Home / Calculators

Nylon 3D printing calculators

Quick answer

Two calculators, both built on this site’s own definitions and database: the refresh ratio calculator turns a powder cake and a manufacturer refresh ratio into the virgin powder a build needs; the part cost estimator prices the powder in a part from its volume and the grade’s datasheet density. No sign-up, nothing is stored — inputs live only in the page URL, so a calculation can be bookmarked or shared.

Powder refresh ratio calculator

Work out how much virgin powder a build needs at a target refresh ratio — or the effective ratio of a mix you already made — plus the surplus aged powder each build leaves behind.

Part cost estimator

Material cost per powder-bed nylon part from its solid volume, the grade’s datasheet density and the powder price you actually pay — with the refresh allowance shown, not hidden.

Methodology — what these tools do and do not assume

Definitions are this site’s published ones. The refresh ratio is the proportion of virgin powder in the powder charged to a build, exactly as the glossary defines it and as the material pages use it. Each calculator prints its full formula, with every variable named, above the form.
Densities come from the database. The cost estimator’s grade list is generated from the material database: 5 of the 9 powder grades carry a manufacturer printed-part density in their structured datasheets, and the tool pre-fills from those values. Where the database holds no printed-part density, the tool asks you for the figure instead of borrowing one — and a bulk (apparent) powder density is never substituted, because it is a different quantity.
Prices are yours. This site does not publish powder prices — manufacturer datasheets do not fix a market price, and quoting one would be inventing data. You type the price you actually pay; the estimate is labelled as yours throughout.
Defaults carry their source. The one pre-filled ratio — 50% refresh — is the manufacturer figure this site publishes for two grades in the database (Formlabs Nylon 12 GF Powder and Arkema Rilsan Invent PA11); each tool says so next to the field and tells you to replace it with your own grade’s figure.
Scope is stated, not implied. The cost estimator covers powder economics only: no machine time, labour, post-processing or failed builds. The refresh calculator’s surplus figures assume the next build matches this one, and say so.

Last updated: November 2026