Getting it printed: every route, step by step

You have a design from Chapter 13 and you know what food contact asks of it from Chapter 14. What you do not have yet is a real object you can hold. This chapter is the bridge. Chapter 2 made the big decision at a high level (own a machine, or skip the purchase); here we walk every route from a file to a finished part, with the exact steps for each, so you can pick one and follow it to the end.

None of these is the "real" way and the others a shortcut. They all end in the same squeezer. Pick the row that matches what you have (a printer, a budget, a nearby library, a maker friend) and what you want (the fastest object, the cheapest, or the hands-on hobby).

There are five routes:

1. Print it on your own machine.
2. Mail-order print service (upload a file, it arrives by post).
3. Order a ready-made design (skip designing entirely).
4. A library, makerspace, or school (use their machine yourself).
5. A friend or local maker (someone prints it for you).

Skim the comparison table near the end if you want to choose first, then come back and read that route's steps. But first, the one thing every route needs.

The one thing every route needs: a file

Whoever does the printing, the printer eats a digital file, not your idea of a squeezer. The standard one is an STL: a plain description of the object's surface as a mesh of triangles. Almost everything accepts it. A few services and machines also take 3MF or STEP (newer formats that carry a bit more information), and you can export those from the same tools, but if in doubt, STL is the safe default.

You get an STL in one of two ways:

• Export your own design. In Tinkercad (Chapter 8) you choose Export and pick STL. In OpenSCAD (Chapter 10) you press F6 to render, then Export as STL. Chapter 13 ends with exactly this step, so if you followed it you already have the file.
• Download a ready-made one. You do not have to design anything. Model libraries (Printables, MakerWorld, Thingiverse, Thangs, in the references) hold citrus squeezers other people designed. Download the STL and use it in any route below. This is route 3, treated on its own further down.

If you are making this book's squeezer, you do not have to export anything yourself: the repository ships ready-to-upload STL files in its code/ folder, exported from the model at the default 62 mm lemon. Use lemon_squeezer.stl for the one-piece tool, or lemon_squeezer_reamer.stl for the reamer alone (the catch-cup approach). Re-export from lemon_squeezer.scad (Chapter 10) if your lemon is a different size.

Two practical habits. Keep your STL in two places (a cloud folder and a USB stick), so a dead laptop or a forgotten file does not end your trip to the library. And remember the units are millimetres: a 73 mm bowl should read about 73 in any preview, not 73 inches or 7 mm.

Don't be confused. An STL describes the shape. G-code is the machine instructions for one specific printer, produced by a slicer (Chapter 5). You hand a service or a friend an STL and they slice it on their machine. You only bring G-code when a shared printer specifically asks you to slice it yourself first. Handing the wrong machine your G-code is like giving someone driving directions from your house when they are starting from theirs.

Route 1: Print it on your own machine

The hands-on path. The whole of Chapter 15 is the detailed lab for it, so here is just the shape of it so it sits beside the other routes:

1. Get the STL (export your design, or download one).
2. Slice it. Open it in your slicer and apply the squeezer settings from Chapter 15: PETG profile, 0.2 mm layers, 3 to 4 walls, generous top and bottom layers, a brim, and the key choice, orient it bowl open-side up so the juice surfaces print smooth.
3. Set the hardware. Fit a stainless-steel nozzle for a food part (Chapter 14) and load PETG.
4. Print it and watch the first layer, where most prints succeed or fail.
5. Post-process for food contact: remove the brim, sand the juice surfaces dry with a dust mask, optionally seal with a food-safe coating, and wash it.
6. Run the five tests (yield, seeds, mess, cleaning, size) from Chapter 15.

Best when you want the hobby itself, plan to iterate on the design, or want several copies. Food safety: full control, because it is your nozzle and your spool.

Route 2: Mail-order print service (outsourcing)

The "click and wait" path: a company prints your file and posts you the part. You need no equipment and learn almost nothing about the machine, which is exactly the trade. Chapter 2 covers the choices; here are the steps in order.

