--- title: "No 3D printer? How to get a custom part printed and delivered" description: "You need one custom part and own no printer. How to design it or pick it, what it costs (from $9.99 + shipping), how long it takes, and what to check first." canonical: https://speakcad.com/blog/get-a-part-3d-printed-without-a-printer published: 2026-10-07 updated: 2026-10-07 publisher: SpeakCAD --- # No 3D printer? How to get a custom part printed and delivered > You need one custom part and own no printer. How to design it or pick it, what it costs (from $9.99 + shipping), how long it takes, and what to check first. The knob of the dryer snapped, the shelf needs a bracket that no shop sells, the desk wants a cable clip at exactly the right width. A 3D-printed part is the obvious answer, and you do not own a printer. You do not need one. You need three things: a model of the part, someone with a printer, and a way to get it to your door. This post walks through the routes, then the one that takes the fewest steps. ## Three ways to get one part printed 1. **Buy a printer.** Worth it if you will print often. For a single part, it is the slowest and most expensive route: a week of setup, calibration and failed first layers before the part you actually need. 2. **A makerspace or a friend with a printer.** Cheap, and slow to arrange. You still need the file, in the right format, at the right size, and you go and fetch the part. 3. **An online print service.** You send a file, they print and post it. Most services expect a finished STL and quote from its size; the hard part, making the file, is still yours. SpeakCAD merges the first and third steps: you make the part in the editor, on a phone or a computer, and order the print from the same screen. ## The route in SpeakCAD, step by step 1. **Make the part.** Start from a box, a plate or a cylinder and shape it with the hand tools (a hole where you tap, a cut, a tab, rounded corners, all typed in millimetres), or describe it to the AI with its measurements: "a hook for a 25 mm broom handle, screwed to the wall with two 4 mm screws". Already found a model on Thingiverse or Printables that is almost right? Upload the STL and change it. Or skip the design entirely and open a [ready-made model](/library). 2. **Check it in 3D.** Turn it around, read the dimensions panel, measure between two faces. What you see is what gets printed. 3. **Press Download, then "Print it for me".** The part is sliced the way a print farm would slice it (0.2 mm layers, 3 walls, 20 % infill, supports where needed) and the price appears in under a minute, taxes and tracked delivery included. 4. **Pick the material, the colour, how many, and the country.** You pay on a Stripe page and type the address there. 5. **Wait for the parcel.** Our print farm prints it and ships it with the import duties paid: about 2 to 3 weeks to North America, Europe and Oceania, 1 to 2 weeks in East Asia. The tracking number comes by e-mail. ## What it costs The price comes from the part's own slice: the grams of plastic, the hours of printing, the print farm's setup, then tracked shipping to your country with its import duties, once per order. A few examples: | Part, PLA | United States | France and the euro area | |---|---|---| | AirTag keychain holder, 1 piece | $9.99 + $8.00 shipping | €9.99 + €9.00 shipping | | ESP32 enclosure with snap lid, 1 piece | $9.99 + $9.00 shipping | €10.99 + €9.00 shipping | | Phone stand with cable slot, 1 piece | $12.99 + $9.00 shipping | €12.99 + €9.00 shipping | | Drawer organizer tray, 1 piece | $18.99 + $10.00 shipping | €16.99 + €9.00 shipping | | AirTag keychain holder, 10 pieces | $14.99 ($1.50 each, 85% less) + $9.00 shipping | €13.99 (€1.40 each, 86% less) + €9.00 shipping | | AirTag keychain holder, 50 pieces | $41.99 ($0.84 each, 92% less) + $15.00 shipping | €34.99 (€0.70 each, 93% less) + €10.00 shipping | | ESP32 enclosure with snap lid, 10 pieces | $38.99 ($3.90 each, 61% less) + $15.00 shipping | €32.99 (€3.30 each, 70% less) + €10.00 shipping | Design costs are separate and only apply to AI work: shaping a part by hand is free, an AI request spends 2 credits. Printing never needs a plan or a download: the print order is paid on its own. ## Check these before you order - **Measure twice.** A part that is printed by someone else cannot be sanded down at your desk in five minutes. Measure the thing it must fit with a calliper, or a ruler to the half millimetre, and design to those numbers. - **Leave a clearance.** Printed holes come out slightly small and pegs slightly large. For a part that slides over or into something, add 0.3 to 0.5 mm. [The five-minute fit test](/blog/3d-printed-part-does-not-fit-five-minute-test) explains why. - **Pick the right plastic.** PLA for indoor parts, PETG for heat, sun or a bit of flex. More in [PLA or PETG for an ordered print](/blog/pla-or-petg-ordered-print). - **Mind the size.** A part over 250 mm on its longest side has to be split in two; the editor can add the joint. ## When buying a printer makes more sense If you will order more than a handful of parts a year, or you want to iterate on a design every evening, an entry-level printer pays for itself. SpeakCAD is built for that too: the same part slices to G-code for your printer, or downloads as an STL. Until then, don't have a printer? print it. Made to order, so it can't be returned; if we can't deliver it, or it arrives broken, the full price comes back as SpeakCAD credits. ## Prompts to try - A wall hook for a 25 mm broom handle, screwed to the wall with two 4 mm countersunk screws ([open in SpeakCAD](https://app.speakcad.com/signup?next=%2F%3Fprompt%3DA%2520wall%2520hook%2520for%2520a%252025%2520mm%2520broom%2520handle%252C%2520screwed%2520to%2520the%2520wall%2520with%2520two%25204%2520mm%2520countersunk%2520screws)) - A replacement knob for a 6 mm D-shaft, 35 mm across, with a grip ridge ([open in SpeakCAD](https://app.speakcad.com/signup?next=%2F%3Fprompt%3DA%2520replacement%2520knob%2520for%2520a%25206%2520mm%2520D-shaft%252C%252035%2520mm%2520across%252C%2520with%2520a%2520grip%2520ridge)) - A cable clip for 3 cables of 5 mm, screwed under a desk ([open in SpeakCAD](https://app.speakcad.com/signup?next=%2F%3Fprompt%3DA%2520cable%2520clip%2520for%25203%2520cables%2520of%25205%2520mm%252C%2520screwed%2520under%2520a%2520desk)) ## FAQ ### Can I get something 3D printed without owning a printer? Yes. Design the part in SpeakCAD or pick a ready-made model, press Download then Print it for me, and a print farm prints it and ships it to your door. A small part starts at $9.99 plus $8.00 shipping in the United States. ### Do I need to send an STL file? No. The part you see in the editor is the one that gets printed: SpeakCAD makes the file and sends it to the print farm. You can also start from an STL you already have. ## About SpeakCAD SpeakCAD is the most intuitive CAD for 3D printing: tap a face and type a size to shape a part with simple tools, or describe it to the AI, on your phone or computer, and download a print-ready STL, 3MF or G-code sliced for your printer. SpeakCAD works inside ChatGPT and Claude as a plugin (an MCP server): ask the assistant for a part with its measurements and SpeakCAD's own CAD AI designs it, shows it in 3D in the chat and hands over a print-ready STL, 3MF or G-code sliced for your printer. - Live demo, no account: https://speakcad.com/demo - In ChatGPT, Claude and other MCP clients: https://speakcad.com/chatgpt-plugin, https://speakcad.com/claude-connector, https://speakcad.com/mcp-server - Pricing: https://speakcad.com/pricing - FAQ: https://speakcad.com/faq - Site index for AI assistants: https://speakcad.com/llms.txt