Protolabs Product Release Notes

We are constantly looking for innovative ways to improve - with our new proprietary mill head auto polishing system, we can get customer products (parts) out the door faster. We now offer auto polishing of 65% of all mold surfaces, with continued focus to make that even more efficient in the future. We are ultimately producing higher quality finishes, saving labor time and costs. 

This series of enhancements includes: 

• New finishing options such as wet paint, gold plating, and silver plating.
• Pre-plated steels (galvanized and galvannealed) available at a 3 day lead time. 

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When selecting threading, you'll now have the ability to select from Factory and Network pricing options when eligible, giving you more flexibility within your project requirement. 

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Effective April 29, some of our molding category material color names will be updated as follows in e-commerce and on our website:

Thermoplastics will have OMNICOLOR® or UNICOLOR® in the corresponding colors' names. 

Silicone Rubber will have Silcopas® in the corresponding colors' names. 

Note: No formulation or color change has been made to any products. 

Use the "Forward/Share" feature to allow other members of your organization to see and order your quotes. 

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Instant quoting now available on select parts. See pricing and DFM instantly within the quote builder. In quote review easily select lead time and pricing options from the factory or network. 

A new feature allows for reviewing your designed part thickness compared to our closest available stocked sheet thickness. 

If your designed thickness is slightly different than the displayed material thickness, you're in good hands. With years of fabrication expertise under our belts, we have the know-how to ensure your final part meets your CAD dimensions. 

Note: Protolabs uses industry standard sheet metal material thicknesses between .024" and .250".

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Design for Manufacturability (DFM) analysis is now available for all sheet metal components. Upon uploading your CAD file, we will automatically detect any potential manufacturability advisories such as features near bends, flange lengths, and hardware-to-material compatibility. 

See our DFM toolkit here.

Select inspection and quality documentation options directly on your sheet metal quote. 

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Now offering 5-axis machining in larger part sizes. We can now support designs with off-axis features up to X-Y-Z part dimensions. 

Learn more about our CNC machining design guidelines here. 

Vapor smoothing, our newest finishing option for 3D printing is now available for PA 11 Black parts. To add vapor smoothing to your PA 11 Black parts, simply select the material with vapor smoothing on the material selector drop down.

Learn more about vapor smoothing here.

We've expanded our form tooling and geometry capabilities to allow more designs to receive a 3 day lead time. 

• Prior to this update, .030" was the lone qualifying tooling option. This change adds .060", .090", .120" tools. 
• Designs with greater than 90 degree bend angles (up to 135 degrees) are newly eligible for a 3 day lead time. Note: maximum qualifying material thickness is .104"

Check out our forming capabilities here. 

Vapor smoothing can now be found under the "Finish" dropdown and no longer selectable from the material dropdown. The dropdown will only appear if an eligible material has been selected. Here is a full list of eligible materials; PA 11 Black, PA 12 Black, PA 12 White, PA 12 Glass Filled Black, PA 12 Glass Filled Natural, and TPU White and Black.

To add vapor smoothing to your PA 12 40% GF Black and PA 12 40% GF parts, simply select the material with vapor smoothing in the material selector drop down.

Learn more about vapor smoothing here.

Carbon EPX 86FR a flame-retardant resin that offers functional toughness, high strength and long-term stability added to our list of available materials for 3D printing technologies.

For more specifics on Carbon EPX 86 FR can be found here.

Part cleaning is now available inside e-commerce under secondary operations. Part cleaning includes washing or deep cleaning of parts by various methods, including ultrasonic cleaning, vapor degreasing, and ISO Class 7 clean room cleaning and packaging. 

To add vapor smoothing to your TPU White and Black and PA 12 White parts, simply select the material with vapor smoothing in the material selector drop down.

Learn more about vapor smoothing here.

Network pricing and ordering are now available on select machined parts within the Protolabs platform. If a part qualifies you'll be presented with standard, expedite, economy, and now network options. 

To add vapor smoothing to your PA 12 Black parts, simply select the material with vapor smoothing in the material selector drop down.

Learn more about vapor smoothing here.

New materials with material certifications added for CNC machining. 

• Aluminum 2024
• Aluminum 7075-T7

Compare materials properties here.

Quick turn anodizing and plating are now available on aluminum materials. Simply select your finish option from the coating drop-down on the configuration page. 

New internal diameter groove cutting tools now available for soft metal lathe. 

Instant design for additive manufacturability (DfAM) analysis now available on all 3D printed quotes. When reviewing your quote, our analysis will immediately highlight potential manufacturability advisories concerning thin walls, small gaps and parts that might exceed our maximum size restraints.

For more help on designing for 3D Printing visit our toolkit.

Now offering 7-day lead time on small parts (3 in. x 2.5 in.).

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Sheet metal quotes now include a way to designate your cosmetic finishing requirements. 

Choose between "standard" or "cosmetic" part processing based on the needs of your project. 

Note: a 2D drawing is required to accurately assess surface treatments and part location associated with cosmetic designs.