Introducing the Pricing Explorer: One Tool for Molds, 3D Printing & Laser Cutting

We just shipped something we're genuinely proud of, and it's the thing we've been building toward: the Pricing Explorer — a free, interactive tool that gives you a real ballpark estimate for custom manufacturing in seconds. No sales call. No waiting. No commitment.

If you've ever hesitated to reach out because you "just wanted a rough number," this is for you.

Three ways to make your part — one tool

Most shops make you hunt down a different calculator (or a different vendor) for every process. We rolled ours into one:

• Injection Molds — get an instant estimate for the tooling (mold) price and the per-part price, using the same logic our team uses to price real jobs: mold base selection, cavity count, undercut handling, material cost, cycle time, labor, and machine rate.
• 3D Printing — FDM, resin, and engineering-grade filaments. Enter your part weight, quantity, and target turnaround and see a live per-part and job price across Value, Recommended, and Premium tiers.
• Laser Cutting & Engraving — cutting and marking on acrylic, wood, leather, and more. Enter your material, thickness, and job size and get an instant estimate.

One calculator, three tabs across the top. Switch between them without leaving the page or hunting for a separate tool.

Why we built it this way

Here's the honest part: nobody else has anything quite like this.

Some tools will show you a total price for 3D printing. SendCutSend will show you a total for metal cutting. But very few will show you a price for a custom injection mold at all — and we're not aware of any that puts mold, 3D printing, and laser cutting side by side in one live calculator where the total updates as you type.

The big instant-quote players (Protolabs, Xometry, and the rest) will quote you a mold or a 3D print — but like everyone, they show you a number and keep the math behind a black box. So do we: the Explorer shows you the total, not our cost breakdown. What's different is which totals you can actually get, and how immediately. You see your number live as you change inputs — built on the same pricing logic we actually run the shop with — across all three processes in one place.

We put all three in one tool on purpose. A real product rarely lives in just one manufacturing mode — you might 3D-print a prototype, cut a fixture on the laser, then tool a production mold. Seeing all three side by side, in the same interface, is the kind of "oh, that's useful" moment we wanted to create for the people who actually design and build things.

How it works

1. Open the Pricing Explorer.

2. Pick the process tab (Mold · 3D Print · Laser).

3. Enter your part's rough parameters.

4. Watch the price update live as you change inputs.

That's it. No account required to explore.

How we keep it honest (the part we're quietly proud of)

You'll notice the tool asks for your email and sends you a link before it shows your number. That's not a newsletter trick — it's a verification step. Click the link and your estimate is restored and ready, no re-entry needed.

Why require it? Because the real value here is the estimate, not the recipe. The Explorer shows you your top-line number — the mold price, the per-part price, the laser or 3D job total — which is what you need to explore and plan. The detailed cost math underneath (material rates, cycle times, machine and labor costs, margins) is our competitive know-how, and we keep that internal. By gating the experience with a quick email verification, we can stay completely open with you about what your part will cost while keeping how we price it where it belongs — with us. It's the same approach we use across our internal quoting tools.

We want your feedback

This is the piece we've been waiting on, and it's close to releasable — but we'd rather ship it right than soon. A few things we're specifically unsure about:

• Does the three-in-one layout make sense to you, or would you rather each process live on its own page?
• Are we missing a process you'd actually use (CNC machining, sheet metal, something else)?
• Does the estimate feel trustworthy — and is there anything that doesn't add up from your perspective?
• What would make this a tool you'd actually come back to before contacting a shop?

Tell us what's missing or what doesn't make sense. The pricing tools underneath are still being refined, but they're operational today — and this is something we can keep modifying as we learn from how you use it.

From estimate to real quote

The Explorer is the front door. When you're ready for a firm number and a timeline, hit Start a Quote — that sends your project to our team for a human review, usually within 1–2 business days.

We built this to remove friction from the very first step of working with us. Explore the numbers, then talk to a person when you're ready.

Try the Pricing Explorer →

---