I'm new here and inexperienced with the different materials Shapeways offers. The first model I want to print is a Voronoi-style cat figurine, and I intend to fill most of its holes with lab-made sapphires. I originally thought of printing it in silver, but now I'm leaning more towards steel. Could someone more experienced tell me which one of the different kinds of steel looks the shiniest, closest to silver, or otherwise most aesthetically suitable for my purpose? Thank you.
Hi, georgepf I've tried the default Stainless Steel, Polished Nickel Steel and Polished Grey Steel so far. Go for the Polished Nickel Steel if you want the shiniest of those ones.
I think the polished gray or polished bronze look best with sapphires...I'm not that partial to the plated steel finishes. They look, well, like plating. The gray and bronze finishes are done by chemical and heat treatments, so they show the true surface of the material rather than a coating. Anyway I've had better luck selling solid metal. Also if you might have prongs or other areas that need to be manipulated or hand finished after printing, plating will of course not stand up to that.