Product Disclaimer, Assumption of Risk & Terms of Use

1. Acceptance of These Terms

These terms constitute a legally binding agreement between you ("Customer," "you") and Forge and Filaments ("we," "us," "our"), an Ohio-based business. By placing an order, purchasing a premade design, submitting a digital file for printing, or checking the acceptance box at checkout, you acknowledge that you have read, understood, and agree to be bound by this Disclaimer and these Terms of Use in their entirety. These terms apply to every order, whether for a premade design offered by Forge and Filaments or a part produced from a file you submit.

2. Nature of the Products — Prototypes Only

All items produced by Forge and Filaments are manufactured using consumer-grade additive manufacturing (3D printing) processes, including but not limited to fused deposition modeling (FDM) and resin printing. You acknowledge and agree that:

• Every item is a prototype. All printed items are supplied as prototypes, models, or decorative/hobby articles, regardless of their appearance, description, or the design from which they were produced.
• No item is certified. No item has been tested, rated, inspected, or certified by us or by any laboratory, engineer, or regulatory body for strength, durability, temperature resistance, chemical resistance, electrical properties, biocompatibility, food safety, or fitness for any functional purpose.
• 3D printed parts have inherent weaknesses. Additive manufacturing produces parts with layer lines, anisotropic (direction-dependent) strength, internal voids, and other characteristics that make their real-world performance unpredictable. A part may appear sound and still fail suddenly and without warning under load, heat, moisture, UV exposure, impact, or ordinary use.
• Product images and descriptions are not performance claims. Any depiction of an item in use, and any description of a design's intended purpose, is illustrative only and is not a representation, express warranty, or guarantee that the printed item is suitable or safe for that purpose.

3. Mandatory Customer Inspection & Testing

Because every item is a prototype, you agree that you will not put any printed item to functional use until you have first inspected and adequately tested it yourself under conditions that safely simulate your intended use. "Functional use" means any use other than display or decoration, including any use involving load, force, heat, motion, pressure, liquids, electricity, mounting, support, or contact with people, animals, food, or property.

• You are solely responsible for determining whether an item is suitable and safe for your intended application, and for the adequacy of your own testing.
• You agree to discontinue use immediately if an item shows any sign of cracking, deformation, delamination, wear, or other deterioration.
• Any functional use of an item without adequate prior testing, or any continued use after signs of deterioration, is at your sole risk and constitutes misuse of the product.

4. Materials, Tolerances & Process Variability

Dimensional accuracy, surface finish, color, and mechanical properties vary between prints, printers, materials, and batches. Minor surface imperfections, visible layer lines, small blemishes, seam marks, and dimensional variance of up to ±0.5 mm (or ±1%, whichever is greater) are normal characteristics of 3D printing and do not constitute defects. Filament and resin properties published by material manufacturers describe raw material behavior under laboratory conditions and do not describe, and must not be relied upon as describing, the performance of any finished printed part.

5. Prohibited & Critical Uses

Printed items are not designed, intended, or authorized for use in any application where failure could result in personal injury, death, or property damage, including without limitation:

• Medical, dental, or health-related devices, implants, or equipment, or any item that contacts the body for therapeutic purposes;
• Items intended for contact with food or drink, or for use by children as toys, unless expressly listed by us as intended for such use;
• Load-bearing, structural, or overhead-mounted applications; climbing, lifting, rigging, or fall-protection equipment;
• Automotive, aerospace, marine, or other vehicle components affecting safety or operation;
• Firearms, firearm components, weapons, or weapon accessories of any kind;
• Electrical enclosures or components subject to heat or current beyond decorative low-voltage use;
• Protective equipment, helmets, guards, or any life-safety application.

Any such use is unauthorized misuse, undertaken entirely at your own risk, and voids any obligation of Forge and Filaments arising from the sale. We reserve the right to refuse any order we believe is intended for a prohibited use (see Section 12).

