How getting a model printed works
Brief the model, choose a maker, check a photo of the print before it ships, and keep your payment with the platform until the model is in your hands.
From brief to finished model
- Brief the modelWhat it shows and who it is for (a class, a waiting room, a trade-show stand), the file or where it comes from, size, colours, labels, quantity, deadline and budget. Say that it is for teaching, display or prototyping.
- Compare makersMakers reply with a price and a lead time. Look at their past work and reviews, and ask which printer and material they plan to use.
- Accept a quote and payCard payment goes through Stripe. The Spool List holds it, and the maker isn't paid until you confirm delivery.
- Check, receive and confirmAsk for photos of the print before it ships, including the label. Once the model arrives and you confirm delivery, the maker receives the payment.
The model your class needs isn't in the catalogue.
Your structures, your scale, your labels. Post one brief, compare quotes from makers with 3D printers, and keep your payment with the platform until the model arrives.
Post your model →Why post a model job here
Paid when the model arrives
You pay when you accept a quote. The platform holds the payment and releases it to the maker once you confirm delivery.
Makers quote on your brief
One post reaches makers with resin and FDM printers. Compare price, lead time, reviews and past work side by side.
No buyer fee
Buyers pay the maker's quoted price. The Spool List adds no fee on top.
Clear about what's allowed
Teaching, display, practice and prototype models only. Jobs for devices, patients or the body are not accepted.
Scope in writing
Size, material, labels, quantity and deadline are agreed in the job before work starts.
A dispute path
If a model doesn't match the agreed brief, open a dispute in the app. The Spool List reviews any you can't settle with the maker.
Every job on The Spool List has a written scope, so 'life-size skull, white resin, removable calvarium, labelled Education model' means the same thing to you and the maker before any money moves.
Makers here are independent people and small workshops with 3D printers. They are not medical device manufacturers or dental laboratories, so they only take jobs with no medical purpose. A job for something that goes in the mouth or body, is made for a particular patient, or is used to diagnose or plan treatment is not accepted. The safety page lists what we won't make and why.
Buyers pay the maker's quoted price, with no buyer fee added. If a model doesn't match the agreed brief, you can open a dispute in the app, and The Spool List reviews any that you and the maker can't settle.