1. Get your STL (export your own, or download a ready-made design).
2. Choose a service from the named list with websites just below this route. They come in three shapes: a broker that compares many shops at once (the easiest first stop), a budget per-part shop (cheapest for one small part), and on-demand manufacturers (more materials and finishes). If you are unsure, start with a broker and let it show you the range.
3. Upload the STL and check the preview. The site renders your model within seconds. Confirm three things before going further: it is the right shape, it is the right way up (bowl opening up), and the size reads in millimetres (about 73 mm across, not 73 inches). The site also flags obvious problems like walls too thin to print.
4. Choose the process and material, deliberately. Pick FDM as the process and PETG as the material. Do not accept the default if it is SLS nylon or resin: nylon is slightly porous and resin is not food-safe, and both are common defaults. If the service offers a filament it labels for food contact, choose that. Pick a color (a natural or light one lets you see when it is clean).
5. Set finish and quantity, then read the full quote. Skip any aggressive chemical vapor-smoothing on the juice surface unless it is sold as food-safe. The price updates live; read the total including shipping, which on a small part can match or beat the part's own cost.
6. Order and pay. Then wait. Delivery runs from a few days to a couple of weeks.
7. When it arrives, finish it yourself. Inspect it, then do the food-safe post-processing from Chapter 14 (sand, optionally seal, wash) and run the five tests in Chapter 15. Outsourcing the printing does not outsource the finishing.

Best when you want a part with zero equipment and do not mind paying and waiting. Food safety: you control neither the shop's nozzle nor its colorant, so lean on PETG plus your own sealing, or use the catch-cup approach from Chapter 14 so the printed plastic never holds the juice.

Mail-order services, with their websites

These are established services that take an STL upload and ship worldwide, Canada included. Treat them as starting points to get a quote from, not as a ranking or an endorsement: which one is cheapest or fastest depends on your part and where you live, prices change, and any of them can quote you in seconds, so compare a couple. For the squeezer, choose FDM and PETG whichever you use.

To find a service in your own country (faster, and no customs, as the speed section explains): use a broker or marketplace like Craftcloud or Treatstock and filter to your location, search the web for "[your city or country] 3D printing service" to find a local shop, or use a model page's "order a print" button (route 3). A local shop you can pick up from is usually the quickest of all.

Route 3: Order a ready-made design (skip designing entirely)

The fastest way to hold a printed squeezer, because it cuts out the design work. You are printing someone else's tested model instead of your own.

1. Search a model library (Printables, MakerWorld, Thingiverse, Thangs) for "lemon squeezer," "citrus reamer," or "citrus juicer."
2. Vet the model with the shopping checklist from Chapter 6: favor ones with real "made it" photos from other people (a photo means someone got it off the bed in one piece), read the comments for warnings, prefer designs that print without supports, and check the dimensions suit your lemon.
3. Get it made, two ways. Either click the model page's "order a print" button if it has one, which hands the file to a print partner and mails you the part (you never download anything), or download the STL and follow Route 2, 4, or 5 above and below.
4. Receive, finish, and test as in the other routes if it will touch juice.

Best when you want the object quickly and do not care that you did not design it. Food safety: you are trusting the designer's listed material and shape, so confirm it is meant to print in PETG and is sensible for food, or default to the catch-cup approach.

Route 4: A library, makerspace, or school (use their machine)

Cheap, hands-on, and there are people nearby who can rescue a print going wrong. This is the route worth trying first if one is near you.

1. Find one. Search "[your town] library 3D printer," look up a local makerspace or hackerspace (a membership workshop full of tools), or a nearby college or high-school maker lab.
2. Call ahead or read their page and settle five things: do they have an FDM printer; do they allow PETG or only PLA; do they want an STL (they slice it) or a pre-sliced G-code (you slice it first); is there booking, training, or membership; and what do they charge (often just a few cents per gram).
3. Prepare the file. Bring the STL on a USB stick with a cloud or email backup. If they want G-code, slice it at home first using their printer's profile in your slicer (Chapter 5) with the squeezer settings from Chapter 15, and bring that file instead.
4. Print on site. Orient it bowl open-side up, apply the squeezer settings (or hand the staff the notes), and run it. A palm-size squeezer is a few hours, which matters because many places do not allow unattended overnight prints. Small is an advantage here.
5. Pay for the grams used and take it home.
6. Post-process and test as in Chapter 14 and Chapter 15.