6. Customer-Submitted Files & Designs

When you submit a digital file or design for printing, Forge and Filaments acts solely as a printing service. We do not review, engineer, validate, or verify your design in any respect. You represent, warrant, and agree that:

• Design responsibility is yours. You are solely responsible for the design, geometry, structural soundness, printability, legality, and fitness for purpose of any file you submit. We assume no responsibility for defects, weaknesses, or failures attributable in whole or in part to the submitted design.
• You have the rights. You own or hold all necessary rights and licenses to the file, and its printing and use will not infringe any patent, copyright, trademark, trade dress, license term, or other right of any third party.
• Nothing illegal or dangerous. You will not submit files for firearms or firearm components, weapons, items illegal to manufacture or possess under federal law, Ohio law, or the law of your state of residence, regulated medical devices, items designed to defeat locks or security systems, or items infringing another party's rights.
• Our printing is not an endorsement. Our acceptance or printing of a file is not a review, approval, or endorsement of the design and does not transfer any design responsibility to us.

We retain copies of submitted files only as needed to fulfill your order and for our records, and we do not claim ownership of your designs.

7. Intellectual Property

Premade designs offered by Forge and Filaments, and all associated images and content on this website, remain the intellectual property of Forge and Filaments or our licensors. Purchase of a printed item conveys ownership of that physical item only, and no license to reproduce, distribute, or commercially exploit the underlying design. For customer-submitted files, you retain your rights in your design and grant us only the limited license necessary to print and fulfill your order.

8. Assumption of Risk

You acknowledge that 3D printed items can fail suddenly, unpredictably, and without warning, and that such failure can cause injury or damage. To the fullest extent permitted by law, you knowingly and voluntarily assume all risks arising from the possession, handling, testing, use, misuse, modification, or failure of any printed item, whether produced from our premade designs or from a file you submitted, and whether or not you performed the testing required by Section 3.

9. Disclaimer of Warranties

Any refund, reprint, or replacement we may choose to offer for a print that fails to match the ordered geometry is a voluntary customer-service accommodation, not a warranty, and does not extend to the performance, durability, or suitability of any item in use.

10. Limitation of Liability

11. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless Forge and Filaments and its owner(s), employees, and agents from and against any and all claims, demands, damages, losses, liabilities, costs, and expenses (including reasonable attorneys' fees) arising out of or relating to: (a) your use, misuse, resale, gifting, or modification of any printed item; (b) your failure to inspect and test an item as required by Section 3, or any use of an item in a prohibited or critical application described in Section 5; (c) any file or design you submit, including claims that the design is defective or that its printing or use infringes any intellectual property or other right of a third party; (d) any injury to any person or damage to any property caused by an item printed for you; and (e) your breach of these terms or violation of any applicable law.

12. Right to Refuse Service

We may refuse, cancel, and refund any order at our sole discretion, including any order we believe involves a prohibited item or use, infringes third-party rights, or is unlawful. Refusal or acceptance of an order does not constitute a judgment about the legality or safety of a design and creates no duty of review for any other order.

13. Governing Law & Disputes

These terms and any dispute arising out of or relating to them or to any order are governed by the laws of the State of Ohio, without regard to its conflict-of-laws principles, except to the extent the consumer protection laws of your state of residence apply notwithstanding this choice. Exclusive venue for any dispute lies in the state or federal courts located in [County], Ohio, and each party consents to personal jurisdiction there. You agree that any claim must be brought within one (1) year after it accrues, to the extent permitted by law, and that any claim shall be brought in your individual capacity and not as a class member, to the extent permitted by law.

14. Severability; Entire Agreement; Changes

If any provision of these terms is held invalid or unenforceable, that provision shall be enforced to the maximum extent permissible and the remaining provisions shall remain in full force and effect. These terms, together with any order confirmation, constitute the entire agreement between you and Forge and Filaments regarding your order and supersede all prior communications. We may update these terms at any time by posting a revised version on this page; the version in effect when you place an order governs that order.