Metal

Stainless Steel 316L — SLM 3D printing

SLM Available Express available

Marine-grade stainless, printed — corrosion resistance for life.

Stainless Steel 316L 3D printing material

316L is a marine-grade austenitic stainless printed by laser powder-bed fusion. It combines excellent corrosion resistance with strength and remarkable ductility for a printed metal, and polishes to a bright sanitary finish — ideal for marine, chemical and washdown duty.

What Stainless Steel 316L is used for

316L stainless is used for marine hardware, food and beverage equipment, medical and surgical instruments, and corrosion-resistant brackets and manifolds — the same grade found in kitchens, boats and hospitals.

Property profile

Strength
Stiffness
Toughness
Flexibility
Heat
Detail
UV / Outdoor

Strengths

  • Excellent corrosion resistance — marine, chemical and washdown duty
  • Strong and remarkably ductile for a printed metal
  • Polishes to a bright sanitary finish
  • Weldable and machinable

Know the limits

  • Heavy — check whether aluminium or titanium suits better
  • Metal pricing and lead times

Maximum build size

1100 × 625 × 625 mm

Surface finish & colours

Raw metallic as-built; bead-blasts, machines and electropolishes to a bright, sanitary finish.

Natural metal finish; bead-blast, machine or polish.

Natural metal

Best suited for

Metal End-use production Heat over 100 °C Outdoor / UV-stable Chemical / moisture exposure Water-resistant Fatigue-resistant

Lead time

Standard 20 business days
Express Express available 8–10 business days

Lead times are indicative and start from order confirmation. Actual turnaround varies model by model, depending on part geometry, print time, quantity and shipping location. Express service incurs an additional charge. Express availability is subject to current machine capacity — please confirm when ordering.

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Typical technical data

Price$174.73
Tensile strength640 MPa
Elongation at break40 %
Hardness~89 HRB
Density7.99 g/cm³
Water absorption (24 h)0 %
Layer / tolerance±0.10–0.20 mm or ±0.2% (pre-machining)

View technical data sheet (TDS)

Finishing & post-processing for Stainless Steel 316L

Parts printed in Stainless Steel 316L in SLM can be finished a number of ways at KAD3D, from a clean functional surface to a fully painted, display-ready result. The treatments below are the ones we most often apply to this material.

Polishing
Progressive polishing brings the surface up to a bright, reflective sheen — most striking on metals and clear resins.
Machining
CNC machining or drilling adds precision features — flat mating faces, bores and tapped holes — to tolerances tighter than printing alone.
Bead Blast
Fine media is blasted across the surface for an even, matte, uniform texture that removes powder and tooling marks.
Heat Treatment
A furnace cycle develops the material’s full mechanical properties — essential for metals to reach their rated strength.

What this material supports

✓ Paintable
  • Paint & custom colour: Stainless Steel 316L primes and paints well, so parts can be matched to any brand colour, gloss level or metallic look.

Most popular finish: Bead-blast then electropolish or passivate for corrosion and sanitary duty; machine sealing faces.

Reference #3DBenchy — like-for-like pricing

To make material costs easy to compare, KAD3D prints the same standard model — the #3DBenchy — in every material. The price shown is what that identical benchmark part costs in Stainless Steel 316L, so you can weigh materials against each other on a genuine like-for-like basis before uploading your own file.

Benchy in this material $174.73

Benchmark price is a guide for comparison only; your part is quoted on its own size, geometry and finishing. Upload your model for an exact price.

These prices were taken on 1 July 2026 and are still in place.

Where it fits

Manifolds, marine fittings, chemical-plant parts, and custom fasteners.

Marine-grade 316L is commonly chosen for coastal and marine hardware from Perth to the Gold Coast, where its corrosion resistance suits saltwater exposure and washdown environments.

An alternative to cast or machined stainless for complex, low-volume parts.

Food-safe compatible*

* Some materials can be food-safe in one manufacturing method but not in another, depending on process, post-processing and batch certification. We recommend referring back to the manufacturer's guidelines and confirming requirements with our team before ordering food-contact parts.

Indicative classification*: Food Safe

* Classification varies by grade, process and supplier — treat as indicative and confirm with us for your application.

Stainless Steel 316L (SLM)

Printed in-house by KAD3D. Upload your part for an instant quote.

Get instant quote Made in Melbourne · delivered Australia-wide.

Material data on these pages was compiled with the assistance of online research tools, in good faith, and may contain inaccuracies. Values are indicative only and intended to give a closer idea of each material's behaviour. For accurate, batch-specific TDS or SDS documentation, please contact KAD3D directly. KAD3D accepts no liability for any reliance on this information.