Sterling bounding box

Any plans on making it BIGGER?
Its really hard to get a large ring inside 30mm, while those other two, generous 110mm measurements watch on...laughing :confused

How big a ring are you wanting?

I have a desktop version of Twin Rail Mobius that takes 10mm balls (not for sale directly from me but via a 3rd party) - ok, it cuts it very fine on the bounding box limits. I just checked, the outer diameter is max 125.5mm with max height 26.7mm in the orientation as uploaded - somehow it works.

Paul
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stop4stuff Modeller for hireShapeways Shop - Controller PendantTwitterYouTube​

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Not much at all, Ive had a couple of rings out now by barely 1 or 2 mm-hence the frustration.
they were not overly flamboyant, ridiculous sized rings either.
It sucks because I don't want to alter the designs, i could sell smaller sizes, but it would seem a shame not to have all sizes available.
I also don't want to leave SW to do this as I've always been happy with the Sterling service, but I've seen other that offer bounding boxes with more practical sizes ie: wouldn't a 60mm cube be more accommodating for most Sterling objects (eg jewellery) than a box 110x110x30 ?

Dear Shapeways,
you have not replied to questions on the bounding size of sterling sliver posted in 2010 and 2011, it is now 2013, there are 3D printers which can print waxes to larger dimensions than your current of 30mm max.
If the sales volume is low on silver and not economical to purchase a new machine, how about also offering the sale of just the waxes without the casting, this will allow the end user more flexibility in what material they can cast in or use electroforming.

The limits of our silver, are the limits of our manufacturers printer.

We do not sell just the wax, as the wax is fragile. If we had a way to ship it economically without damage to anywhere in the world, we would offer it.

We are currently increasing in-house production. So when we get to in-house silver production, I'm sure a larger build will be considered.

Dear Shapeways,
thank you for the reply. If you are unwilling to ship the waxes are you considering materials to cast other than silver, such as bronze or brass?
Yours sincerely
Eyeeye

Well I'm not Shapeways. I'm just the forums moderator. So I can share some knowledge with you.

It is not that we are not willing to ship the wax. It logistically doesn't make sense for us to offer it.

Yes we are looking into other cast-able metals. Like I said I'm just the forums moderator, so I'm not aware of any updates on the progress of this.

There was a request thread for other materials that could be cast from the same wax prints, I'll go use the search function and see if I can find it for you.

Paul
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stop4stuff Modeller for hireShapeways Shop - Controller PendantTwitterYouTube​

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I'm sure the other materials wont have the detail, anyway the new developments sound hopeful .
It would be great to find somewhere that did wax...I would even pay a premium postage/make the designs sturdy enough to ensure they arrived in one piece. That said, I fully understand SWs decision not to.
The local casters here are good if you have your own wax, but the charges for them to print just one wax alone is astronomically out of my price range :/

I would definitely pay more too ... now I have $400 worth of FUD models that are pretty much useless for casting. One sample the casters did came out horrible. The FUD material expands before melting, and cracks the plaster. I wish there was more documentation from shapeways on this material's properties. The small / private jewelry industry would probably double SW's revenue if they used a material that could be burnt out properly...

Came across this page instructions to give your caster for casting FUD
Not sure if it's by someone who frequents the forums and haven't tried it myself... but worth a shot asking if your caster is open to it.
Post results!

Hey - I found that article too and discussed it with my caster - he said there is no way he would run his oven at that temperature , said it might burn out his element, but that might not be the case for casters with larger , hotter ovens ... Anyways , that's all I heard back. Cheers