3D WERK
JEWELLER'S GUIDE · IN-HOUSE OR OUTSOURCED
IN-HOUSE OR OUTSOURCED PATTERNS
Buy the printer,
or keep buying patterns?
A wax printer only earns its place if it beats what you pay a pattern bureau, once every cost is counted on both sides. This worksheet does the sums with your own figures. In our worked example (25 rings a week, A$35 a pattern from a bureau, 2.5 hours a week of your time) a workshop saves about A$18,600 a year by printing in-house. That depends heavily on your bureau's price: at A$25 a pattern the same workshop saves about A$6,600. Use your own quotes.
Before you start
This guide is general information to help you get the most from your WaxJet. It does not replace the Flashforge manuals, the safety data sheets for your materials or your own safety checks. Where they differ, follow the manufacturer's instructions and safety data sheets. Isopropyl alcohol (IPA) is highly flammable, and warm IPA gives off more vapour. Flashforge's manual uses a mix of PPG400, ethanol and IPA at 40 °C, never above 43 °C. Ethanol is also highly flammable. Keep it away from heat, sparks and open flames, heat it only with equipment suited to flammable liquids, use it in a well-ventilated area, and wear suitable PPE such as gloves and eye protection. Investment powder contains crystalline silica, and wax burnout and metal melting give off fumes, so use ventilation and the PPE your safety data sheets list. As a business, you are responsible for work health and safety in your workshop, including risk assessment and how you store, use and dispose of chemicals. See our Terms and Conditions.
01
What to count
05
When each route wins
02
The worksheet
06
Questions to ask first
03
Reading your result
07
Questions we hear
04
Beyond the money
08
Where to next
1
What to count
Count every cost that changes with the decision, on both sides, and nothing else. Your CAD design time, spruing, investing and casting cost the same whichever way the pattern is made, so they stay out of the sums.
The bureau side is simple
You pay per pattern or per order, plus courier and any set-up or minimum fees. Add the time someone spends sending files, answering emails and checking what comes back. It all rises and falls with your volume.
The in-house side is mostly fixed
The printer, its service, the IPA baths and its routine care cost much the same in a quiet month as in a busy one. The wax rises with each pattern, and so, a little, do the IPA and the time spent removing support. That is why volume decides the answer.
Enter every figure the same way
If you are registered for GST and claim it back, enter everything without GST. If you are not, enter everything including GST. Mixing the two tilts the answer. Use written quotes where you can, not a price you half remember.
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The worksheet
Fill in your own figures. The results update as you type. Press Load example figures to see the worked example below, then replace each figure with your own, from your bureau's invoices and a written quote from your printer supplier.
3
Reading your result
The worksheet gives you three answers. Read them together, then weigh them against the things money does not measure.
Annual cost
The total each route costs you in a year at your current volume. This is the headline. If outsourcing comes out cheaper, that is a real answer, not a problem to argue away.
Break-even
The volume where both routes cost the same. If you are well below it, outsourcing is cheaper. If you are well above it, printing your own is. Close to it, the other factors decide.
Payback
How long the yearly saving takes to repay the printer price. It ignores what money is worth over time and anything after payback, so use it alongside the annual cost, not instead of it.
Test your answer before you trust it
Run the worksheet three times: your normal volume, a quiet year and a busy one. If the verdict flips within that range, the decision is close. Then turnaround, control and your room matter more than the last few dollars.
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Beyond the money
Some of the biggest differences between the two routes never show up on an invoice. These cut both ways.
What a wax jetting printer needs around it. Room, size and build figures are Flashforge's published specifications for the WaxJet 51C.
Turnaround and revisions
Every bureau order is a round trip, and every design change goes round again. In-house, you change the file and print again on your own schedule. A print still takes hours plus support removal. Flashforge quotes the WaxJet 51C's speed as build height per hour (7 mm an hour single-channel, 3.2 mm an hour dual-channel), so print time depends mainly on the height of the job, but a full plate runs slower, at about 3.2 mm an hour against 7 mm an hour for a small job, so allow roughly twice the time..
A room that suits it
Flashforge's manual gives 18 to 24°C at 30 to 70% humidity and says never above 26°C, so plan on air conditioning and good ventilation. for the WaxJet 51C. The machine measures 865 × 510 × 654 mm and weighs 115 kg. If your workshop runs hot in summer, budget for air conditioning.
Control of your designs
Sending a file to a bureau means a copy of your design lives on someone else's computer. Ask how they keep files confidential. A reputable bureau will have a clear answer. In-house, your files stay in your workshop.
Print head care
Wax jetting is not maintenance free. The WaxJet 51C manual sets a routine of daily, weekly, monthly and half-yearly tasks: cleaning the waste box, build plate, filters and fans, oiling the guides, and replacing the filters. Ask us for the full schedule and count that time.
CAD skill and learning curve
Someone has to design in CAD, lay out each build, run the printer and remove the support. A good bureau also checks, orients and supports your files for you, which is real work you would take on. 3D Werk includes setup and hands-on training with a purchase.
The IPA setup
The support wax dissolves in warm IPA, at least two baths on heated magnetic stirrers. IPA is highly flammable, with a flash point of 12°C, and its vapour is heavier than air. It needs ventilation, no ignition sources nearby, and a licensed waste service for the used IPA.
Who services it
When a printer stops, your patterns stop with it. Find out who fixes it, how far away they are and how fast they come. 3D Werk provides local WaxJet support in Sydney.
Breakdowns and busy weeks
A bureau's breakdown is its problem, and a larger bureau may be able to absorb a rush. With one printer in-house, a fault or a flood of orders can leave you waiting. It is worth keeping a bureau on hand for exactly that.
