Think shapeways is the main one.

Did you check the universities near you? Most have a 3D printer.

no universities here have it. there is a single company who offer the service like the Shapeways business, but from what I saw their design team isn't as good as I'd like them to be.

3D Printception
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4RGU2jXQiE

I don't know where you can order a part to be 3d printed, but I have some experience with 3d printing in uni.

I assume from your post that you haven't CAD modelled your part yet. Upload a photo of it so I can see what you're trying to make, out of interest?

If you send a CAD model to someone to 3d print it, there isn't much they can do wrong, so I don't know why you said from what I saw their design team isn't as good as I'd like them to be.

Yes I do not have a CAD model neither can I make one, though I do have the object I want to make one of. I am looking for a place that can also make the model for me.

What I meant by "from what I saw..." was that I saw their work, and the ready-made CAD models they used from more skilled designers ended up being the better and more finished items, while the ones they made in-house with their own designers were noticeably inferior.

What I am trying to do is this:

http://www.amazon.com/Perixx-MX-1000-Programm...ixx+mx1000

You see, the silver part of the shell is actual metal and adds a lot of heft, and I'd like just that bit to be in plastic. That part is easily disassembled and separated from the rest of the shell.

It's more curiosity than requirement; a handy excuse to try 3D printing.

PS. that mouse is a hidden gem! Smooth sensor, no BS features, CHEAP! Also a great mouse if you like heavy mice (hi Rauvz)

aah, you are not looking for a simple part. I was going to offer to have a go for you, but that's not going to be possible ;)

I don't believe it would be easy to get it exact other than by scanning the metal part or something.

Also, I'm not sure 3d printing is the right process for this. The polymer is not something you want to rest your hand on for a long time. The surface will not be smooth unless the part is post processed, which I don't know much about. 3d printing is intended for rapid prototyping, not for a final part.

3d printing is intended for rapid prototyping, not for a final part.

That's exactly what I had in mind, but I've seen some nice results. Provided I found some decent 3D printing service, would this not be possible at all, or is it possible but costs unreasonably high?

It will be far more expensive than buying a new mouse, I would expect :p Whether it's worth it to you I can't judge.

So you want to make a cover for day to day use? In which case, you do want a final part, not a low fidelity prototype! 3dp is not intended for this, really. I think most people have a slightly distorted view about 3d printing...:s

3dp geometrical accuracy - fairly low resolution. At absolutely best you get 1/20th mm deep layers
weight - not particularly light
strength - very weak for a thin piece (that's a point, how thin is this metal casing?)
surface finish - very rough and porous unless processed afterwards - in which case you further sacrifice geometrical accuracy :(

The process is intended to be used to make a scale model rapidly, but not really to be used to create a final part apart from maybe novel applications.

Right, thanks. Guess you've cured my curiosity :P

What if he was wrong and just sounded like he knew what he was talking about?

Would that get that nagging doubt back, because you would not really know if he's right or not would you?

He confirmed what I knew but wasn't 100% certain about.

Go try some other thread.

It was nice try though.

No doubt.

http://esreality.com/post/2730672/re-3d-print...pid2730672

Was gonna offer to model it for you, but ok I'll take myself off to another thread.

Attached Movie: 105243-untitled.8.avi (678KB)

Vacuum forming.

did you check your local library? more and more have 3d printers.

WTF!?

Mine has a few pentium 4's and some broke ass looking migrants on them all day.

mine has the very same pentiums and broke ass people, but also 2 makerbots and we're currently buying 2 ultimakers. (i am working in this library.)

what do you see people make?

penises. big curved penises.

spare parts: for showers, even an ironing board once, loads for modelmaking.

prototypes: design students, hobby inventors, game designers.

topped with some crazy hobbyist projects like a moving machine eye out of 2489486 parts.

and some stupid toys, too.

What about dildos?

not yet. also, PLA is not food-safe.

youre not memphis