Recently I had the pleasure of doing a short interview with Fashion blog Ansel & Opie. They asked a few questions about my work and featured several pictures of my designs. Here are a couple questions from the interview. You can read the full interview here.
You have a very unique product, describe your process a bit?
Many of these knot patterns have been around forever and these are just my take on them. Others, such as my leaf pendant, are original. For my original ones I might see a shape that I like or that means something to me. I figure out how to make it into a knot pattern. Once I have a sketch I can start to 3D model it. Once the basic 2D shape is modeled I extend it into 3D and make the interwoven pattern. This can take time to make sure the pattern is nice and uniform and smooth. Once I have a model done then I have to check the integrity to make sure it can be 3D printed. Sometimes I do have to revise or start over if it cannot be made or is not turning out how I had hoped.
How do you get a piece of metal jewelry from a 3D printer?
Some of the metals are made with 3D printing. They have a powdered metal that is sintered together for their stainless steel material. Then it is hardened and plated with gold or bronze or whatever you want. The other metals such as brass, bronze, silver and gold are first 3D printed in wax. Then they make a mold and cast it, then polish it. But the fact that they had so many metals available and for reasonable prices is one big thing that drew me to Shapeways.
