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Moulded plastic prototypes and production parts
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Machined prototypes and production parts in as fast as 1 day
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Plastics
Various grades of plastics across moulding, machining, and 3D printing
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Extensive library of metal materials for machining, and 3D printing
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Flexible materials for injection moulding and 3D printing

Supply Your Own Resin
Guidelines on how to supply custom resin for your next project
Colourants
A broad range of colourants available for injection moulding

The material selection process

Do you need a guide for selecting thermoplastic materials? Here you will find expert knowledge about thermoplastics and tips that will make it easier for you to choose a material for your moulded parts.

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Medical
Accelerated development of medical devices and health care products
Aerospace
High-quality components from early prototyping to hot-fire testing to launch
Automotive
Rapid prototyping and ramp-up production for traditional, electric, and autonomous vehicles
Robotics
Complex end-use production parts for robotics and automation applications
Consumer Electronics
Functional prototyping and on-demand production of consumer and computer electronics parts
Industrial Equipment
Durable jigs, fixtures, and other components to streamline assembly and reduce production costs

Industry Resources Medical Materials Medical Applications for Additive Manufacturing Aerospace Manufacturing Guide Manufacturing Robotics Report: Introduction Automotive Industry Embraces Additive Manufacturing Industry Case Studies

Industry Certifications Aerospace: AS9100

Protolabs x NASA

We partnered with NASA to machine a crowdsourced, generatively designed part that was delivered in only 36 hours so the design could be presented at the PowerSource Global Summit.

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Leverage Protolabs across the product life cycle for prototyping and production

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Our helpful design aid demonstrates part features that are too thin or too thick, bad bosses, right and wrong ribs, and other considerations to be mindful of while designing parts for injection moulding.

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Halesfield 8,
Telford,
Shropshire,
TF7 4QN

P: +44 (0) 1952 683047
E: customerservice@protolabs.co.uk

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The Digital Thread

Your blog feed for manufacturing resources, in-depth features, and industry news.

Past 'Milling' posts

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CNC machining

CNC machining

27/03/2025

The Anatomy of a CNC Machine & How This Influences Output Quality

Compare the features of Computer Numerical Control (CNC) machinery and how they influence part quality. Find out how to get the most out of CNC machining and how technological developments affect the performance of your designs.

5 axis indexed milling

CNC Machining

21/03/2024

Why Engineers Choose 5-Axis Indexed Milling for Product Innovation

Discover why engineers are selecting 5-axis indexed milling for their parts. This blog looks at the advantages of 5-axis indexed milling.

By Alex Edwards

Understanding CNC Milling

CNC machining

11/03/2022

Understanding and Improving Modern CNC Milling

While CNC Milling has been around for more than 50 years, the technology is moving on and recent advances see automation of the entire process, from design right through to finished part. Such advances make it a technology that is readily available to all, for high or low volume quantities, prototyping to final parts and with lead times of as short as a day.

CNC machining

CNC Machining

19/05/2021

Understanding CNC manufacturing costs

Understanding CNC manufacturing costs

CNC machining

CNC Machining

05/05/2020

New Big Block CNC Machined Parts in a day from Protolabs

We’ve launched a big block rapid CNC machining service for aluminium 6082 parts. With a reliable shipping time as fast as 1 day from the initial CAD upload, we can now mill from blocks of up to 559mm x 356mm x 95mm.