Yes, some 3D printing technologies will take the absolute amount of material of your model into account in their pricing. Therefore uploading a hollowed model can lead to a cheaper price.

Solid or un-hollowed parts will require more resources (material, energy etc.) and building time, making them more expensive. Additionally, for Powder Based Processes (like Laser Sintering, Multi Jet Fusion, and Metal 3D Printing) there is a limit on the density of the printing volume which secures the quality of the printing process. This density limit restricts the sintered volume of parts in the printer and thus results in an elevated price for dense parts.

What is the effect of the check box “do not hollow”?

If the “do not hollow” box is checked, the part will be printed as requested and we will not perform a hollowing procedure prior to printing. Please note that printing full or un-hollowed parts can increase the risk of deformation as well as the price of the part.

What happens if I order without checking the box “do not hollow”?

If the box is unchecked, then our production planning team can decide to hollow out models with higher wall thicknesses to prevent deformation and discoloration issues. Above a certain wall thickness value, models are even hollowed by default, see below.

Default hollowing of parts during print preparation

If a part is ordered with “do not hollow” and certain wall thickness values are exceeded, than our data preparation specialists will hollow models by default before printing. In these cases you will receive a hollowed model however the price of the ordered part will not be adapted anymore.

The specific wall thickness value for default hollowing is different per material: