Griñan, L. (2011). Additive layered manufacturing: sectors of industrial application shown through case studies. International Journal of Production Research, 49(4), 1061-1079.
Singbon New Materials(Shandong) Co., Ltd.
Address: Qixia Cuiping Industrial Park Yantai City, Shandong Province, China.
E-mail: DBG1@singbonpu.com
WebSite: https://www.tpusingbon.com/
