Carbon fiber 3D printing can be a bit challenging and it usually requires expensive machines, so it may just be easier and cheaper to hire a service to take care of the hassle for you.
In this article, we’re looking for the best services that offer carbon fiber 3D printing.
When it comes to this technology and material, you can get strong parts with chopped fibers, but the difference between a part with chopped fibers and one with continuous fibers is significant. Depending on your needs, you’ll want to go with one or the other. Either way, one of these providers should be able to fulfill your needs.
Before we take a look at our top picks, we’ll go over how we made the list and what’s important to know about chopped and continuous fibers, as well as a few certification matters – to give you the whole picture.
Comparison
As there are a variety of carbon fiber technologies available to suit different needs, we haven’t ranked them in terms of the strength of the parts, price, or shipping services. Because there may be slight differences that make it pretty much impossible to compare and grade them, the order of our selections doesn’t reflect a preference or ranking.
We’ve used the pillow block (see image above) to obtain a price range for reference, and we’ve chosen a solid infill where possible to make the rate comparisons as close as can be.
When researching each provider, we’ve included information on the price estimate, the lead time, the technology used, the region supported by the service, their certifications, and what options they provide. All these should help give an idea of whether they may be the best for your carbon fiber 3D printing needs.
A distinction that at least one provider makes is between chopped carbon fiber and continuous carbon fiber, so let’s take a closer look at them before explaining some of the certifications that may be available and then check out the services.
Technology
There are two main variants of carbon fiber 3D prints: those with small segments of chopped fibers added into the filament before the printing process, and those with a continuous strand of carbon fiber added during the printing process. Let’s take a closer look at the difference.
Chopped Fiber Filaments
Chopped fiber-based filaments are composite materials comprised of a plastic such as nylon that has been mixed with short strands of carbon fibers to increase the strength of the base plastic. Nylon is the most common material used for chopped fiber composites but you can also get ABS, PC, and a whole host of other materials.
A well-known example of this is Markforged’s Onyx material, which is a nylon base mixed with chopped carbon fibers. Many printers can utilize pre-made chopped fiber filaments so it’s far more common than continuous carbon fiber extrusion.
Continuous Fiber Extrusion
Continuous carbon fiber, as it’s commonly called, is where a continuous strand of carbon fiber is laid into a base polymer during the 3D printing process. This results in significantly stronger parts that can even be used to replace milled aluminum components.
This option is usually more expensive than a chopped fiber part but it does yield impressive results, and you can control exactly where the carbon fiber strands are utilized. Markforged and Desktop Metal are two of the most well-known machine producers, with Markforged being the most established. Specialized hardware is required to add the continuous strand of carbon fiber during the 3D print, so this type of print is less common.
Having made this distinction, we will now go over the certifications that providers may use when advertising the strength of their parts. Why certify? It all depends on where the parts will be used. Seriously strong parts might be used in serious situations – where part strength can mean injury, or worse.
Certifications
Service providers often advertise their certifications because it shows what kind of parts they can make and it also shows that they are able to provide a certain level of service.
These certifications include (but aren’t limited to) the following:
- ISO 9001: This relates to quality management standards that a business implements to ensure customer needs are fulfilled in terms of statutory requirements. A company that’s ISO 9001 certified follows a certain process in its operations that aims to improve the quality of the service and minimize part returns.
- ITAR compliance: This means a company follows the strict regulations around the International Traffic in Arms Regulations. It’s not a certification as such, but it means that the company is aware of the provisions that must be followed in order to comply with the regulations. In short, that dangerous devices aren’t being manufactured, such as guns.
- ISO 13485: This standard relates to developing medical devices. If you’re looking for medical components, you should look for this certification from your provider.
- AS9100: An aerospace standard that builds upon ISO 9001, it’s often required for making aerospace components.
- NIST 800-171: This means the company’s computer systems are prepared to handle sensitive data, known as “controlled unclassified information”.
- FDA registration: With this, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is aware of the company’s service and what equipment it has. This may be useful if you need to seek FDA approval on your parts.
Now that we’ve gone over what relevant certifications you may be on the lookout for, let’s see what’s available when it comes to 3D printing services that offer carbon fiber options.
3D Printing Services
Craftcloud
Craftcloud by All3DP is a 3D printing marketplace that compares lots of providers and offers the options available from each, as well as recommended choices depending on whether you’re looking for the cheapest or fastest option. It also recommends an option it considers the best given a variety of factors.
It provided plenty of carbon fiber-based options in this search and was able to get the cheapest option from all sites. Materials included nylon (including Onyx), PLA, ABS, PETG, PC, GreenTec Pro, and PEEK carbon materials, as well as an SLS-based nylon option. All of these options were available for online quoting, while nylon 12 and PETG continuous fiber options were available for quoting by contacting the customer care team.
