Hello, I wanted to make a ring ring some nice detailed filigree and I got halfway done before I remembered that Shapeways has thicker width standards than what I needed for the design. I then changed my direction a bit but tried to keep some of the overall look & feel I was going for, and this is the end product, though I would be putting gemstones into the 3 sets of prongs on top: http://shpws.me/QWJk I'm worried that this won't print well in polished black steel. Will it be fine, or should I change it? If so, anyone have tips, other than turn the design into an embossing? Thanks!
The design looks very nice. I haven't set any stones myself so I can't say for sure. But a few pieces that I have in Shapeways steel, they are super hard to bend, you might have a hard time closing the steel prongs onto the gem.
Evie.L is correct as usual. You may want to cast in brass, bronze, or silver. The minimums are less, so your design will look great! You may want to pre-notch the prongs to make life easier. You can use liver-of-sulfur to turn the metal black after you get it.
Yeah, I was considering bronze/brass as an alternative to steel, especially since I can re-apply the black tarnish on those if it wears off, whereas I think the black steel finish is harder to do so. With this ring, I'm really wanting a shiny, jet black metal, like in the render I'm including here. Is this possible with patina? Or would I need to electroplate the ring to get something like this? I figure if I use a cold, low concentration solution of liver of sulphur for a while to get a dark, thick patina and then polish it without removing the patina, I can get something similar. It doesn't seem like LOS gets bronze or brass this dark, though. I'm playing with my render though and a slightly bronze-ish but still dark color doesn't look half bad, tbh. It kinda brings out the orange in the citrine. Anyways, thanks for the input, I'll probably avoid the steel.