Check out the latest tutorial from Erin St. Blaine: design and create 3d printed mesh “armor” and make it glow! From the guide:
Design and create glowing scales in your favorite shape and add NeoPixel strand lights inside for a stunning display of animated lights.
These are so easy to add to any costume or design. This guide shows you how to create your design in TinkerCad, a free online 3D design program. You can print your armor at home or use an online printing service. Hot-glue a strand of NeoPixels inside and control your project with a Gemma M0 or microcontroller of your choice.
The guide includes sample designs using a heart shape, as well as a mermaid scale shape, and instructions on how to create your own design in the shape of your choice. It also includes a 3d printable enclosure design for your Gemma M0 and battery.
A curious mind and a makerspace results in interesting potential. Previously I had explained my intention to create a ring with the materials in my local MakerSpace of Pumping Station One. The last month was dedicated to a bunch of preparation and learning the process. It has been an immense experience that is still continuing, but I will inform everyone about the first developments of this project and follow ups as needed.
Original Ring Design
Firstly, I was curious and wandering around Pumping Station One and learned about the Small Metals Area. I just saw the material there and realized what I could do almost instantaneously. I am a firm component of being able to create items for oneself. It is a very empowering mindset to realize that we can do things for ourselves. Coming up with an idea and driving it to completion is a great feeling and experience. Honestly, it is one of the best feelings I get within this world. But let’s stop my geeking out, and let’s get into the details.
I wanted a lion ring. I then put in substantial effort towards this goal. To create this ring I utilized carver’s wax initially for the body of the piece. Then I found a 3D printed lionhead online that I thought was stylish. This then was used for the front facing design of the model. I attached this onto the ring body with sticky wax in a uniform manner. This then created my prototypical design for a ring. The majority of the work done in this stage was dedicated to sanding, as well as molding the ring, to the specific weight I wanted to use. This work took a couple of days of crafting, but now that I understand the process more, it will take even less time than the next time I want to do this.
Kiln
The next part of this project was filled with lots of hot wax and continuous failure. Sprues of hot wax are needed in terms of attaching a model. This model is plastic and wax, which means that it will be burned within a kiln for metal creation purposes. Chemistry is a fun thing, but I digress.
The sprues must be attached in almost a tree-like structure in order for an item to be cast from plastic or wax into a metal such as silver. This tree structure is placed in a container. In order to cast this, we utilize silicon powder. The silicon powder is weighed in terms of a conversion sheet that a jeweler would use. Then it is mixed with water in order to create a gel. This gel is placed into the aforementioned container and it is left there until it hardens. Once it hardens the container is prepped for placement within the kiln. Mind you, a kiln temperature is around 1500 degrees Fahrenheit. So it is indeed a dangerous process if one is not careful.
Ring After
Once the container is taken out of the kiln, it is now important to understand the conversion of plastic or wax into metal. The tree like structure built is now flipped upside down. A metal of a choice is also melted at a very high temperature. Again, high temperatures are dangerous. Fortunately, I had the help of people at Pumping Station One. This metal is then poured into the container that was taken out of the kiln. The molten metal travels down the tree-like system and it effectively burns the plastic and wax. The silicon powder essentially holds the piece in place and creates a barrier so that the material does not dissipate and lose form. When the molten metal cools down, the container then may be taken to a water bath for cooling. This then concludes the first part of the process. What is needed after this is post-processing, and I will tackle that in a new article.
Ukrainian company D3D-s was founded four years ago by father and son team Leonid and Denys Nazarenko, and last year they successfully raised $250,000 through Kickstarter for their first desktop 3D scanner. The duo built the structure, and the accompanying software, for their highly accurate scanner from scratch, and are now in the middle of another crowdfunding campaign for a jewelry LED-line desktop 3D scanner that promises retina resolution for even large models.
“Our D3D-s scanner takes advantage of LED-line technology, combining incredible accuracy and a price you can afford. Our sophisticated software achieves exceptional results when scanning jewelry,” the Kickstarter campaign page reads.
Most 3D jewelry scanners use projection technology, which typically requires components like projectors and cameras that are by no means affordable to the average amateur consumer or self-employed jeweler. The Nazarenkos list, for example, the B9 Scan350 jewelry projection scanner, which offers only two motion directions, a 1.3 MP camera, and costs a hefty $15,000. But the new D3D-s scanner uses a high-quality 5MP resolution camera and an inexpensive LED projector, which offers six motion directions, emits only one line, and is available to Kickstarter backers for just $4,000 – still expensive by my standards, but definitely a much more reasonable cost.
The company’s website explains how it was able to achieve this feat:
“The scanner is made of parts that are used in 3D printers and can be purchased one piece at a time. Only a few parts, such as the projector, mount, etc., are manufactured to order in small batches. Thus, we don’t have to make a huge batch of scanners. This significantly reduces our costs and investments.”
