I made a Youtube video to show three different pieces of 3D printed jewelry I designed and had made by Shapeways. I explain what they are and the materials they are made from.
I made a Youtube video to show three different pieces of 3D printed jewelry I designed and had made by Shapeways. I explain what they are and the materials they are made from.
This picture shows renderings of four different 3D printing custom designs I’ve been working on. Starting at the top left and going clockwise, you see an Owl pendant, a “flaming heart” pendant which says “Love”, an hourglass with wings (time flying!) and another flaming heart pendant with the initials “SPH” on it.
The owl pendant is from a banner of a web site from a blog that the author wanted made. The most challenging thing about it was making sure the details were big enough to be made, but still small enough that they looked correct on the piece. It has been ordered in Shapeways’ silver material and will be about one inch tall. I’m anxious to see how it turns out.
The other three are all related to one of my favorite bands, the Smashing Pumpkins. A fan page was looking for a “logo”. I suggested a heart with flames coming out of the top, which is similar to imagery used on one of their albums. They loved the idea, and I ran with it. I made two versions with the “banner” across the front straight across and one angled. I can put whatever initials people want on these banners. I just can’t do long names (the text gets too small). Finally, the one at bottom right is the “time flying” pendant. I did this just for fun and it is also based on album art by the Smashing Pumpkins. I’ve ordered it in Shapeways black, strong and detailed plastic material. It’s always fun to see what these items look like in real life compared to renderings, so I can’t wait to see these. A fan has purchsed the “SPH” pendant, and I’m sure they are anxious to get theirs, too! Just some examples of what can be done with 3D printing custom designs.
You can check these out on my Shapeways shop here:
Shapeways recently did a blog post on “How to Deal With Rejection“. I’ve been using Shapeways for a while now but many of my new designs are still rejected at first! So this was something I could definitely relate to. I wanted to share some 3D printing tips I’ve learned.
The material I use most often is their stainless steel material. It is a great material because it is relatively inexpensive, but is available with nice finishes like gold-plating. There are challenges in designing with this material, though.
Their material page says designs must conform to the “Sandcastle Rule”. This means that weak, unsupported features may “crumble” during their manufacturing process. Their page also says the minimum wall thickness for this material is 3mm. Many of my designs are closer to 1mm wall thickness, and yet they still come out OK. What gives? I have worked with Shapeways’ excellent customer service and gotten some feedback on this. I have been told that for small objects (like jewelry) you can go down as low as 0.7mm wall thickness. How small is a “small” object? Well, that is kind of a judgment call by the engineers at Shapeways. 3D printing is still somewhat of an art.
I’ve also been told that “details” can go down to 0.5mm with this material. What is the difference between a “wall” and a “detail”? They use a rule of thumb that a feature is considered a “wall” if it is more than twice as tall as it is thick. What does this mean for designing? If you have a feature that is less than 0.7mm thick, then it must be shorter or it may be at risk for crumbling. I generally will make features less than 0.7mm wide only about 0.5mm or 0.6mm tall. That being said, you don’t want to go much less than 0.5mm tall, because then you are pushing the limits of resolution. This is especially true if you are getting the gold or bronze plating. The plating is thin, but it can cover up or blur tiny details.
Here are some tips in designing for Shapeways’ stainless steel material:
I hope this helps, and good luck!