Here at Shapeways we are always striving to bring you more materials and faster lead times. Last week we announced that White, Strong and Flexible was shipping in just six days. Today we are proud to announce a new material… Gold Plated Brass!
Gold Plated Brass is a rich, highly polished material that’s perfect for jewelry and precious objects. The base is solid brass, and the gold plating gives it a smooth, beautiful finish.
Gold Plated Brass models are fabricated using a complex five-step process. First, the model is printed in a wax using a specialized, high-resolution 3D printer. It is then put in a container where liquid plaster is poured in around it. Once the plaster sets, the wax is melted out in a furnace, and the remaining plaster becomes the mold. Molten brass is poured into this mold and allowed to harden. The plaster is broken away, and the brass piece is cleaned and polished. Finally, this piece is electroplated with a thin outer layer of high quality 24K 22K gold. The result is a smooth gloss finish comparable to a solid gold item.
We’re currently conducting a one month trial through August 25th to test out this new material. Best part is, if you’re already using premium silver, you are ready for Gold Plated Brass! The rules and guidelines are the same, but it’s cheaper! How cool is that?! Be sure to try it out and let us know what you think of this new addition to the Shapeways material family in the comments below.
Now, hyperventilating.
Looks
So
Good
Finally, a sweet looking gold option. My customers have been asking for this for months.
Can this material be used to print an object that has a part inside another part; e.g. bird inside a cage?
“Rules and guidelines the same”…. so, no.
Will this be available in uncoated brass as well? My customers tend to like the patina that comes with age and use.
“Rules and guidelines the same”… so no.
Glenn; I fail to see how that automatically applies to *future* materials options?
Uncoated brass would just be the same process without the electroplating at the end. Sure; it might not be as durable, and it would age/patina as brass does, but some people like it that way.
Yeah, sorry about that my comment was a repeat entry put into the wrong place (see comment above), and there is no way for us to delete entries (OR to report Spamming, but that’s a whole other issue!).
Wonderful to see this new material.
+1 for uncoated brass
How thick is the gold plating in mils?
That is *totaly* *awesome* !
As mentioned here and on the forum, an unplated brass option would be nice. There are uses for brass besides bling bling and the gold plating would create problems, plus some prefer the natural patina that develops anyway. In Shapeways’ tests, was there something about unplated brass that made it unsuitable for shipping out as a final product? Perhaps it could be added as a maker material like elasto-plastic currently is.
Please give us raw brass.
So much more we can do with raw material.
Then bronze and aluminum.
Please
Oh. And this is fantastic start at real materials.
Here another vote for unplated brass!
Oh, and why: as a frame with weight for model trains.
This is fantastic. 🙂 I would also like to see 10kt,14kt, silver-plate, and plain brass options as well. That would be amazing.
Can I get a brass plate with a symbol engraved inside and gold plating upon it? If so, please reply.