Shipping and delivery dates range from 2-5 days and 4-16 days respectively, although these may differ depending on the provider’s and user’s locations, and the production times are also specified for further reference.
- Price estimate: $6 up to $100
- Shipping: Times and cost depend on provider and user location; global sourcing and shipping
- Certifications: Depends on the provider
Hubs
Hubs offers a global network of manufacturers and their focus is on speed and affordability.
In terms of carbon fiber printing, Hubs offers Markforged’s chopped fiber Onyx material. They offer an instant quote online, but this part had to be verified because of its geometry. The quoted parts are covered by their IP protection clause if you happen to be working on a commercial part, and their online analyzer will check the part for issues with the computer-aided design (CAD).
They provide a variety of shipping options, with 1- and 2-day deliveries having a price tag. They also provide some options for the print settings, such as selectable orientation and infill. It’s worth noting that there’s a minimum order value of ∼$80, so while you can order parts that don’t reach that price, you’ll still have to pay for it.
If you’re outside the US, the global sourcing might be an advantage with Hubs as some of the other service providers in this list only cater to North America (or have significant shipping fees when delivering to other countries).
- Price estimate: ∼$30
- Shipping: 1 business day (∼$25), 2 business days (∼$15), 3-5 business days (free); global sourcing and shipping
- Certifications: ISO 9001
Stratasys
Stratasys offers ABS and nylon carbon-filled options. Again, this is a chopped fiber option. We opted for their nylon 12 carbon option for comparison.
Unfortunately, they couldn’t offer an instant quote on this part but they did follow up quickly with a quote and the customer service was great. So, although you don’t get the option to configure every print online, you do get to speak with the person doing the print if it can’t be quoted online. And you get a 15% discount on your first order, which isn’t bad at all (although restrictions apply).
They also offer finishing options for post-processing the part, such as painting the part – which not all the providers do. They had options in both fused desposition modeling (FDM) and SLS for chopped fibers, so their SLS option could be worth a look if you need a high level of detail. Stratasys also offers a selection of tolerance inspections, the standard being a 6-point inspection.
Because there are a variety of carrier services that can be selected from, depending on the customer’s location, as well as different shipping options in terms of dates, the exact price can’t be determined.
- Price estimate: ∼$64
- Shipping: Times and cost depend on provider and user location; global sourcing and shipping
- Certifications: ITAR, ISO 9001
PrintParts
PrintParts has one of the best configurators for choosing the settings on your part, and they offer continuous carbon fiber prints as well as the chopped fiber variant.
For the comparison, we opted for their nylon with continuous carbon option. As you can see in the image, you can pick the number of concentric fiber rings, the number of fiber layers, and the infill type. They also offer a pretty unique service: They can make your parts traceable if they’re of a sensitive nature.
For reference, we opted for a chopped fiber part with Onyx nylon for ∼$30 with 100% infill.
PrintParts includes a parts inspection and you can get 5% off if you do your own supports removal. Because parts are shipped from New York, US, national orders have a shipping fee of ∼$15, while international ones cost ∼$75.
- Price estimate: ∼$38 (continuous carbon fiber in nylon), ∼$30 (Onyx nylon)
- Shipping: Dates not specified on the web; orders in the US, ∼$15; international ones, ∼$75
- Certifications: ITAR and FDA registered
Fathom
Fathom also offers a nylon 12 chopped fiber option, although the minimum order charge of $250 (plus taxes) means that it’s a service best kept for expensive parts or parts relating to one of the certifications they have.
Their certifications enable them to do medical and aerospace parts, which is a nice option if you need it. And some of their finishing options include epoxy coating, sanding and priming, and vapor smoothing, just to name a few. They can also do tapped holes and threaded inserts, which can come in very handy.
Depending on the time you submit the order (and its volume), they offer next-, 2-, or 3-day shipping for FDM printed parts, and it’s possible to use your own courier service account (with UPS or FedEx) or to pick up the order from one of their available locations.
- Price estimate: ∼$28 (plus $222 to meet minimum order requirement)
- Shipping: Next-day, standard 2-4 days; US only
- Certifications: ISO 9001, ISO 13485, AS9100, NIST 800-171, ITAR
Final Thoughts
All of the services take advantage of the rapid nature of additive manufacturing and could ship within a week, depending on the order.
If you’re looking for continuous fiber parts, then PrintParts may be your best bet. For medical, aerospace, or parts that are very sensitive in nature, then Fathom is a good option. When you need input from the service provider and a well-recognized brand, Stratasys is definitely worth a look. Hubs provides lots of options in terms of shipping and their IP protection clause may be especially relevant to your venture. If you want to get a good price on a chopped fiber component, then Craftcloud could be your best option.
In any case, depending on your specific project, requirements, and possibilities, one of the service providers may be exactly what you’re looking for.
License: The text of "Carbon Fiber 3D Printing Service: Best Providers of 2023" by All3DP is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.