What Happens to Your Part After It’s Printed: MJF Post-Processing Explained
When a Multi Jet Fusion (MJF) build finishes, the parts aren’t ready to ship. They come out of the printer buried in powder, and what happens over the next few steps largely decides whether you get a clean, accurate, ready-to-use part.
This walkthrough covers MJF post-processing at JawsTec, from depowdering to finishing to the final quality check, so you know what to expect after you upload your file.
STEP 1: DEPOWDERING
MJF is a powder bed process. Your part is printed inside a bed of nylon powder, so every part comes out coated in loose, excess powder that has to be removed.
Depowdering matters for three reasons:
- It lets us reclaim unused powder. Reclaiming powder keeps material costs down, and that helps keep your pricing competitive over time.
- It prepares the part for finishing. Vapor smoothing, polishing, and dyeing all need a clean surface to start from.
- It lets us see the part clearly. Parts need to be free of powder so any flaw is easy to spot. If powder is still hiding a defect, a flawed part can slip through to a customer. Clean parts make real inspection possible.
Deep cavities, blind holes and internal channels are the hardest features to clear. Trapped powder is one of the most common complaints people have about powder bed printing, and one of our customers specifically praised us for catching and fixing this problem on a part with a deep cavity. If your design has internal features, our MJF design guide covers how to plan for powder removal.
STEP 2: CHOOSE YOUR FINISH
Once a part is clean, it’s ready for finishing. We offer four options, and except for raw, they can be combined:
Raw
Raw parts come straight from depowdering with the natural matte, slightly textured surface MJF is known for. Raw is a good choice for functional prototypes, fit checks and internal components where appearance isn’t a priority.
Vapor Smoothed
Vapor smoothing gives parts a smoother, more uniform surface. We run this process in-house with DyeMansion and AMT PostPro3D equipment. It’s popular for consumer-facing parts, enclosures and anything that gets handled a lot. Learn more about vapor smoothing.
Polished
Polishing refines the surface further for parts where look and feel matter. Learn more about polishing.
Dyed
Dyeing adds consistent color throughout the part surface, such as our black dyed PA12. We dye with a DyeMansion DM60. Dyed parts look uniform and finished, which is useful for end-use parts and customer-facing products.
Combining finishes
You can combine more than one finish (besides raw), for example vapor smoothing plus dyeing, for parts that need to look and perform like finished products. To see everything we offer, visit our surface finishes page.
If you’re not sure which finish fits your application, our sample set lets you see and feel the options before you commit to a bigger order.
STEP 3: QUALITY CONTROL BEFORE SHIPPING
Every part gets checked before it ships. We work to an ISO 9001-compliant process, and our standard is simple: nothing questionable goes out without you knowing about it.
Here’s what happens when a part doesn’t meet our standard:
We flag it. Anything that falls short is set aside rather than boxed up with the rest of your order.
We bag it separately and photograph it. You receive the photo the same day your order ships, so you know exactly what to expect before the box arrives. There are no surprises at your door.
You decide if it works for you. Some cosmetic imperfections don’t affect a part’s function, and you know your application best. If the part isn’t right, just reply and we’ll reprint it free. There are no returns and no back-and-forth, and you keep the original part.
Most 3D printing services either ship everything or reject everything. We think you should have the information and the choice.
STEP 4: SHIPPING
Shipping options are selected at checkout, before your part prints. That lets us plan your job around your deadline from the start. We offer a variety of shipping methods, and expedited printing options are available when you’re up against a tight schedule.
Typical lead time on most MJF orders is 4 to 5 days, with a 2-business-day expedited option on 3D printing service orders. For a full picture of the order process, see how ordering works.
WHY POST-PROCESSING MATTERS
Post-processing is where a printed part becomes a finished part. Careful depowdering, the right finish and an honest inspection process are the difference between parts you can use right away and parts you have to fix or send back. That’s the part of the process we take the most pride in.
READY TO GET STARTED?
Upload your CAD file for an instant quote on MJF nylon parts. You can choose your material, finish, quantity and shipping speed in one place:
https://app.jawstec.com/3d-print-quote/
Want to learn more first? Explore our MJF 3D printing service, our nylon materials, or our FAQ (https://www.jawstec.com/faq/). If you have questions about a specific part, contact us.