Gumball posted some images in the It Arrived forum of a couple of my dice designs after he antiqued them... They look fantastic. (You'll have to scroll down a bit in the thread to see what I mean.) Is there any chance that Shapeways could offer some sort of weathering or antiquing as a finishing option for metals? I would like to be able to offer that look to my customers out of the box.
That is good suggestion. However, something more interesting would be some sort of hardening or annealing or carbon cooking. If it were possible to further harden the Stainless Steel, buyers would have many applications for this technique. Ex. Tool and Die Making, cookware, kitchen ware, industrial uses, mechanical uses, and further medical uses. Thanks!
Seeing shapeways is for Decorative purposes only, Making the parts harder to be functional or more functional wouldn't follow those guidelines. How ever the antiquing would add to the decorative nature of the pieces. Overall though I think it would be cheaper as a DIY. I keep hoping for a day when I can upload Post Production instructions to be printed and sent with my items.
As a thought, maybe you could link to something in your description. I'm planning to do something like that with my robot kits to help customers with assembly. Andy
Ask Dizingof about people reading his page about his iPhone 4 dock. I guarantee, most will complain about how hard it was to assemble without directions. Now if they see a piece of paper in there box, they'll say "what's this?" and look to see that it is instructions.
My Dock for the new iPhone 4 is really simple to assemble - just slide one part to another until you here a "click". That's it. Yet , it would seem surfers don't really read the description of the model - i had to emphasize that buyer has to order the 2 parts.. but only 1 success so far with that.. other customers canceled.. I will however test Youknowwho4eva's suggestions to overlay a text on the pics with instruction... (a picture is worth 1000's words...) ex: "Step 1 - Hold parts against each other" "Step 2 - Slide part 2 into part one until you here a click" "Step 3 - Insert your USB cable from the top all the way" "Step 4 - Insert cable to the tiny hole in the back" "Step 5 - You're DONE - Enjoy !"
Back to the possibility of having Shapeways antique metal objects, does anyone else think that the extra expense would be worth worth being able to offer it as a finishing option on the site?
I think so. Especially if it's just a case of a coat of black in the recesses before polishing (possibly finished with a sealant), it probably wouldn't even need to be much more expensive, and I agree that while it's not hard to do with your own models, it would be nice to be offer the same effects to your customers. Andy
Who says Shapeways is for Decorative purposes only? Read here in the "About Us". It is about making your 3D designs come to life. Why would they want to limit to decorative designs only? There is much grander market for functional designs! And with that I prepose the addition of additional metals and finishes. Stronger more functional metals and better looking, more functional finishes. And I am not saying decorative finishes only. But working finishes. Carbon adding, annealing, oil treating, there is more then 20 different things that can be done to metal to give it different qualities and finishes after it is sintered. I hope this message falls on the appropriate ears!
There are now many items on Shapeways that are being used for more than decorative items including Dizingof's range, the Road Popper, and many more. If Shapeways get enough request for more metal post production it will be added to the wish list. Thanks.
Hey Duann, About the non decorative usage... just now i opened a "Yippee!" email .. someone just ordered 10 X of my Kitchen Stand for iPad ... You gotta love Shapeways ! Cheers, Dizingof
I'm gonna bump this one again... I really want to see if there's enough interest in antiquing to warrant it being offered as a pre-shipping finishing option. If you are interested in this option, or if you have any other thoughts at all, please weigh in.