What does a short run really take? We printed our own bracket eleven at a time and timed it.
Workshop trial: our own design, made to time a short run. Not a customer job, and not load-rated.
The trial
A gusseted L-bracket of our own design: 50 mm legs, 34 mm wide, two side gussets and two countersunk M4 holes in each leg. It prints standing on its base, the face that sits against whatever it's fixed to, so the faces you see stay off the textured plate. It needs no supports.
It took a few goes. The first full plate stopped feeding filament part way through, because the spool was binding. A one-bracket test then came out right. The next full plate was stopped on its first layer for a small defect on one corner.
Along the way we found one bracket sat in the corner the printer uses for its own nozzle check, so we left that spot empty, and we tightened a high bed screw. The next plate ran clean: eleven good, none rejected.
Once a plate is set up, a repeat part takes a couple of minutes of hands-on time each: about ten minutes to set the plate up and fifteen to clear, check and pack eleven. That's why a short run costs less per part than a one-off.
We write down what works, so the next run starts from it.
Tell us what it is, how many in a run and how often, and any labelling, packing or checks you need. We'll check a first one fits before we make the rest.
At higher quantities, another process like moulding can be cheaper. We'll say so.