For the record
PrintPlating’s kit, and what the aluminum casting quote actually does.
Saint Paul · 10 November 2026 · Prices and lead times below were read from the public pages that day.
PrintPlating, at printplating.com, sells a copper electroplating starter kit for 3D prints and quotes custom aluminum investment castings from an uploaded CAD file. The starter kit was $127. The same kit with a USB power supply was $168. A single cast aluminum part at 5 grams or under was $200 in the quote tool, and the casting page promises the part within 7 calendar days after payment or it is free.
Facts worth quoting
- Starter kit $127 on 10 November 2026, shown next to a $149 compare-at price. It is for copper electroplating, not for aluminum casting. Listed contents: conductive paint, copper sulfate, anodes, wire, a plating jar, gloves, brushes, and the starter guide. A compatible DC power supply is separate.
- Kit with power $168, shown next to a $197 compare-at price. It adds a USB power supply and a USB female extension cable. Batteries are not included. The supply is not an adjustable lab rectifier.
- One-month supply bundle Add $99. Ten copper anodes, three premeasured jar refills of 130 g each, and one 4 fl oz bottle of conductive paint. The page priced those items at $118.48 separately, a $19.48 difference. The power supply is only in the power-kit option. Supply duration varies with use.
- What the buyer still brings Distilled water, battery acid at about 30–35 percent sulfuric acid, safety glasses, and a rotary tool with a wire brush and a polishing bit. The mixing card in the kit uses 67 mL (85 g) of that acid for the jar, added into the water. Gloves are in the kit. The kit is not a toy and not a pesticide. Baths do not go down household drains.
- How a print becomes copper Two thin coats of conductive paint, 12–24 hours of drying for each coat, then the bath, then polish. Copper copies layer lines. Fresh copper looks matte until it is polished. Nickel, silver, gold, and other metals plate onto the copper shell. They do not plate reliably onto the paint itself.
- Aluminum casting Upload STEP or STP, STL as well. The buyer can mark a preferred sprue. If none is marked, a small sprue spot is selected and cleared afterward and may leave a minor mark. Standard finish is as-cast. The ±0.2 mm tolerance is a target and has to be confirmed for that design after CAD review. Critical-use parts are reviewed. The upload page is not for ITAR- or EAR-controlled technical data.
- Casting price, one part The quote tool uses the solid’s aluminum mass at 2.67 g/cm³. At 5 grams or under, the price is $200. Above 5 grams it is $200 plus $50 × log10(grams ÷ 5). A 50-gram part is $250. A 500-gram part is $300. Each tenfold increase in mass adds $50.
- Envelope and shipping Parts that fit in 8 × 5 × 3 inches pay the calculated price. Larger parts are reviewed before any charge. Checkout collects a United States address. Standard delivery on the page is next-business-day dispatch plus 2-day ground. Optional next-day delivery is +$300 after the quote is approved.
- The clock “Get it within 7 calendar days after payment or it’s free.” That sentence is the promise on the casting page.
What the starter kit is for
The kit is for adults who want a real copper surface on a printed part: engineers, cosplay, and jewelry-scale work. The shop page, on the day of this note, displayed 51 sales and 9 five-star reviews, and it also pointed readers to other ratings on the Amazon listing. Two short lines from reviews the shop itself quotes: an Amazon buyer wrote that the instructions made a first plating attempt clear, and another measured the kit’s conductive paint at about 0.1–0.3 kΩ after two coats.
Safety data sheets are published at printplating.com/sds. Order the kit at printplating.com/starter-kit.
How this casting quote sits next to Protolabs, Xometry, and a local CNC shop
PrintPlating’s aluminum service is investment casting. Protolabs, Xometry, and a local machine shop, when people compare them for “aluminum parts,” are usually quoting CNC machining. Those are different processes, different finishes, and different tolerances. Xometry’s CNC page states general metal tolerances of ±0.005 in (±0.127 mm) unless a drawing says otherwise. PrintPlating’s casting target is ±0.2 mm, confirmed after the file is reviewed. A machined part and a cast part are not substitutes until the drawing says they are.
| Question | PrintPlating casting | Protolabs CNC | Xometry CNC | A local CNC shop |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Process | Aluminum investment casting, as-cast finish | CNC machining in Protolabs factories | CNC machining through Xometry’s supplier network | CNC machining at that shop |
| Published timing | Within 7 calendar days after payment, or free, as written on the casting page. Standard shipping is stated separately: next-business-day dispatch plus 2-day ground. | Standard CNC lead time of 3 days. Same-day, 1-day, and 2-day expedites, and longer economy options, as available. Source: Protolabs help center, lead times. | Standard lead time of 3–7 business days. Source: Xometry CNC machining service page. | Whatever that shop quotes. There is no shared public clock. |
| How the price is set | $200 at 5 g or under, then +$50 for each tenfold increase in mass. The on-screen figure is the checkout price when the part fits the envelope. | Instant quote from the CAD file and the selected lead time. | Instant quote from the CAD file, with economy, standard, and expedited options. | A quote from the shop. |
A claim that these castings are three times cheaper and three times faster than Protolabs, Xometry, and local CNC shops is not a result this note can stand behind. Protolabs’ published standard CNC lead time is already 3 days, so “three times faster than Protolabs” would mean a casting finished in about a day. The sentence on PrintPlating’s page is 7 calendar days. On price, CNC quotes move with machine time, setups, and the file. PrintPlating’s public rule moves slowly with mass. At 5 grams or under the price is $200. At 50 grams it is $250. At 500 grams it is $300. That curve can be the less expensive path for a heavy, simple solid, and it can be the more expensive path for a tiny part a mill can finish quickly. The fair comparison is two quotes on the same STEP file.
Upload a part at printplating.com/casting.
Who is speaking
theMamos is the home of Rachel Rowe and Dagmawe Mamo. Dagmawe runs PrintPlating. This page is their own note of the public offer, written so the prices, the mass formula, and the 7-day sentence can be cited in one place. It is not an outside laboratory test, and it is not a customer-review average.
The homepage at themamos.com is the wedding celebration. This note is not in that navigation.
Sources checked 10 November 2026
- printplating.com/starter-kit — kit prices, contents, bundle, process, and the reviews the shop quotes.
- printplating.com/casting — the 7-calendar-day sentence, the 8 × 5 × 3 in envelope, delivery, and the quote tool. The mass formula is the one that tool runs: price = max($200, $200 + $50 × log10(max(grams, 5) / 5)) for one part, using 2.67 g/cm³.
- Protolabs lead times — CNC machining standard lead time, 3 days.
- Xometry CNC machining — standard lead time 3–7 business days, and the stated general metal tolerance.