The Shapeways Blog: 3D Printing News & Innovation
Entries from October 2012
Tuesday, October 23. 2012
10% Off Smooth Colored 3D Prints at Shapeways
With the launch of our new, smooth 3D printed colors last week at Shapeways we are also offering a 10% discount on our new colors until October 31st.
We are really excited about the increase in quality of surface finish with our new colors and we want you to get your smooth, bright 3D prints into your hands as soon as possible.
Please be sure to enable your models in the new colors if you have not already done so and we LOVE to see photos of the new colors in your product pages of your shops.
Being smooth, colored 3D prints they are so much easier to photograph than white nylon (WSF) 3D prints. Check out the photography tutorial if you need any pointers.
Thursday, October 18. 2012
Launching New Polished Colors Today at 10% Off
We are very excited to share that we have improved our dying processes and quality and are launching new colors in our Strong & Flexible family!
Starting today, you will be able to order 3D prints in our dyed & polished red and purple, as well as two new colors: Royal Blue and Hot Pink. The new dyes are a potent mixture of pigment and dye which saturates both the surface and the interior of the nylon plastic. The results are vibrant and consistent, and means that the colors will last longer and appear brighter.
This is the first of many more colors we will be introducing. We chose to add blue and pink based on your feedback and we can't wait to see what you design for these colors.
New Colors: Properties and Design Guidelines
The design rules are slightly different as the models have to withstand polishing first. The bounding box for polished colors is slightly smaller at 150x150x150mm and the minimum for unsupported wires is 0.9mm.
For more details, please see the Product Detail page here and refer to the design rules for polished products. Remember, you can still order White and Black Strong and Flexible in unpolished.
Pricing
To celebrate this new addition and help you prepare your shop for the holiday season, all colored Strong & Flexible plastics will be 10% off until October 31st.
- White Strong Flexible - $1.50 startup, $1.40 per cc - no change
- Black Strong Flexible - no price change
- White Strong Flexible Polished - $2.00 startup, $1.50 per cc
- Colored Strong Flexible - $2.25 startup, $1.50 per cc
Your Shapeways Shop: What does this mean for you?
Shop Owners, as of today, you will have the ability to add these colors as a new material option with enough time to get some samples before the holiday season kicks off.
If you do not have colored products in your shop, you will have the opportunity to add these material options starting today, October 17th.
Wednesday, October 17. 2012
New 3D Printing Material Sample Kits Now Available on Shapeways
We first launched our Material Sample Kit over two years ago and much has changed since then. We have more metals, more colors, more finishes with MUCH more to come. To make room for all of these new materials we are introducing a whole new range of 3D Printing Material Sample Kits to Shapeways.
The Basic Kit for $29.99 will replace the current kit and contain:
- White Strong Flexible (nylon)
- Alumide
- Stainless Steel
- Full Color Sandstone
- Black Detail (Acrylic)
- Frosted Ultra Detail (Acrylic)
You will also receive $25 3D Printing Coupon to get you started with the new materials.
The Colors & Finishes Kit priced at $19.99 is for you to get your hands on the latest colors and finishes (hence the name) including:
- White Detail (Acrylic)
- Polished White Strong Flexible (Nylon)
- Polished Alumide
- Black Strong Flexible (Nylon)
- Coral Red
- Royal Blue
- Hot Pink
- Violet Purple
The Metals Kit for $79.99 includes a range of our metal finishes including:
- Polished Bronze Stainless Steel
- Sterling Silver
- Polished Gold Plated Stainless Steel
For each material in each pack you will also receive a material detail card with specifications, limitations and recommendations. This, along with the samples will help you to design for each specific material.
As we roll out with new materials and colors over the coming months we will include them to the relevant sample pack and you will be able to order each sample individually to add them to your sample kit.
You can take a look at our 3D Printing Materials Page now to see each of the materials, their prices and properties then order your own 3D Printing Material Sample Kits to see, feel and smell the materials for yourself.
Monday, October 8. 2012
Smooth vs Standard Nylon 3D Printing
We introduced Polished White Strong & Flexible Nylon 3D Printing back in May 2011 and have seen your prints coming out looking much more smooth and professional feeling. Those making twisty puzzles now assemble their designs without the need for sanding prior to assembly and those painting their 3D Prints can do so with less preparation time and effort.
One downside is the size of 3D Print that can currently be polished is limited to 150x150x150mm so not all Nylon 3D Prints can be post-processed in this way. To polish your 3D Prints we place them in a giant vibratory tumbler with an abrasive medium that smooths the surface. The tumbling process can be a little rough on really fine 3D Printed wires so the minimum thickness for these kind of features in your design must be at least 0.9mm, over 1mm is preferred.
We do not currently offer smooth color 3D Printing but it is something we may offer in the near future. The current dying process does not react well to polishing but if we were to introduce polished colors we may need to limit the size from the current 230x180x130mm to 150x150x150mm. The result is there may be a few models that cannot be printed in color, but all color models would be nice and smooth, less stepping, less rough edges.
Let us know what you think? would you like ALL of your 3D prints to one day arrive at your doorstep silky smooth, is there any other post processing you would like to see? Let us know your thoughts...
Friday, October 5. 2012
Disney Research 3D Printed Optics and Interfaces (VIDEO)
Disney has been doing some really interesting research into using 3D Printing to experiment with optics, interfaces and electronics. The team of Karl D.D. Willis, Eric Brockmeyer, Scott E. Hudson and Ivan Poupyrev in Pittsburgh are doing some of the most sophisticated work I have seen to date using light and 3D Printing.
It is a perfect use of Objet's multiple material 3D Printing to make light travel through complex paths and using the clear for multitouch interfaces. Check out at the 3 minute mark where they seem to pause the 3D Printer, insert the electronics and continue to 3D print to embed the product... very cool. If you would like to read more you can download their paper on the subject.
Printed Optics is a new approach to creating custom optical elements for interactive devices using 3D printing. Printed Optics enable sensing, display, and illumination elements to be directly embedded in the body of an interactive device. Using these elements, unique display surfaces, novel illumination techniques, custom optical sensors, and robust embedded components can be digitally fabricated for rapid, high fidelity, customized interactive devices.
Printed Optics is part of our long term vision for the production of interactive devices that are 3D printed in their entirety. Future devices will be fabricated on demand with user-specific form and functionality. Printed Optics explores the possibilities for this vision afforded by today's 3D Printing technology.
