How Heavy Is a 3D Print? Grams, Density and What Weight Means for Price

When you get a quote for a 3D print, the studio will often mention grams before it mentions a price. That is not an accident: the weight of plastic used is one of the two big cost drivers, along with print time. This post explains what a typical print weighs, why two identical-looking models can differ by three times in weight, and how that shows up on your invoice and your shipping label.

What a typical print weighs

Rough reference points for FDM prints in PLA:

Object	Approximate weight
Keychain or small figurine (5 cm)	5 to 15 g
Desk organiser or phone stand	40 to 120 g
Spiral vase, 20 cm tall	80 to 150 g
Book nook (assembled, all parts)	300 to 600 g
1:1 cosplay helmet	500 to 900 g
Large chess set, 32 pieces plus board	1 to 2 kg

These are honest ranges, not promises, because the same helmet can be printed light for wearing or heavy for a display shelf. Before printing we always know the exact number, since the slicer software (which turns a 3D model into printer instructions) calculates material use to the gram.

Density: why plastic is lighter than you expect

3D printing plastics are light. PLA has a density of about 1.24 g/cm³, PETG about 1.27, ABS about 1.04 and resin around 1.1 to 1.2. Compare that with glass at 2.5 or steel at 7.8. A solid PLA cube 10 cm on each side would weigh 1.24 kg; the same cube in steel would weigh nearly 8 kg.

Special filaments shift the numbers. Marble filament, which we use for our marble-effect book nooks, is PLA with mineral particles, so it lands a little heavier. Wood-fill filament is slightly lighter. Metal-fill filament, with real bronze or copper powder, can reach 3 to 4 g/cm³ and gives a print a satisfying heft.

Infill: the reason most prints are hollow

Here is the key fact most people do not know: almost no 3D print is solid inside. The outer walls are solid, typically 0.8 to 1.6 mm thick, and the interior is filled with a lattice pattern called infill. A "20% infill" print has 20% plastic and 80% air inside the walls.

This is why weight varies so much:

• The same figurine at 10% infill might weigh 30 g; at 100% (solid) it could weigh 90 g.
• Lower infill means less material, less print time and a lower price.
• Higher infill means a stronger, heavier, more "premium-feeling" object.

For decorative pieces, 10 to 20% is standard and perfectly strong. For functional parts, brackets and anything a child will throw, we go higher. Our infill guide has pictures of what the patterns look like inside.

Resin prints are a different story. Resin is printed solid by default, so a resin miniature is denser than its FDM twin, but we can hollow larger resin models and add drain holes to save both material and weight.

How weight turns into price

A 3D printing quote is broadly built from three things:

1. Material, priced per gram, including support material that gets thrown away.
2. Machine time, priced per hour, which rises with size, infill and finer layer heights.
3. Labour, meaning setup, support removal, sanding, painting and assembly.

Weight sits in the first line and indirectly in the second, because more plastic takes longer to lay down. Doubling the size of a model in every direction multiplies its volume, and therefore its weight and material cost, by roughly eight. This surprises many first-time customers who expect a 20 cm figurine to cost twice a 10 cm one. Our post on how 3D printing is priced goes into all five factors.

Fantasy Lab 3D does not publish per-gram rates on the blog because they change with material and finish, but every quote we send lists the estimated weight, so you can see exactly what you are paying for.

Weight and shipping

For delivery across Kazakhstan and abroad, couriers charge by whichever is greater: real weight or volumetric weight (the space the box takes). Most prints are light and bulky, so the box size matters more than the grams. A 400 g book nook in a padded 25 cm box is charged as if it were 2 to 3 kg by many international carriers. That is why we sometimes ship large models as separate parts for you to assemble, which fits a smaller box, and why our worldwide shipping post is worth a read before ordering something big.

Can you make it heavier on purpose?

Yes, and people ask for it more than you would think. A chess piece or trophy feels cheap when it is too light. Options include 100% infill, metal-fill filament, or a hidden cavity in the base that we fill with steel washers or sand before gluing on a felt pad. Tell us if you want a piece to feel substantial and we will design it in.

Ready to order?

Send Fantasy Lab 3D your model or idea through the contact form and we will reply with the estimated weight, material options and a quote. You can also DM us on Instagram @fantasylab3d.almaty. If weight matters for your project, heavy or light, say so and we will plan the infill around it.