Combination Heart Necklace

Discussion in 'My Work In Progress' started by 35653_deleted, Jan 13, 2011.

  1. 35653_deleted
    35653_deleted Member
    With the success of my Linked Heart Necklaces, my boyfriend and I began pondering other lovey-dovey jewelry ideas. We both love the idea of a necklace where the halves fit together, but any two halves will fit together. The necklace must be as unique as the two people who share their love. Thus enters the Combination Heart Necklace, stage right!

    [​IMG]

    Each necklace is randomly generated by a Blender script based on a random or entered number (in this case, 42!). There are over a half million possible necklaces, so unless this sells way better than I was expecting, it's guaranteed to be completely unique. Only your sweetie's necklace will match up perfectly with it. In addition, each half can be customized with your initials!

    [​IMG]

    Just like a good relationship, this necklace was a joint effort. My wonderful boyfriend cyborg_ar is the one with the amazing programming skills, and this is his creation. I just have his permission to show it to y'all (and eventually sell it).
     
    Last edited: Jan 13, 2011
  2. 31665_deleted
    31665_deleted Member
    <3 that script is pretty comprehensive, all the customizations are fully automated to the point that it just churns out a STL file (had to write my own exporter as blender 2.56's was too buggy to be usable) ready to upload to Shapeways once it's done. That will allow us have very short turnaround times for our buyers!
     
  3. virtox
    virtox Active Member Moderator
    Very cool concept! :D I like random and scripts :)

    The segmented circles reminds me of something, but I can't put my finger on it..

    Also, how's 2.56 working for you and care to share the stl export part, I hate rewriting the wheel ? :)

    Cheers,

    Stijn
     
  4. 31665_deleted
    31665_deleted Member
  5. Now that is extremely interesting. I hope you'll pardon me if my first thought is "how does it work?" It's cool if you don't want to explain all the details, but here are two burning questions I have:

    How did you induce Blender to generate letters via python?

    I'm also curious how you ensure that a random combination would be printable? I'm assuming that the combination is based solely on rotation of the ring-halves, and not on splitting up the ring halves into smaller segments (since I can envision that making some very unprintable combinations).
     
  6. 31665_deleted
    31665_deleted Member
    I made 26 meshes (one for each letter) named them letterX where the X is the letter and then made the python script assign the mesh data of the mesh objects in the initials. (the obj exporter doesn't automatically convert curves to meshes so i had to make that kludge, ideally i'd just have used text objects)

    Oh i implement some vodoo magic and limitations to the movement of the rings to ensure all combinations are safe, (plus my script automatically places reinforcements to the mesh for optimal strength) still, i'm guessing at least a few thousands of those half million combinations are either a bit dangerous or too dull anyway, so we do a quick manual review before uploading, all takes minutes :)

    Right now we're organizing a bit to do some test prints and put this co-creator online :) also, would anyone be interested in a round medallion without the heart around it? (for a BFF medallion or so, or you just don't wanna be too cheesy) Where would be a good place for the initials?
     
  7. A round medallion, minus the heart, would be interesting. I would strongly suggest creating a circular pattern around the combination section. I bet you could do something very similar to what the heart-shaped one has. Part of what makes the piece appealing to me is the intersection of curves.
     
  8. 31665_deleted
    31665_deleted Member
    Just had this idea
    [​IMG]

    No idea where to put inscriptions in there tho, maybe in the top/lower part of the gear's rim, but idk if the font would print clearly at that size (about 3mm would be the max i could put there)

    Edit: I read somewhere letters that are carved rather than extruded can be printed at smaller sizes, i put them in the gear's theeth and used a boolean modifier to "carve" them out of the gear:
    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited: Jan 14, 2011
  9. 35653_deleted
    35653_deleted Member
    The rings would go well in a lot of shapes, not just hearts and gears... More to think about!
     
  10. 35653_deleted
    35653_deleted Member
    It's cutting it a little close for valentine's, but both the Combination Heart and Combination Medallion are up for sale.

    My prints are due to arrive in three days, and since there have been no error messages and all of the clearances are well within tolerances, I feel comfortable offering these up for sale right away. The markup will be also be heavily reduced until my prints come in. After all, I don't feel right trying to make a huge profit off unproven models. If you're feeling adventurous, though, come check them out!

    And remember, even if Valentine's day passes, it doesn't have to be a special occasion to get something nice for your sweetie ;)
     
  11. 31665_deleted
    31665_deleted Member
    :D I recommend orders to be made in the details materials, those have better chances of meshing correctly.
     
  12. So, these are not thick enough for a metal material?
     
  13. 35653_deleted
    35653_deleted Member
    With the recent confusion around metal wall thickness and what will print successfully, I don't want to offer it for sale in metal until I can order a metal print for myself.
     
  14. 31665_deleted
    31665_deleted Member
    besides, this piece is very complex and has tight tolerances, even i it works once we can't guarantee it will continue doing so, so by now it's not an option, sorry :) (even though i'd really love metal prints of it -_-)
     
    Last edited: Feb 1, 2011
  15. 35653_deleted
    35653_deleted Member
    Last edited: Feb 10, 2011