This is my first print from Shapeways. Turn around was very fast, 11 days from order to front door [New York]. Print resolution and accuracy is very good. The Kanji ["dream"] on the inside turned out better than expected. It took less than an hour with a Dremel to remove almost all of the pitting on the surface. Thanks to "cooldjez" for his stainless polishing posts. The Image shows the print before and after polishing, and a rendering in the lower left.
Sweet finishing touch! I really like the result you got after polishing it. The simplicity of the outside and the good and clear message on the inside fit nicely together. Cheers, Mathijs
That is actually a really beautiful piece, the kanji does look great! I quite like the cast-iron look that this material has. Could you give me some idea of the tools you used during your dremelling? I'd like to do some polishing of the simpler parts I've ordered but I don't know what grinding bits to invest in. Are you going to polish it further?
Thanks for the positive feedback! The photo shows all of the Dremel accessories used to get the final result. The first sanding drum is the finer of the two that came with the tool. Next is a 120 grit flap wheel, then a 320 Abrasive Buff, and a felt buffing wheel with polishing compound for the final pass. The sandpaper was not used. The smooth clean lines of the ring made it easy to post process. I could imagine fine detail work would take smaller tools and more time to finish. The finish could be smoother, but I'll call it done for now. The 10/90 rule: it takes 10% of the effort to get 90% of the way there, it takes the other 90% of the effort for the final 10%...
Really helpful -- I own a Dremel, but don't have all these attachments yet. I'm quite leery about trying to polish my recent print, as your statements about the "clean lines" etc. might as well have been directed at me. But the result you got makes me think it's worth it. Gorgeous ring. I really like the hidden Kanji and the overall beautifully simple design.