Capacity and size
The WaxJet 51C builds up to 235 × 138 × 100 mm. That suits rings, pendants and most jewellery, but a larger sculptural piece may still need a bureau with a bigger machine.
Safety with IPA
Heat IPA only on a hotplate stirrer, away from flames, sparks and heaters, in a well ventilated area, and never leave a heated bath unattended. Wear nitrile gloves and safety glasses. Collect used IPA in a closed container for a licensed chemical waste service. Never pour it down the drain. Read your supplier's Safety Data Sheet. Our post-processing guide covers the full routine.
5
When each route wins
Most workshops that cast every week land on the right-hand side. If the left-hand list describes you, keep outsourcing for now and run the sums again when your work changes.
KEEP OUTSOURCING WHEN
The bureau is the better answer
Your volume is low or irregular, under about 14 patterns a week at a A$35 bureau price. The printer and its service cost the same in a quiet month, and a bureau only charges when you order.
Nobody in-house designs in CAD. A printer does nothing without files, and CAD is a skill of its own to learn.
You have no suitable room. A space held at 18 to 24°C (26°C at most), bench space for the IPA baths, ventilation and room for a 115 kg machine.
Cash flow is tight. A bureau is pay as you go. A printer ties up money or adds a repayment every month, busy or not.
BRING IT IN-HOUSE WHEN
The printer earns its place
You print steadily above your break-even, about 14 patterns a week at a A$35 bureau price. At 25 a week the worked example pays the printer back in about 23 months, before tax.
Revisions and custom work drive your business. Every round trip you skip shortens the path from design to sale.
Someone already designs in CAD and wants to own the whole process, including print head care and the IPA baths.
You have the room, or can set one up, and local service you can rely on.
You can do both. Print the everyday work in-house, and send overflow, oversize pieces or anything you do not print yourself to a bureau. A good bureau relationship is worth keeping either way.
6
Questions to ask first
Ask both sides equally hard questions, get the answers in writing, then put them into the worksheet.
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Ask a pattern bureau
What do you charge per pattern or per build, and is there a minimum order or set-up fee?
Is support removal included, and do the patterns arrive ready to sprue?
What is your normal turnaround, and what does a rush job cost?
Who pays for a pattern that fails, arrives damaged or needs reprinting?
Do you check my files before printing, and will you tell me about a problem?
What printer and wax do you use, and can you send sample patterns?
How do you keep my files confidential, and will you sign a confidentiality agreement?
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Ask a printer supplier
What does the price include: delivery, installation and training? Are the IPA baths extra?
What service is included, for how long, and what does it cost after that?
What daily and weekly care does the printer need, and how long does it take?
Who services it locally, and how quickly can they be on site?
What do the model and support waxes cost, and how much does a real job use?
What are the room, power and space requirements?
Can you print my own files as samples before I decide?
7
Questions we hear
You sell printers. Is this worksheet fair?
It is a fair question. The worksheet counts every in-house cost we know of, including service, spare parts, IPA, power and staff time, and says outsourcing looks cheaper whenever it is. If that is what it tells you, believe it.
What does 3D Werk charge for a WaxJet 51C?
A$50,000 ex GST (A$55,000 including GST), with delivery and installation in Sydney, hands-on training and the first year of service. From the second year the Care Plan is A$5,900 a year, and we suggest allowing about A$4,000 a year for spare parts. The worksheet example uses A$9,900 a year for both. IPA baths and stirrers for support removal are not included, so budget for them separately. Ask us for a written quote and put it in the worksheet.
What should I count as staff time?
Only time that changes with the decision. In-house, that is laying out builds, running the printer, support removal and print head care. For the bureau, it is sending files, emails and checking deliveries. Design time happens either way, so leave it out.
How do I work out my wax cost?
Track both waxes over a month of real jobs, then divide by the patterns you printed. As a guide, at our pack prices of A$760 for 1.44 kg of model wax and A$290 for 1.44 kg of support wax, incl GST, and counting support and purge waste, a 3 g 18k engagement setting uses about A$0.24 of wax and a 6.5 g 18k men's band about A$0.51. Budget about A$0.50 a pattern, and more for heavier pieces and failed builds.
My volume changes through the year.
Enter your yearly average, then try a quiet month and a busy one. The fixed in-house costs keep running in the quiet months, which is where outsourcing often wins.
Would a resin printer change the answer?
It changes the printer price and the running costs, and a resin printer usually costs less to buy. Put the resin printer's price and resin cost into the worksheet, then compare the result with the wax figures., and the worksheet works the same way. Resin and wax behave differently in the kiln, which our wax or resin guide explains.
Why spread the printer over years?
A one-off purchase and fees paid every week only compare fairly on the same yearly basis. The worksheet spreads the price evenly over the machine's life and ignores tax. For a small business the instant asset write-off covers assets under A$20,000 each, so a A$50,000 machine (ex GST) goes into the small business pool at 15% in year one and 30% after. If you are registered for GST you claim the GST back, so cost it ex GST. This is general information. Ask your accountant. how the purchase is treated for your business.
What if the result is close?
Then money should not decide it. Weigh turnaround, control of your designs, the room and your appetite for print head care. Outsourcing for another year is a perfectly good choice.
WHERE TO NEXT
Keep reading
Want real figures for your worksheet?
Tell us what you make and send a few of your files. We will print samples and give you a written quote to put in the sums.
GUIDE 7 OF 13 · PATTERNS
THE BIG PICTURE
1 · DESIGN
2 · PATTERNS
3 · CASTING
4 · AFTER CASTING