ustream live webcast: offering includement ideas

Hello,

I've seen your last liveblog on ustream (not live).

There you asked about ideas what you could
offer to inlude to the shippments beside the
new erarringhooks and necklace.

Well, here are mine:

In the galleries there are some games-of-skill and puzzles which needs balls to work and to be complete. I'am also planning to design these kind of objects in the future. So I thought to offer to include steel balls of various sizes lets say from 2mm to 10mm would be a good idea (marbles would also be fine, more beautiful but lighter in mass and more expensive)

Another thing would be miniature ball bearings for very smooth running multi-part-assemblies such as artistic mobiles and diverse mechanical parts. But I guess there is not enough demand and it may be to much a special case to be economic.
As a project for myself I am thinking of two mechanical-rotation oszillators coupled via an differential gear to demonstrate the analogy between electronic components and mechanic machine elements ( and to have a nice toy )

Here is one bearing which might be of special interest:
MR 63 ZZ - 3x6x2.5mm -- closed with metal
MR 63 - 3x6x2.0mm -- open
Microbearings are aviable at least down to the really tiny 3mm outer and 1mm inner diameter (1x3x1.0) ones.

kind regards
lukas

Hey Lukas,

thanks for your feedback! I'll make sure Peter Paul, who's in charge of this, reads your suggestion.

Bart

Good input. Thanks!

Marbles look quite easy to ball bearings might be more difficult to find a version that can be used for many models.

Some thing like a magnet which can be very brought applicable for stainless steel... is that something you can use?

Hi all,

I'd like to see marbles (5/8'') for my marbles pendants:
- Original Marble Pendant
- Marble Pendant v2
- Marble Pendant v3
Magnets would be great to make personalized refrigerator magnets (if glued back to sandstone objects with a flat side, for instance)...

Magic

pp:
>>ball bearings might be more difficult to find a version that can be used for many models<<

Thats why I suggested one above.
Here's how I came to the conclusion that this would be a good one:

Up to a certain point smaller is better because: for bigger parts you probably need bigger bearings only if you want to run them under high speeds & loads, but thats not the case in the majority of potential prints here I guess.

So I've choosen a bearing with an inner diameter just enough that an fitting axis would be printed considerably round
(3mm -> 30layers). And with an outer diameter (6mm) which still can be integrated into smaller designs.
Also it was the smallest bearing to which I found a "Freilauflager" (=sliding bearing?) with same inner diameter (this: HF0306, 3x6x5).

The smallest ball bearing I found was this teeny weeny (681 offen, 1x3x1)
with only 3mm outer diameter. This is not so far away from the 3mm one.

So I think 1, 2 and 3mm inner diameter bearings are the most interesting.
There is the same problem with the steel balls which sizes to choose.

I think the problem with bearings is rather that they might not be adepted
because ball bearings are only usable in combinatory manufacturing
and that is not exactly what everyone does.
(But maybe it would enforce that?)



About magnets:

Personally I haven't desired magentes yet but, i'm sure others will.
Here again: which sizee, which strengths, which geometries?

Bear in mind (no pun intended) that ballbearings can have quite a few other uses too. Off the top of my head, I can see them being useful in combination with the magnets to attach hot-swappable components together. Examples that come to mind include model makers who want to add interchangeable weapons to their vehicles etc, and also look at things like Mega Bloks' Mag Warriors, which use a combination of steel bearings and magnets to provide articulated interchangeable body parts.
The most versatile magnets I could think of would be rare earth disc magnets; even small ones are very powerful, and you could probably cover most people's needs with two or three sizes.

Andy

I agree, somewhat. There are things many people use that can be bought in bulk. Other things, not so much. It's not feasible for them to stock many slow moving items...it's costly and confusing.
I suggest that we might ship items to Shapeways for inclusion in our models if the overall demand isn't enough for them to maintain a stock. An example might be stickers for some of the amazing puzzles here. If they were packaged into kits, then one kit could easily be included with each order