An Oxfordshire-area British maker of 3D printer hotends, nozzles and extruders, started in 2012 by two teachers and used by printer brands and makers worldwide.
E3D makes the parts at the hot end of a 3D printer: hotends, which melt plastic filament, nozzles, which shape the flow, and extruders, which push filament through. These are for the common FDM type of 3D printing, where a printer builds an object by laying down melted plastic. Its best-known product is the V6 hotend, launched in 2014, which became an industry standard, followed by the Hemera and Roto extruders, the RapidChange Revo system that lets users swap nozzles in about 30 seconds, and ObXidian nozzles. Its parts fit many printer brands, including Prusa, Bambu Lab and Creality.
E3D started in 2012 on the Isle of Wight. Sanjay Mortimer and Dave Lamb, both full-time teachers, built their own hotend because they found existing ones poor, and friend Josh Rowley joined soon after. The name comes from an early plan to sell printers to schools, 'Education in 3D'. Its stated mission is "To change the way humanity manufactures goods". Mr Mortimer died in 2021, and the company supports the Sanjay Mortimer Foundation, which helps young people with learning differences, including ADHD, through engineering and making. In 2016, Prusa adopted the V6 as the standard hotend on its i3 MK2 printer.
The company later moved to Oxford, where a 2022 TCT Magazine interview says it brought several units together in one building on a business park. We could not confirm the exact site from the pages read, so we describe it as Oxfordshire-based. TCT also reports that E3D says everything it makes is made in the UK, though it uses subcontractors worldwide, and that it acquired the nozzle firm ZODIAC to strengthen supply. It has been accepted onto Innovate UK Business Growth's Scaleup Programme, which works with fewer than 100 fast-growing, innovation-led companies.
E3D's own team page lists about 35 people across leadership, engineering, commercial, operations, and finance and HR. Its four values are Team E3D, Development, Delivery and Engaged, and it describes the team as open, honest and humble. Every team member gets volunteering days each year, and the company supports a local school's Formula 1 in Schools team. TCT's 2022 interview gave about 80 employees, so the figures differ by date. The company also says it tries to stay open source where it can and to patent only what it truly invented.
Jobs at E3D include design and principal engineers, a machinist, production and quality control staff, warehouse and purchasing roles, technical sales, marketing and customer support, plus HR and accounts. If you enjoy making and tinkering, E3D shows how a hobby project built in a shed can become a manufacturing business. Engineering, product design and manufacturing subjects fit well, as do business and marketing paths.
Website: e3d-online.com
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