The D3D-s is a turntable 3D scanner, and its vertical accuracy reaches 0.010 mm, with a 0.015 mm horizontal accuracy, which is very helpful in terms of discerning small details on jewelry. Its moving step resolution is 0.000625 mm – over 84 times the resolution of projection scanners. According to a press release from the company, developers actually had to “limit the maximum resolution in order to get clients a finished result within 7 minutes.”
The scanner’s external dimensions measure 600 x 300 x 420 mm, and it weighs about 10 kg. It uses Windows software, LED light 945 Luminous Flux (lm), and 2 x USB 3.0 connectivity. It is a mono-color 3D scanner, and while the scanning process is fully automated, a computer connection is required for autonomous scanning.
The D3D-s scanner had electronics specifically developed for its use, with a four-layer circuit board that efficiently distributes heat and an electric motor controlled by a L6472PD microcontroller, which makes it possible for the scanner to smoothly accelerate and slow the motor. Once you select the size of your scan and click the button, it’s smooth sailing, and you’ll get an accurate STL file at the end. Due to refined algorithms and mathematics, jewelers can successfully achieve a precise, highly accurate 3D model; to see some examples, check out D3D-s on Sketchfab.
One thing the D3D-s doesn’t offer is speed, but the company doesn’t think this is too big of a problem:
“Our scanner is one of the slowest in the world, but it will make you one of the fastest people! It does your work for you. You simply put the model on the table and that’s it. You can work on something else while you leave the D3D-s to handle all the hard work. No other scanner offers such luxury! Scanning with amazing accuracy, the D3D-s processes a huge amount of data and isn’t as fast as other less refined scanners. That said, it is more accurate and thorough than handheld scanning. Let the scanner scan!”
Did you know that for microscanning even temperature has an effect? This how we test it. pic.twitter.com/WojYpS0RLE
There are still over two weeks left in the Kickstarter campaign for the new D3D-s scanner, and the company has already raised over half the necessary funds. There are still some early bird rewards left as well. With its last crowdfunding campaign, D3D-s fulfilled its original commitment to the Kickstarter backers, and even went above and beyond by providing an updated USB 3.0 camera and advanced scanner body with new electronics. So if you’re in the market for a slow but accurate, less expensive jewelry 3D scanner, the D3D-s may be what you’re looking for.
Discuss this and other 3D printing topics at 3DPrintBoard.com or share your thoughts in the Facebook comments below.
Jorge Rojas is a Spanish jeweler and designer based in Hamburg, Germany. Rojas has developed his passion and craft over the years as a jewelry maker, training in the workshops of master jewelers in New York and teaching as a professor of Jewelry Design at the Centro de Estudios Joyeros de Madrid for more than 10 years before opening his own atelier. Rojas still collaborates with the school, and is an active contributor to the jewelry magazine Gold & Time as a columnist and to the design magazine Experimenta as a blogger. His work has been exhibited at the Miró Foundation in Barcelona, Círculo de Bellas Artes in Madrid, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Málaga, the German Gemstone Museum in Idar-Oberstein, and the Cervantes Institute in Hamburg.
Now, with 4 years of 3D design experience under his belt, Rojas is utilizing the state-of-the-art 3D printing services offered by Shapeways to create a new, ultramodern collection which marries organic forms, shapes and elements with cutting-edge technologies to create unique, evocative pieces of wearable art.
The New Collection
In his new collection, Rojas utilizes strategic void space in his designs to create sculptural “containers of emotion” within each piece. To Rojas, a piece of jewelry’s true value lies in the emotion it is imbued with, both by the creator during the design process, and by the wearer when it becomes a part of their life story. According to Rojas, when a jewel is gifted, it then takes on an emotion, which becomes a memory, and is rendered an intrinsic part of the jewel.
The dynamic forms and fundamental structures which comprise each piece of this collection echo the essential building blocks of our universe, and indeed, through this collection Rojas is recreating and refining his own creative universe, with a series of offerings which hold space for the emotions of those who would use his pieces to celebrate and commemorate life.
Why Rojas Uses 3D Printing
Using 3D printing as a means of production offers many benefits to Rojas, including the opportunity to create realistic visual renderings of ideas quickly and effectively, before producing the designs in more precious and costly materials. As a designer and project manager who offers customized design services to clients from all over the world to help them realize their creative visions, this is very helpful to ensure structural quality and customer satisfaction. With 3D printing as their production method, Rojas and his clients also have the freedom to create jewelry from more novel materials, such as splintered black steel and laser-welded polymers.
“For the creative, it is a tool that multiplies the development options, making possible designs and production of pieces that before were technically impossible, or that they required an impossible investment of time,” explains Rojas. “I think there is a new way to enjoy jewelry, more personal and free, and that’s why I’m using the new technologies of 3D design and printing, applying all my knowledge of the trade and my creative freedom to offer original, fresh and very current [pieces].”
Our Cyber Monday offer has been extended until the end of Tuesday! Take an extra day to browse and shop on Shapeways.com for 15% off sitewide* with code HAPPYMONDAY.
