Binder jetting pricing explained
How a Binder jetting price is assembled, setting by setting, with a worked example priced by the engine itself.
These are the settings that decide how the work is priced, as opposed to the machine that does it or the material it is made from. They are stored with the configuration.
Every one of them shows up in the breakdown when it affects a price, so if a number surprises you, the answer is on the screen.
A worked example
These numbers were computed by the pricing engine against the shipped Binder jetting bureau configuration - the one you get if you start from the template. They are regenerated whenever the engine changes, so they cannot drift away from what your own console would show for the same part.
| Line | One part | Ten parts |
|---|---|---|
| Material | €44.18 | €416.36 |
| Production | €209.42 | €1604.64 |
| Total, incl. shipping and VAT | €323.09 | €2410.94 |
Note how the price per part falls with quantity: a batch shares what is done once - a set-up, a program, a whole build on a powder process, the tool in moulding. That is where the quantity break comes from. It is not a discount you are giving away; it is your cost structure, passed on.
Every setting on this page
These are in the same order as the editor, with the same help text. Each one has an anchor, and the ? beside a field in your console links straight to it - so if you are reading this because you clicked one, the setting you were looking at is highlighted.
Nesting & build share
Gap between partspart_gap_mmbasic
Loose powder kept between nested parts in the job box.
Price: A bigger gap makes every part's cell, and its share of the build, larger.
Typical: 2-5 mm metal, 5-10 mm sand.
Cell: box or hull blendcell_box_blend_pctcalibratable
100 = a part occupies its gapped bounding box; 0 = only its gapped convex hull.
Price: Lower values favour shapes that nest into each other over blocks.
Typical: 50-70 %.
This is one of the numbers the calibration tool can fit from jobs you have already run, so you do not have to guess it.
Nesting efficiency, single partnesting_min_pctbasiccalibratable
Share of the job box your nesting fills with part cells when a part is alone.
Price: The part's build share is cell ÷ (efficiency × job box).
Typical: 25-40 % metal, 30-50 % sand.
This is one of the numbers the calibration tool can fit from jobs you have already run, so you do not have to guess it.
Nesting efficiency, many partsnesting_max_pctcalibratable
Efficiency reached with many identical parts.
Price: The rise from one part to many is the quantity discount the job box gives by itself.
Typical: 45-60 %.
This is one of the numbers the calibration tool can fit from jobs you have already run, so you do not have to guess it.
Quantity scale of the nesting curvenesting_qty_scale
How many of a part it takes before you nest as well as you ever will.
Price: Between one part and this many the efficiency rises, so the price per part falls with quantity.
Typical: 15-30 parts.
Labour, sintering & infiltration
Build set-up per job boxbuild_setup_min
Nesting the job, loading powder and binder, starting the build.
Price: Once per job box, shared by everything in it by build share.
Typical: 20-45 min.
Unpacking per job boxunpack_min_per_build
Digging the parts out of the box and sieving the loose powder back.
Price: Once per job box, charged by build share.
Typical: 30-90 min.
De-powdering per partdepowder_base_minbasic
Brushing and blowing the loose powder off one part.
Price: Charged for every part; green metal parts are fragile, which is why it is slower than on polymer.
Typical: 2-5 min.
De-powdering per 100 cm²depowder_min_per_100cm2
Extra cleaning per 100 cm² of green surface, scaled by the part's complexity level (1-5).
Price: Large intricate parts take longer to clean.
Typical: 0.5-1.5 min.
Furnace load volumefurnace_load_l
Usable volume of your sinter furnace's hot zone (metal only).
Price: A part pays for the share of a furnace run its setter space takes, as the consumable `binder_jetting.sinter`.
Typical: 10-60 L.
Furnace fillfurnace_fill_pct
How much of the hot zone a typical run fills with parts on setters (metal only).
Price: A lower fill means each part carries a larger share of the run.
Typical: 30-50 %.
Setter clearancesetter_gap_mm
Space kept around a part on its setter in the furnace (metal only).
Price: Adds to the furnace space each part occupies.
Typical: 3-8 mm.
Setter loading per partsinter_load_min_per_part
Placing one green part on its setter and unloading it after sintering (metal only).
Price: Charged for every metal part.
Typical: 1-4 min.
Infiltration per partinfiltrate_min_per_part
Dipping or brushing one part with infiltrant, for materials that are infiltrated.
Price: Charged for every infiltrated part.
Typical: 2-5 min.
Infiltration per 100 cm²infiltrate_min_per_100cm2
Extra infiltration time per 100 cm² of surface.
Price: Large parts take longer to soak and drain.
Typical: 0.5-2 min.
File preparation per modelfile_prep_min
Opening the file, scaling it for shrink and checking it will survive de-powdering.
Price: Charged once per model, whatever the quantity.
Typical: 3-10 min.