MJF / SAF pricing explained
How a MJF / SAF 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 MJF service 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 | €8.96 | €86.37 |
| Production | €18.89 | €155.13 |
| Total, incl. shipping and VAT | €55.81 | €289.77 |
| Machine time per part | 10 min | 9 min |
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
Powder kept between nested parts.
Price: A bigger gap makes every part's cell - and its build share - larger.
Typical: 3–6 mm.
Cell: box ↔ hull blendcell_box_blend_pctcalibratable
100 = a part occupies its gapped bounding box; 0 = only its gapped convex hull.
Price: Lower values favour nestable shapes (brackets, rings) 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 effective envelope your nester fills with part cells when a part is alone.
Price: The part's build share is cell ÷ (efficiency × envelope).
Typical: 50–60 %.
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.
Nesting efficiency, many partsnesting_max_pctcalibratable
Efficiency reached with many identical parts.
Price: The rise from single to many is the organic quantity discount (spec §4.3.C).
Typical: 70–80 %.
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 your nester packs as well as it ever will.
Price: Between one part and this many, the efficiency rises from the single-part figure towards the full-build one - which is what makes the price per part fall with quantity.
Typical: 15–30 parts.
Coolingcoolingbasic
How builds are cooled.
Price: Fast cooling shortens machine occupancy; natural cooling is the quality default.
Typical: Natural.
Labour
Build setup & nesting per buildbuild_setup_min
Laying out the build, nesting the parts, loading powder and starting it.
Price: Charged once per build and shared by everything in it, which is the main reason a full cake is cheaper per part.
Typical: 30–60 min.
Unpacking per buildunpack_min_per_build
Breaking the cake out of the machine, sieving and reclaiming the loose powder.
Price: Once per build, whatever is in it. Unpleasant work, and it should be paid for.
Typical: 30–60 min.
Depowdering per partdepowder_base_minbasic
Getting the powder off and out of one part, before any finishing.
Price: Charged for every part, so it is a large share of the cost of a small one.
Typical: 1–3 min.
Depowdering per 100 cm²depowder_min_per_100cm2
Scaled by the part's complexity level (1–5).
Price: Intricate, large parts take longer to clean.
Typical: 0.4–0.8 min.
Bead blasting per partblast_min_per_part
Bead-blasting one part to the standard finish.
Price: Per part. Scales with surface area in practice, which is why a sprawling part costs more to finish than a compact one of the same mass.
Typical: 0.5–2 min.
QC & bagging per partqc_bag_min_per_part
Checking one part and bagging it.
Price: Per part, and easy to forget until you count a day of it.
Typical: 0.3–1 min.
Small part belowsmall_part_max_dim_mm
Below this size a part counts as small and gets extra handling minutes.
Price: Sets which parts attract the extra-handling charge below.
Typical: 10–20 mm.
Extra handling per small partsmall_part_extra_min
Extra minutes for a small part: finding it in the cake, not losing it, handling it without damage.
Price: Added per small part. It is why fifty tiny clips are not cheap even though they weigh nothing.
Typical: 0.3–1 min.
File preparation per modelfile_prep_min
Opening the file, orienting it, checking it will survive de-powdering.
Price: Charged once per model, whatever the quantity.
Typical: 1–4 min.