anyone know if this gives you more of an aluminum type feel? I can't afford the prices of stainless or aluminum. wondering what's the next best bet.
Touch a sugar cube. That's how it feels. No metallic feel whatsoever. Can you afford to electroplate it? That would give it a metallic feel. Although, you would need to do the electroplating yourself or hire it out since Shapeways doesn't offer that service.
Here's some photos of a bracelet I recently had printed in metallic plastic. Looks pretty rough up close, but from farther away it has a nice effect. I don't know what you are planning, but hopefully these photos will give you a better idea about the metallic plastic.
I got my Apple Watch stand done in polished metallic plastic - came out pretty nice. It has a slightly cool-to-the-touch feeling, as well as a little weight and being more 'solid' than regular WSF.
I'd say it's actually very close to WSF in terms of roughness/surface feel. But a bit more rigid/less flexible (and thus also more brittle). I use it for pretty much all of my prints. Choosing for the polished version definitely makes it a lot smoother. I've tried soaking parts in hot water before which also made them much smoother. Be aware for deformation though! I was triggered by your comment @UniverseBecoming... Have you tried electroplating with metallic plastic? Any suggestions on where/how to have this done? Might actually be a good solution for my Cavity Cards as well... My knowledge and experience is limited here, but wouldn't the parts need to be conductive for this? I don't believe metallic plastic is since it's basically small Aluminum particles in Nylon right?
No, I have not plated Shapeways' metallic plastic. Yes, that's correct. It's not very conductive unless the voltage is very high. This is true for most plastics. What's typically done is to add a conductive coating first and then it can be electroplated. Take a look a Caswell's non conductive plating kits for doing it yourself. Or, there are lots of companies that will do it for you. One that comes to mind works specifically with 3D printed plastics and that is RePliForm. Here's a video from them explaining a little about it.
Hi leonoudehand Here is a photo of the same design in bronze steel, red polished plastic, and metallic plastic, to give you a comparison. The red plastic is smoother to look at and touch than the metallic plastic. Like what the others have said, it is nothing like any of the metals. It is a nice material, but if you want like for like look it just wont work.
thanks everyone. I was hoping to find something that would look close to alluminum....I wanted to print a mouser in that format and give it to someone as a gift, but even doing it small scale would be a tad on the expensive side. oh well, maybe one day ;o).