Best when you want it cheap, want to watch a real machine run, and want to find out whether you enjoy this before buying anything. Food safety: their nozzle is probably brass and the filament is shared, and you usually cannot change either, so favor sealing or the catch-cup approach. If they only stock PLA, treat the result as occasional-use, keep it away from heat and dishwashers, and clean it promptly.

Route 5: A friend or local maker (someone prints it for you)

The lowest-pressure way to see the process up close, and people in this hobby genuinely enjoy printing one small useful thing for a curious friend.

1. Ask someone who already prints.
2. Send the STL by email or a cloud link. Tell them what it is for (food), ask for PETG if they have it, and ask them to orient it bowl open-side up with no supports on the inner juicing surfaces.
3. Offer to buy the filament and agree on timing. That is the whole arrangement.
4. Receive, finish, and test as in the other routes.

Best when you happen to know a printer owner. Food safety: the same limit as any borrowed machine: you probably cannot dictate their nozzle, so seal the part or use a glass or steel catch cup.

Comparison: pick a row

Which route should I pick?

• Just want the squeezer, fastest, least fuss: Route 3 (order a ready-made design), or Route 2 if you want your own design.
• Want it cheap and to watch it happen: Route 4 (a library or makerspace).
• Want the hobby and to keep improving the design: Route 1 (your own machine), which is what the rest of the book is set up for.
• Know someone with a printer: Route 5.

Choosing a service when you want it fast

The chapter lists specific services above, but which one is cheapest or quickest for you changes by the month and by where you live, and a price printed in a book is wrong by the time you read it. So rather than crown a single pick, here is how to choose well for speed. Five rules:

1. Print in your own country. The biggest hidden delay and cost in outsourcing is crossing a border. An overseas part can be cheap to make and then sit in customs for days, and arrive with an import duty plus a brokerage fee that dwarfs the part itself. For speed, pick a service based in your own country, or use a broker and filter it to manufacturers there, so the part ships domestically with no customs step.
2. Favor instant-quote plus a rush tier. Choose a service that prices your uploaded file on the spot and offers a rush or express option. You see the real cost and the real date before you pay, instead of waiting on a quote by email.
3. Local pickup beats shipping. If a print shop or maker is in your city, picking the part up can be same-day or next-day and skips shipping entirely. A marketplace that lets you filter by location (see the references) is the fast way to find one near you.
4. Small parts ship cheap and quick. The squeezer fits in your palm, so domestic shipping is light and inexpensive. You are not waiting on freight; a padded envelope crosses the country in a day or two.
5. Confirm the material before you pay. Fast is no use if it arrives in the wrong plastic. Check the quote actually says FDM and PETG, not a default of resin or nylon, before you place the order.

Don't be confused. The cheapest part and the fastest part are often not the same order. An overseas shop may quote the lowest price per part and still be the slowest and, after customs and brokerage, not even the cheapest once it lands. When speed is the goal, a nearby domestic service usually wins on every count that matters.

Two things that hold for every outsourced route

First, you can always see the model before you commit: the service shows a preview when you upload, a free in-browser viewer (viewstl.com, 3dviewer.net) opens any STL, and your design tool previews as you work. The details are in Chapter 2.

Second, whoever runs the printer, the food-safe finishing and the five tests stay your job. A service or a friend hands you a raw print; the sanding, the optional sealing, the washing, and the honest testing from Chapter 14 and Chapter 15 are the same no matter who pressed "print."

Takeaways

• Every route needs a file, normally an STL: export your own (Chapter 8 or Chapter 10) or download a ready-made one.
• Five routes: your own machine, a mail-order service, ordering a ready-made design, a library or makerspace, or a friend. They all end in the same squeezer.
• For any outsourced route, choose FDM and PETG on purpose, not the nylon or resin a service may default to, and not whatever a shared machine happens to be loaded with.
• You cannot control a stranger's or a shared nozzle and colorant, so for outsourced prints lean on PETG plus your own sealing, or the catch-cup approach.
• The finishing and testing are yours regardless of who prints it.
• The fastest object is usually Route 3 or 2; the cheapest hands-on path is Route 4; the most you learn is Route 1.

👉 If you are printing it yourself, the next chapter is your detailed lab. If you are outsourcing, it is where you rejoin once the part arrives, at the post-processing and the five tests. Either way, head to Print, assemble, and test.