Shapeways: Build Your Stainless Steel 3D Design

Shapeways introduces today Tuesday 4th of August the possibility to print your 3D models in stainless steel.

This is a great innovation for 3D printing. Shapeways has also offered precious metals for this service, including pure silver, and the release of Stainless Steel printing will be the first made-to-order metal printing service available.

Stainless Steel printing is a completely new technology – stainless steel powder is deposited in thin layers, combined with a binding material, and built one layer at a time to the specifications of its designer.  The final product is infused with bronze and oven-cured (don't misunderstand this, the color of the figure will be silver, not bronze, it is not visible and just added to give extra hardness).

In this video you can see a metal 3D printed stainless steel moebius strip, made by the designer Andre Bois, a Shapeways community member.

After cooling, the models can be left in the original steel finish or tumbled to get a great polished look,  and a variety of finish and color options are available.

“After our offer for pre-designed stainless steel Ringpoems and cufflinks, we are now making 3D printing in metal available to everyone and for all products. This is a truly unique service that we are proud to announce. It is yet another step in Shapeways’ continued commitment to deliver personalized production capabilities to everyone in the widest range of materials”
- Peter Weijmarshausen, CEO of Shapeways.

The service has both practical and artistic applications, for anything from machine parts and tool molds to figurines, jewelry and home décor.  Shapeways also offers both options for submitting your own three-dimensional concept, as well as a library of object templates with customization options. 

Pricing is reasonable with $10.00 per cm^3. At this price level unique rings can be made for $ 4.70 only. Combining the creative power of Shapeways users with this new feature, there will be no limit to the creative and functional applications of 3D printing in metal. Visit www.shapeways.com to get started.

Also read this page to see more details about the printing in metal, to know more details on how is the finishing and delivery times.

-Jordi R. Cardona-

© by Jordi R. Cardona. Link to this post without copying the text.

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