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SLA or FDM — which one is your model?

Two processes, two jobs. A short guide to picking the right one before you pay for the wrong one.
Adrian

Adrian

Programmer and co-founder · 5 August 2026

People ask which process is better. Neither is. They are good at different things, and once you know what those things are, the model usually decides for you.

What each one is actually doing

FDM pushes melted plastic through a nozzle and draws the object line by line. SLA cures a vat of liquid resin with light, one thin layer at a time. The first is a very precise glue gun; the second is closer to photography.

When we reach for resin

Anything where the detail is the product: faces, fur, chainmail, the lettering on a tiny book. SLA resolves down to 0.04 mm, which is finer than a nozzle can lay a line, so a 32 mm figure keeps its expression instead of turning into a smooth lump. The trade-off is process — supports, a wash, a cure — and a material that costs more per gram.

When we reach for filament

Anything structural or large: terrain, dice towers, boxes, the parts of a dollhouse that hold other parts up. FDM parts take a knock, they are cheaper by volume, and the infill setting lets us make them as solid or as hollow as the job needs. On a big piece that difference is the difference between a sensible price and an absurd one.

A useful rule of thumb: if you would look at it from 30 cm away and care about the face, that is resin. If you would put something on top of it, that is filament.

What about both?

Plenty of pieces are happiest split — a resin figure on an FDM base, a laser-cut frame around a printed panel. If your model is one of those, say so when you send it and we will price both halves properly rather than forcing the whole thing through one process.

Not sure which yours is? Price it both ways in the calculator — the process is a dropdown, and the number changes while you watch.

Adrian

Written at the bench by Adrian

Programmer and co-founder. The analytical half of the bench: printer firmware, electronics and automation, and the shop and price calculator you are reading this on.

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