- Material Overview
- Design Guidelines
Available Finishes:
White Glossy
Black Glossy
Black Satin
Avocado Green Glossy
Pastel Yellow Glossy
Eggshell Blue Glossy
Ships in: 13 business days
Handling Fee Per Model: $0
Price Per cm2: $0.18/cm2 surface area
Minimum Wall: 3mm
Max Bounding Box: 340x240x170mm AND x+y+z<=400mm
Properties
Strength
Detail
Smoothness
Flexibility
Glossiness
Transparency
Ceramics is the first 3D printed food safe material available on Shapeways. The material is produced with fine ceramic powder, which is bound together with a binder, fired, and glaze with a lead-free, non-toxic finish. In addition to being food safe, the material is both recyclable and heat resistant. This material is perfect for cups, saucers, plates, and even statues and figurines.
When designing for Ceramics, please take a good read through our design rules. Ceramics is one of the trickier materials to design for because you need to design a model that is printable, glaze-able, and can withstand the high heat of the kiln and the structural changes the oven causes to your model. For example, the model will deform at different rates in the kiln, so sharp edges are likely to crack. Softer, curved edges are preferred and will glaze without risking cracks in the material surface. For some designs with clear bottoms, the bottom side may remain unglazed. This is because we need to stand up the designs when putting the glazed piece in the oven. For all other designs, we will put the design on setters, which mean very small portions of your model (where the setter touches the model) will not be glazed. Due to the nature of glazing some geometries may cause uneven distribution of the glaze on pieces. The glaze will add thickness to features on pieces.
This material is watertight, not dishwasher safe, is recyclable, and is food safe. It is heatproof to 500C/932F degrees. Higher temperatures may significantly change material properties.
Technical PDFs: Material Safety Data Sheet
Top Design Tips
- 1 Sandcastle Rule: If this structure was made of wet sand, would it break? - There's a part in the production process for ceramics 3D printing during which the model is fragile and brittle. It's basically like wet sand. When you design, ask yourself this question: if I made this out of wet sand or brittle clay, could I lift the design without it breaking? If the answer is "no," then your design might break in production.
- 2 Your model should have a strong and obvious base - These pieces need to be glazed. While they're being glazed (meaning it is toasting in the oven), they needs a base to support it. Pieces with a clear base will be much more likely to glaze well than pieces without a clear base. For pieces without a clear base, we have support structures, but the support structures might leave small dents or craters in the surface of the glaze.
- 3 Glazing adds thickness. - Glazing will reduce definition of design details, such as grooves will fill with glaze. Up to 1mm of glaze can be added in certain areas. This also dulls details. Glazed Ceramics is a material for large and rounded features, not sharp details.
- Read more Design Guidelines
Please note that the 3D printed products are intended for decorative purposes. They are not suited to be used as toys or to be given to underage children. The products should not come into contact with electricity and be kept away from heat. Our materials, except for 3D printed glazed ceramic, are not food safe.
