*sigh* Is Quality Getting Worse Again?

Discussion in 'Materials' started by FerretDesigns, Aug 3, 2018.

  1. FerretDesigns
    FerretDesigns Well-Known Member
    Just as I said a few weeks ago that the quality of the stainless steel and other finishes was getting better...

    1) I had a customer this morning show me the custom pendant I designed for her partners birthday had the 18k gold plating coming off after a couple of hours wear. My customer was understandably upset, and questioned that it was plated gold at all due to the coating rubbing away so fast!

    2) I had a large order come in with 4 pieces out of 23 unacceptable.
    3 steel pieces with bobbling, nicks, dents and ugly marks (on one or both sides).
    And 1 "Antique silver" piece that had no antiquing done to it although I was charged for it!

    Two complaints raised in one day.
    I'd been having most orders come through with little to no problem for ages, and now lots again

    Meeples2.Png

    Meeples.Png

    Faye_Gold_Plate_Issue1.png
     
  2. FerretDesigns
    FerretDesigns Well-Known Member
    So...The reprint came, and it's worse than original one.

    IMG_20180820_224327.jpg

    IMG_20180820_224455.jpg
     
  3. Ontogenie
    Ontogenie Well-Known Member
    Ugh. Maybe it would help if you thickened up the lines a bit? I know it's hard to compromise a design, but this one looks like you're always going to have problems when you try to print it in steel.

    That said, it seems like their decision to polish or not to polish depends on whether they're having a good day or not. I'd happily contribute an extra dollar or two for every piece to the polishing guy's kid's college fund if he/she would consistently polish my stuff. Or, at the very least, Shapeways should rewrite the steel design requirements so they accurately reflect the situation on the ground at ExOne. The printability checker says it's printable and polishable...but it isn't.
     
  4. Texelion
    Texelion Active Member
    It really feels like they try to cut corners to make 3D printing profitable instead of really charging what they should charge for quality. And despite that it's STILL too expensive for most people.

    It won't last, either they'll have to increase the price and do actual quality prints consistently, or people will stop buying since there is always a chance that you'll get a terrible product. I clearly see people ordering something once, get a bad print and never come back again. Aaaaand you've lost a potential returning customer.
     
  5. Ontogenie
    Ontogenie Well-Known Member
    With steel, I've had the best luck with pieces with large, solid expanses of material like these:
    arabid gold steel 1.jpg zebra steel side sq.jpg
    But the ones with wires and holes have recently turned out like the piece on the right below (the one on the left is from a couple of years ago). I've had to take this model off the market because ExOne simply refuses to polish it. Transparency in the design guidelines, that's all I'm asking for. This is no longer new technology.
    spiroidea fail.jpg
     
  6. FerretDesigns
    FerretDesigns Well-Known Member
    I've had other designs with thinner bits of steel come out just fine, so I assumed this would be also (see below photo). And I'm totally with you on paying a little more for that!

    I'm moving all my castables to a UK company that will make a re-usable mould, as I'm getting lots of variance in quality in casting now and SW is actually very expensive for what it is. I'm sticking with their steels for now as very few places actually do it...I just wish the consistency would go back to being better than about 4/5 prints being "good". Recently it was up closer to 9/10

    20160712_124440.jpg
     
    Ontogenie likes this.
  7. AC3d
    AC3d Member
    Along similar lines, has Shapeways changed their silver manufacturer (was in Boston?), or just their silver manufacturing process.

    Previously I'd just get some print lines on the mostly shiny unpolishable surfaces, and starting from about late July now I get a matte texture on unpolishable surfaces. Either is fine, but since the change I've been getting consistent warping and I'm literally having to bend $250 pieces back into shape.

    Whats going on, is it getting hot in there?
     
  8. Kaleidechse
    Kaleidechse Member
    Oh dear, so this is a widespread problem? I, too, received a steel print two days ago and was surprised to see some notable faults...
    Not only is it coarser than I expected for "polished" steel, but also there are places where the top surface layers kind of "slipped" upwards.

    It's most notable on the right hand - this ring should be exactly on the wrist joint:
    bottlebot_hand01.png


    On the other hand it is similar, but the layer only slipped by maybe half a millimeter.

    bottlebot_hand02.png


    Last but not least, the head sports a sharp ridge on one side:

    bottlebot_head.png


    I really wonder what happened there - did something knock the machine sideways while it was printing?
    Did the model fall apart before the bronze infusion?
     

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    Last edited: Sep 13, 2018
  9. he6agon
    he6agon Well-Known Member
    I love the Aphex Twin pendant. Too bad about the quality control...
     
  10. IntelXeon
    IntelXeon Well-Known Member
    shapeways should rename the material to 3d printed wrought iron..
     
    FerretDesigns and crashtestdummy like this.
  11. crashtestdummy
    crashtestdummy Well-Known Member
    I was thinking more like sponge iron.
     
    FerretDesigns likes this.