PEI (poly-ether-imide), also known by the brand name Ultem, is a top-tier plastic prized for its outstanding thermal, mechanical, and electrical properties. So much so, that it’s often used as a lighter weight replacement for stainless steel and aluminum. It’s a difficult and expensive material to 3D print with, making it ideal to order from a service.
If you need a prototype for final component that can stand in for a metal components inside an engine, for example, or subject to harsh conditions like heat, chemicals, and pressure, Ultem is up to the task.
But beware, not all PEI is the same. Blends vary and it pays to ensure that the plastic you use can deliver all of the attributes your part needs. For example, the PEI 1010 is a glass-filled grade of polyetherimide, meaning it contains glass fiber reinforcement, while pure PEI (also known as unfilled PEI) does not have any fillers. PEI 9085, on the other hand, has higher impact strength and toughness than pure PEI but lower tensile strength and lower impact resistance compared to pure PEI. It’s worth knowing that it is considered easier to 3D print and process than pure PEI.
To learn more, check out our Buyer’s Guide to Ultem filament to help you choose the best filament for your needs.
Comparison Summary
We put top 3D printing services to the test for their Ultem options, including price, delivery time, customer service, and post-processing options. Although, for total transparency, the actual parts were not printed and delivered — that would have been wasteful — we took both the instant quote and manual review process for a spin. We used the following evaluations to select the companies included in this guide:
- Services and customization: Offering additional services for Ultem parts, especially post-processing, finishing, and design is a huge plus.
- Range of materials: The more materials a company offers, the more it can guide you toward the best options.
- Range of technologies: Although there is only one way to print Ultem – namely FDM – companies that offer a range of technologies can often give you better price, speed, and quality options.
- Lead and quote response time: You can’t rush quality, but faster response and lead times are imperative if you’re dealing with an urgent project or replacement part.
Comparison Results in a Nutshell
Best for Material Selection
Craftcloud offers four different kinds of Ultem: 1010 comes in amber; 9085 comes in black, natural, and white; carbon-fiber-filled Ultem is offered in black; and glass-fiber-filled comes in natural.
Best for Price
For this project, uploaded to all six sites, Stratasys came in by far with the lowest production price. However, shipping costs could not be determined until production was complete, so this would drive up the total price a bit. SGD 3D originally came in second, but unfortunately, when we further inquired about shipping costs to the US, the company reached out to say that our model exceeded their printing capabilities due to its size, and they would have to recind their offer. Tied for second place then, is Craftcloud, which offered free shipping for this part, and Xometry whose price matched Craftcloud once the additional tax to was figured into their quote.
Best for Fast Delivery
Xometry has either guaranteed 24- or 48-hour delivery, usually for an extra fee.
High Performance Engineered Part
Ultem is strong, lightweight, and resistant to extreme conditions. It is ideal for high-stakes industries such as aerospace, oil & gas, defense, food processing, and healthcare, where failure isn’t an option. So for this service provider comparison article, we put them to the test with this automotive intake valve designed by Kyle Goerlitz.
The quotes below represent what we were able to find out when testing our chosen part printed in Ultem 1010 (when available – when not, we used whatever Ultem the company offered) using FDM, with no post-processing used. It’s important to note the various Ultem materials offered by these services. Some are inherently more expensive than others. While most services offered at least either Ultem 1010 or Ultem 9085 in at least one color, Craftcloud offered four types – 1010, 9085, carbon fiber, and glass fiber – in different colors, all for the same price.
Prices include tax and shipping except where indicated.
In terms of pricing, Stratasys beat out all other competitors although it hard to say by how much since we weren’t told off the bat how much shipping will cost. Craftcloud and Xometry tied for second, with Xometry offering much faster lead and shipping times, especially if you’re willing to pay for expedited shipping.
Because Protolabs itself does not offer 3D printing in FDM, we turned to its offshoot, Protolabs Network. It’s important to note that Protolabs Network has a minimum order requirement of $90, so while our part cost much more than this, it is something to keep in mind for less expensive print jobs.
Materialise OnSite only offered Ultem 9085 which skewed our price comparison a bit, as for the other services we list the price for Ultem 1010, all though both materials tended to cost about the same. They ended with the highest price and longest delivery times for this particular model, regardless. This could also be due to the fact that they provide larger discounts for bigger projects, this small run of just one part was the most expensive option available.
Craftcloud
Craftcloud is more than just a 3D printing service. It enables you to compare prices and services from different service providers and find the right custom manufacturer at the right price.
