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There’s one fundamental thing you need to know about threading and assembling inserts into 3D-printed parts: What you can and can’t manufacture depends on the material properties of both the part and the insert. A second thing to keep in mind: It pays to design for standard taps and inserts whenever possible.

It’s no secret that 3D printing processes don’t produce injection molding-quality surface finishes right off the printer, but there is good news. Technologies exist to help, and there are new developments all the time.

We recently hosted a customer roundtable on leveraging 3D printing for end-use production. Listeners got a behind-the-scenes look at how tech startup, OVR Technology, used HP Multi Jet Fusion 3D printing to reduce development time on its R&D product roadmap.

Explore the variables involved in calculating the cost of 3D-printed parts.

Explore options available for building and post-processing clear parts for 3D printing.

Inconel 718 is a go-to material for additive manufacturing of metal parts.

Tensile strength testing for 3D printing materials determines how a material will behave under load.

Industry and technical experts from the Wohlers Associates group collaborated with Protolabs to host an intensive course on design for additive manufacturing.