Resin vs FDM for dollhouse furniture: choosing by scale and detail

Print your furniture · All guides in this chapter

Resin or filament is usually asked as a question about printers. For a dollhouse piece it is a question about one feature: the thinnest part that matters in this design, at this scale. Start there, then read the notes for the scale you need, and only then weigh the practical differences between the two processes.

We do not rank printers and have printed none of these files ourselves. The figures below come from manufacturer documentation, cited in each case, and from our automated digital checks on the delivered files.

Compare feature size

An FDM printer draws each layer with a line of melted filament. Its narrowest dependable wall is tied to the width of that line. Prusa’s modelling guidance gives an extrusion width of about 0.45 mm for the common 0.4 mm nozzle, and about 0.9 mm for a wall of two perimeters. It states plainly that walls thinner than one perimeter are not printable. Since version 2.5, PrusaSlicer’s default Arachne perimeter generator varies the line width to follow thin walls, but it still has a minimum feature size below which a feature is not printed.

A resin printer cures each layer with light, so its limits are set differently. Formlabs publishes design specifications for the Form 4, measured with its Grey Resin V5 at 50 µm layers: a minimum wall of 0.2 mm, vertical wires of 0.3 mm up to 7 mm tall and 0.6 mm up to 30 mm tall, and raised detail down to 0.1 mm. Formlabs notes slight variations with its other resins, printers and layer heights. Use your own printer’s published figures where they exist.

Our checks use thresholds of their own, and both sit above those manufacturer figures:

	FDM	Resin
Manufacturer reference for a thin wall	0.45 mm, one perimeter with a 0.4 mm nozzle (Prusa)	0.2 mm on a Form 4 (Formlabs)
Our check fails a file when more than 2% of its surface is under	1.0 mm	0.5 mm
Our check warns when that share is	0.5–2%	0.5–2%

The thickness is sampled across the surface of the delivered mesh. It is an estimate of where the file is thin, not a measurement of a printed part.

Read scale-specific notes

Every step down in scale halves every wall. A design that clears the FDM threshold comfortably at 1:12 can fall below it at 1:24, while the same file stays well within resin’s limits. Figure 1 shows the effect across the catalogue.

On 29 September 2026, all 133 of our single designs list resin at every scale they are supplied in. FDM is listed for 127 of the 133 at 1:12, for 96 of the 127 supplied at 1:24, and for 17 of the 21 supplied at 1:6. The gap at 1:24 is the scale effect in practice.

Two examples show how to read a piece page:

• The Mid-Century Lounge Chair lists FDM at 1:12 and 1:6, but not at 1:24. At 1:24, 10% of its surface is thinner than 1 mm. Resin is listed at all three scales.
• The Rococo Gilt Console Table lists resin only. On its 1:12 file, the thinnest 1% of the surface measures 0.21 mm, close to the Formlabs minimum wall. Ornate designs like this one are where resin earns its extra work.

If a page lists FDM at your scale, our check found the file within its FDM threshold, with the support level shown. If it does not, choose resin, a larger supplied scale, or a different design. To see how a specific thin feature behaves, compare thin-feature constraints before deciding.

Choose for the actual design

Find the smallest part that matters to you: a chair rail, a spindle, a carved edge, the lip of a tabletop. Compare it with the references above at the scale you want. A closed cabinet with thick sides is a very different decision from an openwork chair, even at the same scale and in the same style.

Then weigh the work around the print.

• Resin needs washing and post-curing, and liquid resin must be handled following the material’s safety data sheet. The miniature printing guide links Prusa’s resin safety overview. Formlabs also warns that thin walls can absorb washing solvent such as IPA and deform, so keep immersion short for delicate pieces.
• FDM avoids liquid handling, but Prusa notes that surfaces printed above supports come out rougher than faces printed on the bed or as side walls. It also notes that FDM prints are stronger in one direction than another, like wood, so orientation affects how a thin leg survives handling. Our orientation and support walkthrough covers where contacts land.

Neither process makes a fragile design strong. If the smallest feature is below what your process can draw at your scale, change the scale or the design rather than the settings. When you are ready to pick a specific piece, choose a suitable first file with the same questions in mind.