Stainless steel SLM lattice component on a build plate with residual metal powder

SLM metal parts for geometry that cannot be machined.

Illuminious is a U.S. NPI engineering company. SLM metal printing melts metal powder with a laser into fully dense parts, and it is the route for metal geometry that cannot be reached by a cutter at any setup count. Engineered in San Francisco. Prototype builds, DFM and mass production in our own factory in Shenzhen. Upload your files, get a free engineering review, and pay only the official quote that review publishes.

Selective laser melting fully melts metal powder layer by layer. It makes dense parts with internal channels, lattices and merged assemblies that no cutter can reach. It also has the most post-build steps, so an engineer reviews every metal additive project first.

Two ways in: configure it online and a specialist prepares your official quote within 24 hours on business days, or send the job to an engineer. Engineering review is free either way and comes before you pay.

Payment: Official price after free review
Review target: Within 24 hours on business days after you submit

Talk to an engineer Get an official quote in 24 hours

No CAD yet? Our design team can take it from a sketch or a spec.

The configurator opens with this configuration preselected. An engineer reviews every order. Account required; engineering review is free and comes before payment.

Is SLM metal printing the right process for your part?

Conformal cooling channels and internal passages
Lattice and topology-optimized structures
Consolidating a multi-part assembly into one component
Metal parts whose geometry defeats milling and turning

Typical orders: Prototype and low-volume metal parts. Every metal additive line is reviewed before production regardless of quantity.
Accepted files: STL, STEP/STP, OBJ, or 3MF geometry. Drawings (PDF, DXF, DWG) and reference images upload to the same project as supporting files.
Payment basis: Official price after free review
Not ready to configure?: How 3D printing works
Preparation workbook: Download the intake workbook

The choices that decide the part.

Each of these is a real configuration decision with a cost and a consequence, not a feature list. Where one of them constrains another, engineering review is the step that resolves it.

Stainless steel

The configurator's metal additive family: corrosion-resistant, weldable, and well understood in powder-bed fusion. Other alloys are quoted through review.

Support and removal

Metal supports anchor the part against thermal stress and are cut away afterwards. Where they touch matters, so review agrees the strategy against your critical surfaces.

Post-build operations

Stress relief, plate removal, support removal, and any machining of critical faces are declared work with their own cost and schedule.

Finish path

As printed, bead blast, sanded or polished, or secondary machining where a datum or sealing face needs to be true.

What the configurator accepts, and where review takes over.

SLM metal capability bounds
Parameter	Supported range
Process	SLM — laser powder-bed fusion of metal.
Material in the configurator	Stainless steel. Aluminum, tool steel, titanium, and superalloys are review requests.
Configurator envelope	0.1–2000 mm per axis and 0.01–1,000,000 cm³ declared volume. Parts outside that range are still quoted: a specialist prepares the official quote within 24 hours on business days.
Quantity	1–100,000 parts per line. Batch pricing and repeat-order handling are confirmed in review.
Heat treatment	Stress relief and any subsequent heat treatment are agreed in review for the specific geometry and alloy.
Critical surfaces	Sealing faces, bores, and datums are normally machined after the build. Declare them and review scopes the operation.
Tolerance classes	Process standard, controlled dimensions, or critical tolerance. Critical always routes to engineering review before production.
Inspection	Standard visual, dimensional report, or advanced inspection, selected per line in the configurator.

Metal additive carries the widest gap between what the geometry suggests and what is actually manufacturable. That is why a specialist prepares the official quote, within 24 hours on business days, after reading the part rather than the geometry alone.

Boundaries

Support structures in metal are cut or machined off, and their footprints are visible unless a finishing step is declared
Residual stress, heat treatment, and stress relief are project-specific and are settled in review against your geometry
Certified, traceable, or pressure-rated material is a review request rather than a configurator option

What drives the price of an SLM metal part?

Quotation by a specialist. Quotation within 24 hours on business days. A specialist prices your exact 3D Printing scope from your files and specifications. You submit your request online, and the quotation arrives in your account and by email. Review is free. Nothing is charged until you accept a quotation.

Declared volume and envelope, which set laser time and powder consumption
Support volume implied by the orientation
Stress relief, plate and support removal
Machining of critical faces and the finish level
Tolerance class, inspection depth, certification requests, and requested lead time

What engineering reviews

Customer approvals may include

The support and orientation strategy where it touches a critical surface
Any alloy, heat-treatment, or post-processing change proposed in review
Any itemized price or lead-time revision

Orientation, thermal stress, and where supports must anchor
Wall thickness, overhang angles, and unsupported internal roofs
Powder escape from internal channels and lattices
Which faces need machining to hold a datum, a bore, or a seal
Whether the stated alloy, heat treatment, and inspection requirements are consistent with the end use

Free review first. Keep every later decision explicit.

Geometry drives the official quote, so the model you upload is the model that gets priced. Replacing it creates a new revision rather than editing the paid one, and the previous revision stays readable in your project history.

Create your account
Verify your email before the persistent quote workspace opens. Every file, estimate, message, and payment stays attached to that account.
Configure and upload
Provide service-specific inputs and place technical files in private project storage. Saved drafts remain available across sessions.
Free engineering review
Submit the configured cart at no charge. A reviewer checks the exact file and specification revision, then prices it or opens a documented question or correction request.
Official quote
Review publishes an itemized quote with lead time and a validity window. That is the binding figure; anything shown earlier was a preliminary estimate.
Accept and pay
Accepting opens payment rather than charging you. Lead time is counted from settled payment, and any later itemized revision needs your approval first.
Produce and deliver
After all commercial, technical, and customer gates are complete, the project moves through the service-specific production or design milestones.

Commitments the order system actually enforces.

Official quote prepared by a specialist, then geometry review

For metal additive a specialist prepares the official quote within 24 hours on business days. Review reads orientation, supports, powder escape, and post-processing, then issues the official price — which is why review is free and comes before you are asked to pay it.

Files stay private

Models, drawings, and revisions live in per-project storage reached through short-lived authenticated links, tied to your account rather than an email thread.

Review target

3D printing projects are targeted for review one business day after you submit them. Review is free and happens before you are asked for an official price.

Answers before you upload anything.

Should I print this in metal or machine it?

Machine it if a cutter can reach every feature — it usually costs less and takes less machine time. Print it when the geometry is the point: internal channels, lattices, or an assembly consolidated into one part. If you are unsure, submit it and review will tell you which route it would actually quote.

What tolerance can SLM hold?

Less than machining, and it varies with size, orientation, and heat treatment. Critical faces are normally machined after the build. Declare the tolerance class and review scopes the finishing needed to hold it.

Is the amount at checkout final?

The free engineering review comes first. Depending on the service you see a live supplier price, a published fixed price, or a price from a specialist within 24 hours on business days, and nothing is charged when you submit. After the review we publish an official quote with an itemized total, lead time and a validity window, and that is the amount you are asked to pay. Accepting the official quote opens payment rather than charging you. If a later correction changes scope or price, you see an itemized revision and can approve, question or decline it. We never silently charge an increase.

How are my models protected?

Your technical files are stored in private project storage and accessed through short-lived authenticated links. Files, prices, replacements and approvals stay tied to your account and keep their revision history.

Get an official quote for SLM with stainless steel already selected.

The configurator opens on metal powder-bed fusion. Upload the model, declare tolerance and inspection, and review scopes supports, stress relief, and finishing before the official price.

Three lead-time tiers, each with its trade on the line: Economy lengthens the quoted target range and takes a discount line; Standard is the quoted target range at the quoted price; Express shortens it and adds an expedite line. You see the line before you commit, and every range is a target, not a promise.