Excellent for accurate, smooth, high resolution parts.
Industrial SLA – lead times from 2 days.
Stereolithography or SLA is a resin-based 3D printing technology that produces highly accurate, high resolutions parts with an excellent smooth finish. The combination of high speed, low-cost per part and well-established materials makes stereolithography an ideal choice for prototypes and low volume production.
Source accurate to CAD and fine-detailed parts with HLH Rapid’s SLA 3D printing service.
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Please use the following formats:
.stl, .obj, .wrl, .step (.stp), .iges (.igs), .3mf, .dxf and .zip
100mb max file size (per file)
If you have a file type not listed, please contact us to discuss first.
Home Office: 116 Cardigan Road, Office M2.
Headingley, Leeds UK, LS6 3BJ
Company Number: 12704810
VAT Number: GB393458263
Factory: Building A, Hongfa Industrial District
Houda Road, Daling Shan, Dongguan,
Guangdong, China
Check out the popular SLA post-processing options below with more custom finishes available upon request.
| Description | Colour | |
|---|---|---|
| As Printed / Deburr | Deburr is the standard SLA finish. Note that support marks (“nibs”) may remain evident due to support structure contact points used during printing and removal. Best for fast lead times or when cost is a factor. | Natural |
| Sanding & Polishing | Surface is sanded and polished to reduce layer lines and improve smoothness and clarity. Ideal for cosmetic prototypes and achieving semi-transparent and transparent parts. | N/A |
| Matte / Gloss | Achieves either a matte (non-reflective) or gloss (shiny) finish, depending on the required surface appearance. Suitable for both opaque and transparent parts. | N/A |
| Dyeing & Spray Painting | Parts can be coloured to any RAL/Pantone colour. Spray painting is a quick way to add colour, especially for hard-to-reach areas. Dyeing may be used depending on the material and application. | Black, RAL/Pantone colours |
| Electroplating & Metallic Painting | Parts can be spray-painted to achieve a metallic look or electroplated with a thin layer of metal (e.g. chrome) to enhance surface durability, appearance and wear resistance. | Metallic |
| Silk Screening, Pad Printing & Laser Engraving | Text, logos and symbols can be added using silk screening, pad printing or laser engraving. For best results, supply artwork in Adobe Illustrator® (AI) format and specify the required graphic size. | Custom |
SLA 3D printing builds parts one layer at a time using a highly accurate UV laser to solidify one layer of photosensitive resin, which makes the parts accurate and in good surface. The parts need to be built with support structures which are removed during post process.
To achieve better part quality and end results, it is important that you design your part for the process. Learn how to design overhangs. assembly parts and more in our SLA 3D printing design guide.
Wide Range of Materials
Stereolithography offers a vast material selection with a range of properties.
Finest Detailing
SLA is one of the best 3D printing technologies for creating very accurate and finely detailed parts.
Rapid Turnaround
Because SLA can create complex and multi-material parts in a single operation, significantly less build time is needed vs. traditional manufacturing.
Smooth Finish
SLA creates parts with an excellent finish which remarkably resembles end use items like injection moulded parts.
Generally Brittle
SLA parts are generally brittle and not suitable for many functional applications.
Degradation Over Time
Due to the photosensitive nature of SLA resins, SLA parts will experience degradation over time when exposed to sunlight.
Requires Support Structures
SLA prints always require support structures, which must be removed in the post-processing stage.
Stereolithography or SLA 3D printing is the most common resin 3D printing process. It has become very popular over the years due to its ability to produce highly accurate and watertight prototypes and end-use parts in a range of materials with fine features and smooth surfaces.
SLA (or stereolithography) is a plastic 3D printing process that uses light-reactive thermoset materials called “resin.” The process offers a wide range of plastic material options that are often categorized by different material properties, including:
The many advantages of SLA 3D printing have made it a choice for many applications across different industrial sectors for many years, including:
SLA 3D printers use UV lasers to trace out the cross-sections of the model and form a object. This process creates a very high resolution, detailed printout, but it requires a longer print time. On the other hand, FDM (fused deposition modeling) creates parts additively using a filament. The process results in a lower quality printout, but they can do so faster. View the full comparison guide here.