With partners around the world, Craftcloud presents you with the best services in terms of price and lead time, with no additional fees. Quotes are generated in real-time based on your uploaded models and location. Using the platform is as simple as any other 3D printing service but with many more options available.
Craftcloud offers ABS in 56 colors, plus carbon fiber ABS, ESD-safe ABS for electronics, ABS Kevlar, and PC-ABS.
Materialise OnSite
Materialise OnSite is the 3D printing service that belongs to the Belgian Materialise group, the developers of the popular software suite Materialise Magic. Materialise offers a wide range of 3D printing technologies aimed at the industrial and healthcare sectors.
Materialise actually offers different online 3D printing service portals; there’s i.Materialise, which is aimed at hobbyists and offers one type of ABS (ABS-M30), among other materials. For this article, we used Materialise OnSite, a service geared towards prototyping and professional use, as they offer ABS, PC-ABS, ABS ESD7, ABS-M30, and PC-ABS.
Protolabs
Although Protolabs does not offer FDM printing in their in-house facilities, their offshoot Protolabs Network (formerly Hubs) offers FDM printed Ultem parts with industrial FDM using Stratasys printers. You can opt to print Ultem 1010 in amber, which is what we chose, or Ultem 9085 in natural, which had a substantially lower cost.
A huge plus for using Protolabs services is their consistent precision and fast lead time. For the purposes of our test prototypes, we chose the cheapest option — “economy” lead time of three to five days — but they also offer standard and expedited lead times as short as one day for a higher price. They are an industry leader, serving companies like NASA, Audi, HP, and Intel.
SGD 3D
SGD 3D, based in Nottingham, UK, offers on-demand 3D printing services to hobbyists and professionals alike. SGD 3D specializes in FDM, SLA, and SLS technologies, and they’re able to print in a variety of materials, with FDM offering the largest selection. Although their website claims they offer Ultem Carbon Fibre and Ultem 9085, we were only given the option of Ultem 1010 when we uploaded our part to their system. They do have some size constraints though, so although they do offer competitive prices, they may not have the capability to carry out all your printing needs.
In terms of other services the company offers, they have CAD support, reverse engineering, and scanning, as well as post-processing services such as painting, polishing, and assembly. If you’re unsure if your model is ready to be printed, you can consult their online guide or schedule a free 15-minute appointment with an engineer to discuss your project. In fact, users have been particularly happy with their customer service, as well as the fast production times and the great print quality. This comes at reasonable prices, which you can save further with bulk orders: the bigger the order, the higher the discount.
Stratasys Direct
Stratasys is one of the largest 3D printer manufacturers in the world so it makes sense that they would also offer contract additive manufacturing, which they call Stratasys Direct. They offer FDM, PJ, SLA, SLS, MJF, SAF, and P3 (DLP).
Its website offers mountains of resources on additive manufacturing (for free, no login), including case studies, design guidelines, an interactive material wizard to help you select the right plastics or metals for your application, and a “contact an engineer” button for more in-depth help.
The company has seven manufacturing locations throughout the US and one in China, in addition to a global manufacturing network with partners in Europe, Asia, South America, and the Middle East.
In our experience, there was no instant quote option, since every material has a “requires a manual quote” tag on it, although they did get back to me within two hours, just as their website claimed. And when I had a follow up question, they replied within 30 minutes. For Ultem, they offer 1010 in natural, and 9085 in black and tan. For some reason, when I uploaded our model to their site, it got flagged as having “too large a geometry” – not something that came up with any of the other service providers I tried. The online quote also said it was going to print the model as a solid for strength. When I asked about this, they assured that the print would come out as in the model, and the size didn’t play a role. They explained that their quote is set up to print in inches, as that is what their machines use, but that they convert the model from mm in order to keep the size consistent.
Xometry
US-based Xometry operates a global network of more than 5,000 suppliers for both additive and traditional manufacturing, including CNC machining, laser cutting, injection molding, urethane casting, and others. It offers Ultem 1010 in natural and 9085 in both black and tan, and a large selection of other materials to choose from.
All 3D printed parts produced in the U.S. through Xometry are eligible for free two-day shipping or ground shipping, and expedited next-day delivery is also available. The company can also ship parts internationally and has production partners in multiple countries. The Xometry website offers instant quotes based on an uploaded CAD model and selected options.
Xometry also offers rapid prototyping, high-volume production, and custom assembly services.
Lead image source: Airbus part printed using Ultem 9085 from Materialise Onsite.
License: The text of "6 Ultem 3D Printing Services We Recommend" by All3DP Pro is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.