Goodbye Glass December 6th

Hey Guys,

Just to let you know, we will be saying goodbye to Glass on December 6th.

We're always trying to push the limits of what is possible with 3D printing here at Shapeways, introducing new materials and encouraging innovation. However, sometimes to grow, you have to let things go.

We've noticed that you haven't been as excited about glass over the last year, and we have a great opportunity to use these glass 3D printers for research and development. This means we will soon be bringing you new materials to replace glass!

Please note that December 6th will be the last day we will be offering 3D printing glass, so you have three weeks to place your orders.

What does this mean for you?

If you're a designer who has glass models available for sale, glass will be removed as a material option starting December 6th. You can, of course, still offer them in other materials. All you have to do is ensure those materials are enabled on your product page. We recommend testing these models in new materials before making them available for sale.

If you want to buy glass products, make sure you do so before December 6th to ensure delivery by the holidays.

Lastly, given that we will be using these machines for research, let us know what materials you would most like to see next!

Thanks!
Natalia

A smooth resin based material, similar to Prime Grey from I-competitive service, please.

Not a lot multi-color materials available atm. Maybe add one. most ppl like to color their models

..Also some kind of clean transparent material would be cool if possible

This one is really difficult. The clean transparent models you see are printed the same as our FUD and even our Transparent detail materials. It requires a good bit of post processing to achieve those results though. We don't want to add a whole bunch of labor costs to our materials. But I'm sure there are techniques out there for cleaning out materials at home to get a nice transparent part.

I'd love to see Pewter as an option. But I'm not sure how realistic the possibility is of 3D printing it.

GLASS would be nice...

i wouldn't mind seeing glass brought back as a material ASAP!!! i was really looking forward to printing some designs out from glass.

KEEP WORKING ON IT!

I just had an interesting thought - would the technology permit 3D printing with - wait for it - chocolate? It would be really interesting to see if you could print off some custom chocolate shapes. Honestly don't know if it could be done at all, but it's worth finding out IMHO.

Once upon a time there was all kinds of interest in edible prints. Chocolate "should" work, so should frosting and (my fave) cheese, but so far as I know nobody's implemented. I've heard, as a rumor, that the first ZCorp prints were edible, mostly cornstarch and sugar; sadly I never got the chance to try one. Add food coloring to a color ZCorp printer and call it good? How about fondant? Personalized wedding cake toppers anyone? This should be a cheap hack....

The only edibles printer I've seen personally was Evil Mad Scientist's Candyfab 4000. Caramel-coated sugar parts: it smelled like baking cookies.

That would be awe. Though I think it would need all sorts of food licences and controls.

I'd like to see true aluminium, suitable for anodizing

Perhaps a halfway between Stainless Steel and Plastic - Plastic (or resin) with metal dust mixed in to give it a metallic sheen? I know that's how a lot of prop makers make their plastic props seem metallic - it would be a nice compromise between visual quality and price. Not sure how that would work with the 3D printing process, however. I'd still love to see it done.

I'd love to see a food safe material that could print in smaller detail close to the same price as ceramics; maybe one that could print at .7mm like strong and flexible. That's at the top of my list, since I've got a few glasses that are too detailed to print in ceramic.

A slightly more inexpensive metal (maybe an alloy) would be very cool too.

Something similar to i.competitive service's 'Prime Gray' would be awesome. It's really the only material I'd consider using i.competitive service for, and I'd much rather have it here.