This is truly our best offer of the year so don’t miss out. Set yourself a reminder to order before November 28 at 3AM EST.
Happy Holiday shopping!
*15% off discount applies to a designer’s own uploads and models in the Marketplace. Promo code HAPPYMONDAY must be entered at checkout. Code is valid for 4 uses per customer with a maximum discount of $250 USD per order before taxes and VAT. If you order a design during the promotion period that cannot be printed, we cannot apply discounts to future orders (even if these designs are repaired) that occur after this promotion has expired. Code cannot be combined with other discounts or offer codes, or applied to orders already placed. Discount does not apply to shipping. No cash value. Eligible with economy or priority manufacturing. Code is active starting November 26, 2018 at 12:01am Eastern Standard Time and expires November 28, 2018 at 3:00am Eastern Standard Time.
Enjoy 15% off sitewide* on Shapeways.com with code HAPPYMONDAY. Go ahead and fill your basket with unique holiday gifts for everyone. Order now to get them in time for the holidays!
*15% off discount applies to a designer’s own uploads and models in the Marketplace. Promo code HAPPYMONDAY must be entered at checkout. Code is valid for 4 uses per customer with a maximum discount of $250 USD per order before taxes and VAT. If you order a design during the promotion period that cannot be printed, we cannot apply discounts to future orders (even if these designs are repaired) that occur after this promotion has expired. Code cannot be combined with other discounts or offer codes, or applied to orders already placed. Discount does not apply to shipping. No cash value. Eligible with economy or priority manufacturing. Code is active starting November 26, 2018 at 12:01am Eastern Standard Time and expires November 27, 2018 at 3:00am Eastern Standard Time.
Need help with your design idea? Take 25% off your initial price† for Design with Shapeways services.
Happy Holidays from Shapeways!
*Promo code MADE4HOLIDAYS is good for 15% off models uploaded by the user that are unavailable in the marketplace. Code is valid for a maximum discount of $250 per order, 4 orders maximum per customer. Order must be placed during the offer period. If you order a design during the promotion period that cannot be printed or is rejected for any reason, we cannot apply discounts to future orders (even if the original designs are repaired and reordered). Code cannot be combined with other discounts or offer codes. No cash value. Discount does not apply to shipping. Eligible with economy or priority manufacturing. Code is active starting November 22, 2018 at 3:00am Eastern Standard Time and expires November 27, 2018 at 3:00am Eastern Standard Time.
‡Spring & Wonder 15% off discount applies to all products and materials on Spring & Wonder. Use promo code MADE4HOLIDAYS and discount applied before taxes, VAT and shipping. Limit one code use per customer. Discount cannot be combined with other discounts or offer codes, or applied to orders already placed. Discount does not apply to shipping. No cash value. Code is active starting November 22, 2018 at 12:01am Eastern Standard Time and expires November 27, 2018 at 3:00am Eastern Standard Time.
†The Design with Shapeways 2018 Holiday Promotion is good for 25% off the initial price for Design with Shapeways services. The discount will not apply to any additional charges required after the design request has been evaluated by the Design with Shapeways team or to the printing of any designed models. The initial design request must be placed during the promotion period to take advantage of the discount. The Design with Shapeways 2018 Holiday Promotion has no cash value. The promotion period begins at 12:00pm Eastern Standard Time on November 21, 2018 and ends at 3:00am Eastern Standard Time on November 27, 2018.
Take 15% off your own model starting tomorrow, November 22, through Monday, November 26. The discount is applicable to all models that you upload to shapeways.com, including those made with our Creator Apps and on Spring & Wonder.
We will reveal the discount code at 8AM GMT / 3Am EST tomorrow. Get a head start by uploading your model today!
The holidays are fast approaching and with them, the annual extended panic attack over finding exclamation-worthy gifts for all of your family and friends. But this year, instead of rushing through packed stores and standing on seemingly endless lines just to end up with something that doesn’t fully capture the uniqueness of your loved one, why not design the perfect present yourself? Shapeways makes it easy to create and customize a whole array of products so each one feels singular and made specifically for its recipient. Below we’ve assembled some of our favorite creator apps that can help you nail the holidays this year from the comfort of your own home.
The new destination for customizable jewelry, Spring & Wonder lets you select the shape, size, message, and material of a whole range of high-quality pieces, from necklaces to rings and earrings.
This app creates a ring with a sentimental surprise – built into the physical form of each ring is an encoded number of your choosing, which is only revealed when you shine light or look through it at the right angle.
Buying a present for the baker in your life? Make standard cookies a thing of the past with Cookie Caster, the app that allows you to draw and 3D print your own unique cookie cutter.
Our creators apps are for everyone, helping new as well as experienced 3D designers create their own perfect piece in a breeze. So skip the holiday rush this year and use Shapeways to create timeless gifts that show your loved ones exactly how well you know them.
