Additive Manufacturing worked example

Support Material Cost with support material quantity of 130 g: a worked example

Here is what the math looks like when conditions slip. We hold every other input steady and drop support material quantity to 130 g, then walk the calculation through step by step. Estimate support material cost from support quantity, material price, removal labor, and overhead burden.

The inputs for this scenario

  • Support material quantity: 130 g (the input this scenario stresses; the baseline uses 260)
  • Support material cost: 0.08 $ / g (held at the documented default)
  • Support removal labor: 75 $ (held at the documented default)
  • Support processing overhead: 20 $ (held at the documented default)

Working through the calculation

  • The calculation starts from the formula this tool documents: Support material cost = support quantity × support material cost.
  • Total support cost works out to 105 $ at these inputs, and this is the headline figure for the scenario.
  • Support cost per gram works out to 0.81 $ / g at these inputs.
  • Support material cost works out to 10.4 $ at these inputs.
  • Removal and overhead works out to 95 $ at these inputs.

How this compares with the baseline

  • Against the tool's baseline example, where support material quantity sits at 260 g and the headline result is 116 $, this scenario comes in 8.98% below the baseline at 105 $.
  • The practical read: the gap between this scenario and the baseline is entirely attributable to support material quantity, so recovering it is worth quantifying in dollars before considering equipment or staffing changes. It treats support mass as a single average; it does not model dissolvable versus break-away supports or the machine time supports add to the build.

Results at a glance

  • Total support cost: 105 $ (headline result)
  • Support cost per gram: 0.81 $ / g
  • Support material cost: 10.4 $
  • Removal and overhead: 95 $

Run it with your numbers

  • To rerun this with your own numbers, open the live Support Material Cost calculator, set support material quantity to your actual value, and adjust the remaining inputs to match your operation.

Last reviewed 2026-05-12.