Wish For Wood As Printing Material

Discussion in 'Suggestions & Feedback' started by designgravity, Feb 11, 2017.

I am also interested in wood as shapeways material:

  1. Yes.

  2. No.

  3. Maybe.

Results are only viewable after voting.
  1. designgravity
    designgravity Active Member
    Some time ago I saw an older forum entry (I think from 2015), which asked shapeways for wood as a printing material. I can't find the post, but would like to ask if there is any news about. Will shapeways offer wood prints in the (near) future?

    I like natural materials like sandstone, wood, metals and porcelain etc. and print on my own printer objects with wood/PLA. For B2C and B2B prints I would like these (and other models) to be printed externally. This is why I currently look for print partners who offer wood 3D prints. Preferably not (only) the classic light wood, but different wood colors (especially nice brown and dark).

    Here are some own prints as examples of what I am looking for:

    Guardians of the Galaxy Plants 2.JPG
    (Green and brown wood)

    A_burgeoning_capsule_planter_4b.JPG
    (Green wood)

    Guardians of the Galaxy Light_11.JPG
    (Black and brown wood)
     
  2. Majuwely
    Majuwely Active Member
  3. designgravity
    designgravity Active Member
    @Marvin_J: Thank you for sharing your experience.

    @Shapeways team: Is woodprinting a topic at shapeways?
     
  4. Even I was wondering why did Shapeways stopped offering wood. Marvin_J did say about a few issues. But if people are producing items elsewhere, I don't think there are pure technological reasons behind it. Probably there was not much demand for this material earlier. IDK. Let me not speculate. But yes. I would love to print in this material. I can add so many more product lines with this addition.
     
  5. mkroeker
    mkroeker Well-Known Member
    It isn't that they stopped offering it, they never had it. There was a customer suggestion to offer this then-new material back in 2015 but shapeways never did much FDM printing except in the very early years. I guess the process is just too slow and does not scale as well as the powder or liquid based printing methods where they can easily put dozens of models in a single run.
     
  6. Youknowwho4eva
    Youknowwho4eva Well-Known Member
    Perhaps now that we do offer FDM again, it will be something we revisit. I remember there was a high demand when it was first introduced, but I haven't heard much about it the last couple years.