How can we help?

So, you’ve come up with an idea. A tool, a learning aid, an ideal gift. Perhaps you have an exhibition in mind or want to make existing pieces more accessible?  

You’ve maybe you’ve shopped around and found the thing you want doesn’t exist yet? 

Well turning ideas into objects is the forte of 3D printing. And at Chapel Prints we’ve sold a lot of things that didn’t exist before we made them!  

Not only do we have the tools, but also the skills and discipline to formalize your idea and make it in to a real world object!

Our Services:

  • bird skulls on the beach.

    Buy From Our Shop

    Buy ready-to-go items we stock in our online shop.

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  • 3D Map Commissions

    More about the process of commissioning a map with us.

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  • Wildlife Commissions

    learn more and commission a wildlife replica or tailored a set.

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  • Display Piece Commissions

    Find out about commissioning public display pieces.

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  • Other Commissions

    Want to commission something else? Get in touch!

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Project Examples:

Learning aids for schools, unis, and homes.

Whether is a ribbon model of a DHFR protein or stoat’s skull; holding a model of the thing you’re talking about really can’t be beaten. The clarity and purpose a real world model gives to any lesson or discussion sharpens the focus and engages the intellect. Familiar with the rigors of academia, our models are sutied for the use of biologists, geologists, and even archaeologists.   

Scanning and digitising.

Our structured light scanners are portable and disappointingly undramatic in size; but make up for it in their resolution. We can scan small objects down to a 0.2mm accuracy. Our larger scanner can input objects meters in length. Rendering the objects as a complete digital model takes some patience and time but this often an on-site service we can offer within the UK, paticularly around the North where we’re based.

Commission piece maps.ff fffffffff 

Topographical maps were something we started printing early on in our startup. We use various data sources working with tiff, asc, ply, and dem file types to name a few. Thanks to a recent explosion of available resources hardly anywhere on earth is unmapped. We’ve been moving away from map commission lately but do still consider medium and large prints and multiple orders.

 Short production runs.

We’ve done various small production runs of items from wolf masks, to maps, to mini skulls. Our capacity runs to 100s not 1000s but we’re always willing to consider a project and think logistics. Usually, the bigger the order the cheaper the price - although we don’t compete with 3D printing houses directly as that's not quite what we do. 

Commission moulds: positive and negative designs.

It’s much the same for us to create an inverse shape as it is an original positive design. inverting the surface on a topographical map or embossed design is relatively simple. We' also work with silicone rubber and specalist flexible filiments like TPU. We’re familar with pottery press and slip moulds and always keen to work with clay and potters when we can!

Design commissions.

We’ve helped clients design shower heads and mythical skulls, hinges and trail maps. We don’t claim to be engineering draftsmen but we can help with a very broad range or 3D designs and source data from a diverse array of libraries.

Printing: pros/cons.

3D printing suites specialist items, custom designs, and short production runs. It’s great for prototyping, but most of what we dispatch are finished products. Tidied, painted and finished to a standard of any off the shelf artisan item.

Fast turnaround is another advantage. Considering we produce items from scratch, either raw plastic filament or liquid resin; our 1-2 week processing time for smaller items and 1-4 month turnaround for larger projects is rather impressive.

We are a relatively sustainable and ethical company. As a small cottage industry our supply chain is limited to printer materials and printers. We’re keen on the idea “small is beautiful” and feel our company aligns with our anarchistic ideals. We use plant-based biodegradable PLA plastic for most of our models. We’re looking into shifting to plant-based resin as soon as we can.

The key advantage is customisability, we produce things not yet made! We always keep clients included in the design process sharing designs and changes via screen grabs or digital models and always agreeing upon a design before payment and printing.

The usual plastics and resins used in 3D printing do have relatively low tensile strengths. PLA with its many advantages is similar to kiln dried pine prone to snapping under high stress and has a poor wear profile. It can also warp in high temperatures of above 40 degrees C or in direct midday summer sun. UV resin can be brittle for larger prints, again with a limited wear profile. We’ve been using epoxy finished to get round some of these issues particularly with maps so we’re happy to discuss wear resistant finishes though.

ABS plastics are better suited for part production and engineering applications, we don’t usually use this material as its oil based and produces fumes when heated, but can discuss your project. ABS like resins can be used for smaller high precision items again this can be discussed.

For high precession projects the percentage shrinkage of prints can be an issue. The shrinkage can vary from print to print between 1%-4% between design and finished/cured print. All 3D printed items have fine layer lines visible on close inspection, for our resin items these are almost unperceivable.

Time is a tricky factor. We have a flock of printers but when most items take at least 6 hours to print and some more than a 100 hours, its clear print failures and manning machines can be costly. Our largest projects can take as much as a printer year and this does have to be factored into the price! For colouring items hand-painting is still the best option. Colour 3D printers are producing better items but still leave a lot to be desired. We paint all our items by hand which is time consuming and costly. 

Scanning & digitizing.

Just as photographers started going out into the world recording what they saw from the mid-19th century onwards. We now seen a similar accessibility opening up for 3D scanning. Digital assets of real world objects will be increasingly important whether for 3D printing or VR tours personalised games and digital environments.

Whether you’re advertising a venue, selling a product, or trying to engage students on a budget; 3D files have a lot of potential for outreach. We use structure light scanners and photogrammetry for our models - we’re also currently looking into drone based scanning.

At the moment we can digitise objects between about 4cm and 4 meters, our equipment is portable. Generally, we can scan and print an item for between £150-£50 depending on travel and number of items in your project. We can scan 15 to 30 items in a day. Scans inevitably need editing and this can be a time consuming process.

We also work in clay and scan-in forms for printing and editing. This mixing of traditional sculpture and digital design allows us to produce a broad range of naturalstic items.