3D printing can completely revolutionize your drone designs. If you are interested in building your own drone for fun or work, or if you are already building drones, 3D printing offers options that will make your drone both function better and cost less. 

When it comes to customizing drones, there are some serious limits due to physics. You need your drone to fly and you want it to fly for a reasonable amount of time. Otherwise, it is a complex and rather expensive paperweight sitting in your garage or shed. 

Weight is a major issue and one of the many drivers of drone design. Weight limits size and (along with cost) determines materials. Drones that are lighter can usually fly farther and longer. Many of the lightweight materials used to make drones are not necessarily very strong, meaning that crashing may cost you- and you will crash your drone. 

3D printed materials open up a lot of options when it comes to cutting weight. While most people know that plastic can be 3D printed, there are a number of different kinds of plastic that can be 3D printed, with a variety of weights, strengths, and other characteristics. There are many more options than plastic, too, so take the time to explore the possibilities. You can also leave hollow spaces in 3D printed designs in a way that can’t be done with other manufacturing techniques. It’s possible to cut weight in 3D printed drone parts absolutely wherever possible.

The diverse materials available to 3D printing are not only light weight, but they can offer both strength and flexibility that can be expensive if you opt to buy a ready-made product. This can be particularly useful for propellers. 

Any drone part that you 3D print can be modified to your needs, from frame to propeller guards to props to the RC controller. With the right software, parts can be designed to match your ideas and tested to see if they work before you spend any money actually printing them. You can create a cool feature that you saw on another drone at just the right size for yours, something not always easy to find on the shelf. 

It’s also a good way to make replacement parts. Flying a drone is a hard-won learned skill and it can get to be an expensive one. Crashes can result in broken parts or parts that need to be broken in order to access other things that need to be fixed. This can get expensive. Some parts are sold in sets of things you don’t need, or you may want to replace a broken part that the manufacturer no longer makes. However, by 3D printing your drone parts, you can just order up the one piece you need when you need it (or few to keep around in case).  

Jawstec has a lot of experience in 3D printing parts for drones. We have helped individuals and companies custom design drone parts to help them achieve their goals. We provide assistance with every step of the process from design to finishing. Contact us today to get your 3D print quote.