# Steel – 3D Printing Material

60% Stainless Steel / 40% Bronze Matrix Material

[Get a Quote](/content/model/material-configurator/upload/index.html) [Material Info](/content/materials/steel#toclink-0/index.html) [About](/content/materials/steel#toclink-1/index.html) [Color & Finishes](/content/materials/steel#toclink-2/index.html) [Technical Documents](/content/materials/steel#toclink-3/index.html) [Material Properties](/content/materials/steel#toclink-4/index.html) [Description](/content/materials/steel#toclink-5/index.html) [Design Guidelines](/content/materials/steel#toclink-6/index.html) [Bounding Box](/content/materials/steel#toclink-7/index.html) [Walls](/content/materials/steel#toclink-8/index.html) [Wires](/content/materials/steel#toclink-9/index.html) [Details](/content/materials/steel#toclink-10/index.html) [Escape Holes](/content/materials/steel#toclink-11/index.html) [Clearance](/content/materials/steel#toclink-12/index.html) [Sprues](/content/materials/steel#toclink-13/index.html) [Interlocking & Enclosed Parts](/content/materials/steel#toclink-14/index.html) [Parts in File](/content/materials/steel#toclink-15/index.html) [Accuracy](/content/materials/steel#toclink-16/index.html)

## Material Info

### About

Steel is an affordable and strong metal that is well-suited for consumer products both small and large with an industrial look and feel. It’s printed using a binder jetting process and is later infused with bronze, creating a material that is 60% steel and 40% bronze and can range in color from a silver gray to reddish bronze. It is strong enough for metal parts like bottle openers and dice, but is not recommended for industrial load bearing applications. More information about this material can be found in our [Help Center](https://support.shapeways.com/hc/en-us/articles/1500004174101-Steel).

### Color & Finishes

Bronze

This finish gives the material a brown antique bronze look

Bronzed-Silver

A metallic silvery color with a bronze tint

Black

The black finish gives the material a dark gray to black look

**Matte**  
Unpolished for a rough surface and matte finish.

**Polished**  
Parts are polished until shiny and smooth. Note: Internal detail can not be polished, well-reachable surfaces will be polished, therefore, tight internal spaces may remain unpolished. Products larger than 150 x 150 x 150 mm and products with particularly thin features or details will undergo bead blasting instead of the regular polishing process in order to avoid breakage. This may lead to a rougher and less consistent finish than usual.

### Technical Documents

[Material Data Sheet - Steel](/content/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/X1_MaterialData_420SS_062519.pdf)

### Material Properties

- **Ultimate Strength (ASTM E8)**: 496 MPa  
- **Elongation (ASTM E8)**: 7.0 %  
- **Hardness (ASTM E18)**: 93 HRb

### Description

- **Material Highlights**: Good strength, many available colors, supports larger parts  
- **Handling and Care**: Not food safe, heatproof to 831°C/1521°F

## Design Guidelines

### Bounding Box

- **Maximum Bounding Box**: 762 × 393 × 393 mm (Bronzed-Silver, Bronze, Black)  
- 152 × 152 × 76 mm (Polished)  
- 178 × 178 × 178 mm (Plated)  
- **Minimum Bounding Box**: 6 × 6 × 3 mm

### Walls

- **Supported Walls**  
  Model’s Longest Dimension:  
  - 3 to 75 mm = 1.0 mm  
  - 75 to 150 mm = 1.5 mm  
  - 150 to 200 mm = 2.0 mm  
  - 200 to 300 mm = 3.0 mm

- **Unsupported Walls**  
  Model’s Longest Dimension:  
  - 3 to 75 mm = 1.0 mm  
  - 75 to 150 mm = 1.5 mm  
  - 150 to 200 mm = 2.0 mm  
  - 200 to 300 mm = 3.0 mm

### Wires

- **Supported Wires**  
  Model’s Longest Dimension:  
  - 3 to 75 mm = 1.0 mm  
  - 75 to 150 mm = 1.5 mm  
  - 150 to 200 mm = 2.0 mm  
  - 200 to 300 mm = 3.0 mm

- **Unsupported Wires**  
  Model’s Longest Dimension:  
  - 3 to 75 mm = 1.0 mm  
  - 75 to 150 mm = 1.5 mm  
  - 150 to 200 mm = 2.0 mm  
  - 200 to 300 mm = 3.0 mm

### Details

- **Embossed Details**: 1.0 mm high & wide  
- **Engraved Details**: 1.0 mm high & wide

For text, the ratio between width and depth should be 1:1 and sans-serif fonts are preferred for line weight consistency.

### Escape Holes

- **Single Escape Hole Diameter**: 4.0 mm  
- **Multiple Escape Hole Diameter**: 2.0 mm

### Clearance

- **Minimum**: 3.0 mm

### Sprues

**We cannot print Steel parts with sprues. Any part with sprues will be rejected.**

### Interlocking & Enclosed Parts

- **Interlocking**: No  
- **Enclosed**: No

### Parts in File

Up to 250

### Accuracy

±5%. The bronze infiltration of each steel part makes this material less dimensionally accurate than other Shapeways materials. Shrinkage is more prevalent, especially on small holes and inner diameters.