From Prototype to Production:
The Versatility of Nylon 12
Wednesday 15th October 2025
From precision mounts to rugged housings, Nylon 12 is a single material with wide reaching applications.
Using Nylon 12 powder on the Formlabs Fuse 1+ 30W, our team set out to create five completely different parts, from covers to mounts and bespoke casings.
This material versatility highlights how Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) enables engineers to create concepts, tooling or end-use parts quickly, flexibly, and cost-effectively.
Why Nylon 12?
Nylon 12 is one of the most widely used materials in manufacturing, and for good reason. It offers an excellent balance of strength, flexibility, and dimensional accuracy, while also being resistant to moisture, heat, and chemicals.
In SLS 3D printing, that translates to a material that can deliver precision and reliability across multiple types of applications, whether it’s functional prototypes, durable spares, production tooling, or end-use parts.
- High dimensional accuracy with low creep
- Resistant to light, heat, and chemicals
- Minimal moisture absorption
- Tough and non-marring
- Familiar to manufacturers already working with engineering-grade plastics
The Challenge: One Material, Many Uses
We designed and 3D printed five very different parts - each representing a distinct application or performance requirement:
Transportation Cover
A robust, lightweight housing designed to protect quartz tubes in transit.
Nylon 12’s high tensile strength and environmental stability make it ideal for transport, providing rigidity and stability while keeping weight, and shipping costs, to a minimum.
- Print time: 12 hours 45 mins
- Part cost: £8.94
Spares Assembly Kit
A custom casing for storing tools and spare components, designed for a snug fit and easy access to reduce preparation time.
Here, Nylon 12’s durability and wear resistance keep the casing tough enough to handle knocks and drops, while ensuring long-term protection through everyday use.
- Print time: 5 hours 47 mins
- Part cost: £14.98
Bespoke Camera Mount
A precision-fit mount to hold and stablise cameras in industrial, lab, or field environments.
Nylon 12 provides the right balance of strength and flexibility, ensuring the mount resists cracking under load while maintaining a lightweight, dimensionally stable structure for sensitive optical equipment.
- Print time: 5 hours 25 mins
- Part cost: £11.63
Bespoke Multimeter Cover
A shock-absorbing, wear-resistant shell that protects handheld multimeters from drops and knocks.
Nylon 12 combines toughness with slight flexibility, allowing the cover to absorb impacts and prevent surface damage, keeping equipment safe in daily use.
- Print time: 5 hours 27 mins
- Part cost: £8.01
PCB Case
A protective enclosure that prevents contamination or damage to sensitive electronics.
Nylon 12’s chemical resistance and toughness protect components from oils, solvents, and impacts, while its precision printing ensures an exact fit for securing PCBs in place.
- Print time: 15 hours 47 mins
- Part cost: £34.40
Each part was printed directly on the Formlabs Fuse 1+ 30W using the same batch of Nylon 12 powder — no tooling, no material changes, and no compromise in quality.
From Prototype to Production
This project demonstrates the true agility of SLS 3D printing. The ability to produce parts with complex geometries, fine detail, and excellent surface finish, all in a single build, means engineers can iterate, test, and move to production faster than ever.
By working with a single material like Nylon 12, teams can also simplify supply chains, reduce waste, and maintain consistent performance across different parts and applications.
Design Freedom Built In
Another major advantage of combining SLS technology with Nylon 12 is the ability to print fully functional features directly into the design. Many of the parts in this project include print-in-place elements such as hinges, clips, and clasps, printed in one, with no assembly required.
The bespoke multimeter cover, features integrated hinges and a closure clasp that allow the protective lid to open and close smoothly. Printed as one complete piece, the part comes straight off the Fuse 1+ 30W ready to use, no off-the-shelf hardware, no multi-part assembly, just a fully functional design.
This capability enables engineers to consolidate assemblies into one strong, lightweight structure. The result: fewer parts, shorter production and assembly time, lower costs and enhance functionality, all while maintaining high performance and reliability.
With Nylon 12’s unique balance of strength and flexibility, these integrated features function seamlessly straight from the printer, showing how SLS unlocks true design freedom that traditional manufacturing simply can’t achieve.
Real Parts. Real Benefits
Across all five parts, Nylon 12 proved to be a true all-rounder, delivering the strength, accuracy, and surface quality needed for both prototypes and end-use parts.
Each design showcased a different advantage of SLS printing: the speed and flexibility to go from idea to part in hours, the cost efficiency of eliminating tooling, and the durability of engineering-grade Nylon 12.
The result? Versatile, functional parts that perform reliably straight off the printer, whether they’re protecting electronics, securing components, or withstanding daily handling.
Additive Manufacturing, and SLS in particular, empowers engineers to stay agile, adaptable, and cost-efficient, using materials that are already trusted in traditional workflows.
The Simplicity of the Fuse Workflow
What makes the Fuse 1+ 30W stand out isn’t just print quality, it’s the end-to-end simplicity of the workflow. From loading material to post-processing, the system is designed to be intuitive and efficient, even for teams new to SLS.
Post printing;
- Fuse Sift station handles powder recovery and re-use, minimising waste. The Sift has a self-contained setup and automated material mixing.
- Once the pats have been recovered, they then transfer to the Fuse Blast for cleaning and polishing, using pre-programmed cleaning routines, in as little as 15 minutes.
This streamlined workflow means more time printing, minimal operator input and faster turnaround from design to finished part.
Explore What’s Possible with SLS
From concept validation to full production, SLS printing with Nylon 12 gives engineers the freedom to design, test, and deliver parts faster than ever.
The Formlabs Fuse 1+ 30W makes it simple, combining industrial-grade performance with an intuitive, end-to-end workflow that fits seamlessly into your workspace.
If you’d like to see how Nylon 12 or the Fuse 1+ 30W could work for your business, get in touch with our Applications Team.
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