| Clarification about the new policy on polished colors? [message #55164] Wed, 10 October 2012 22:30 UTC |
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Hello,
I just read the news that all colored SF prints will be polished before dying. I'm wondering if there could be some clarification about how this will affect models?
My models have 2 parts that fit tightly together with sharp interlocking teeth. If they are polished, how would this affect the tightness of the teeth? The teeth need to be very tight as the model is used for shooting stitched panorama photos and need to be stable and accurate.
To secure the parts to a tripod, I use a hex nut that slips into one of the parts. Since the prints can vary by up to 0.2mm, I've made the slot for the nut with about 0.1-0.15mm all around. Sometimes it's an exact fit and sometimes it's a bit loose. And sometimes it is very tight but the rough unpolished surface is slightly compressible and actually help grip and stabilize the nut. If the nut won't go into the slot, a light scraping of the rough unfinished surface will easily make the slot large enough for the nut to slip in. If the slot is printed too wide, I tell customers to wrap packaging tape around the nut to get a tighter fit. But now with polishing, will the slot become much larger? Will I have to design the slot to be smaller to compensate for the polishing? And now that the surface is smooth, would customers have problems trying to widen the slot with a knife if it comes out too tight?
Also, the newsletter says colors have been improved. Has the black been made darker, or is it still bluish?
Thanks
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| Re: Clarification about the new policy on polished colors? [message #55186 is a reply to message #55164 ] Thu, 11 October 2012 12:47 UTC |
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All the polishing should do, is knock off any rough powder on the surface of you model. So any parts that are structural should remain structural. It may be a little more difficult to shave off some material, but the easier to shave off material was the material polishing removes anyway. Also if they do need to cut into a polished colored model, the new color should penetrate much deeper, if not all the way through. So a cut won't negatively effect the color. WSF and BSF will still be available in unpolished still so those items won't be effected. I don't know if the Black dye is any different/better.
The Mad Moder
michael@shapeways.com
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