Shop Owner Archives - Perfect 3D Printing Filament

Meet the Fifth Grade 3D Designers of Trojan’s Tinker

Joining Creativity and Technology in Early Education

At Southeast of Saline Elementary school in Kansas, art and technology teacher Kinsy McVay challenged the students in his 5th grade art class to design and market their own 3D printed creations. “I believe that 3D printing is a great combination of my two interests that gives students a real-world application for their creativity,” Mr. McVay said.

Last year, Mr. McVay gave his students the opportunity to make their own custom fidget spinners and market them at school. After attending workshops about student entrepreneurship, Mr. McVay decided to take this idea to the next level and teach the students to create and market an object to the world outside of school and family by making their 3D printed designs available for purchase from their very own Shapeways online store, “Trojans Tinker”.

“I think knowing that anyone could order your design is really cool because we are only in the 5th grade and they could be talking about my design all the way in Canada.” said Kelli, a student in Mr. McVay’s class who designed a keychain.

The class decided that 50% of the profits from their shop would go to their classrooms and the other 50% would go to cancer research.

Exploring Inspiration and New Skills

The students followed tutorials and learned how to use Tinkercad to model their designs. “I feel that using Tinkercad was pretty easy. I liked that I could follow a lesson that would teach me how to do a certain thing.” said Charlotte, another student.

Mr. McVay left it up to the students to chose their final designs, as well as five materials available through Shapeways, and over the course of a few months they prototyped and refined their designs using the school’s 3D printers. The students then made posters and a video commercial to market their website and their Shapeways shop.

The Southeast of Saline students created a wide range of designs including keychains, plaques with positive messages like “Be Yourself” and small statues that include a Space Needle and a Roman Cathedral. They were inspired by their interests, friends and family, as well as causes dear to them.

“I was inspired to make my product for the kids that are getting bullied every day at school,” said Jackson, who designed a “Stop Bullying” keychain.

The Students’ Take on their Adventure into 3D Printing

The students will have a chance to examine their experience in order to provide feedback to next year’s 5th grade class. “My favorite part about 3D printing was just learning how to design things,” said Madison, who designed the Roman Cathedral. “Before we even started this project I had always thought 3D printing was cool. But then I actually had a chance to try it. I ended up picking a really hard lesson, but I still had a lot of fun.”

When asked what advice they would give to future students, many agreed that it was important to take one’s time but mainly to enjoy the process. Suttyn, who designed a cactus, said “It can be hard at times but it is a really fun thing to learn to do and getting to create whatever you want is really cool too.”

The students encourage anyone visiting their Shapeways shop to email them a quick hello so they can see how many people their shop has reached. Stop by the Trojans Tinker page to see these ambitious 5th graders’ designs!

The post Meet the Fifth Grade 3D Designers of Trojan’s Tinker appeared first on Shapeways Magazine.

How Our Etsy E-Commerce Integration Helped Grow Cityscape Rings’ Business

The Shapeways X Etsy E-Commerce Integration is a seamless way for Etsy shop owners to manage their orders and fulfillment directly on Shapeways. This exciting e-commerce integration also gives members of our community who may not be current Etsy users an opportunity to set up their own shop and expand their customer base.

We spoke with one of our creators who is using the Etsy E-commerce Integration to grow her business. Ola Shekhtman is the designer behind Cityscape Rings, a fine jewelry company that turns iconic city skylines into unique statement pieces. Below is her Shapeways story.

The term ‘Etsy’ is a registered trademark of Etsy, Inc. This application uses the Etsy API but is not endorsed or certified by Etsy, Inc.

The Freedom of 3D Printing

IT WOULD PROBABLY TAKE ME ABOUT 100 YEARS TO PRODUCE 1,000 OF MY RINGS BY HAND. IT ONLY TAKES SHAPEWAYS 2 TO 3 WEEKS TO CREATE AND SHIP THE SAME AMOUNT.

Cityscape Rings: 3D designing gives me three different kinds of freedom. The first: geographic freedom. I can live where I want, I can travel all year long – the only tool I need to have for my business is my laptop.

Then there is the creative freedom. Because Shapeways’ 3D technology is able to capture and render incredibly fine details, I never have to hold back in what I design. So many jewelers are amazed by the details of my Cityscape rings. Customers adore the miniature columns and statues that I’m able to build into each piece. It’s tricky to carve out windows and yet 3D printing makes it easy.

Finally there’s the freedom of time – it would probably take me about 100 years to produce 1,000 of my rings by hand. It only takes Shapeways 2 to 3 weeks to create and ship the same amount. With 3D modeling, I can design one city’s skyline once and then it is available to order in any quantity, forever. That allows me to pursue endless amounts of new designs.

London Ring by Cityscape Rings

Starting A Business With Shapeways

When I finished my first 3D model, I did some research to see where I could produce it. Shapeways was always the first name that popped up. I signed up easily, uploaded my model, checked the price, chose a material, made a simple payment and received a perfect quality product in the specified time.

One day I bought a large 3D printer with the intention of fulfilling my order by myself. I sold that printer 3 months later. Since I’m the owner of my business and its only employee, I play a lot of roles. I’m the designer, I’m the 24/7 customer service, I’m the marketing and PR specialist, as well as the accountant, analyst, and planner. I’m happy to have Shapeways handle the manufacturing, that way I can at least get some sleep.

Shapeways was my first experience and I still belong to Shapeways. I stay because of the continued quality of the product and the customer service – the customer support is brilliant!

“The Etsy E-Commerce Integration is Magic!”

The Etsy market is giant. It’s the tenth largest online marketplace. Etsy visitors are ready to buy – they’re searching with the intent to purchase. All you need are some high-quality photos, a captivating description, the right title and tags, and your customer will find you.

Before the Etsy integration, it took a while to place orders on Shapeways for my customers. The Etsy E-commerce integration is magic! Now I’m able to place an order without a single click. I have more free time to work on new ideas.

I also have a shop on the Shapeways Marketplace, which is essentially a stream of passive income. All I do is upload models on the website, add some photos and descriptions, and then once a month money immediately appears in my PayPal account. What could be easier?

This year, Cityscape Rings started to appear in some physical gift shops. My next plan is to conquer wholesale.

Connect your Etsy store with Shapeways

You too can have access to seamless order fulfillment for all of your products today.

The post How Our Etsy E-Commerce Integration Helped Grow Cityscape Rings’ Business appeared first on Shapeways Magazine.

How Our Etsy E-Commerce Integration Helped Expand Mythic Articulations’ Business

Shapeways e-commerce integration with Etsy

Shapeways and Etsy share a similar passion for supporting small business owners and making entrepreneurialism accessible and straightforward. So we couldn’t think of a more perfect partner to tap for an e-commerce integration, allowing Etsy shop owners to manage their orders and fulfillment directly from Shapeways. With this addition to the platform, selling and shipping your very own 3D printed product is easier than ever before.

To show you all the new possibilities our Etsy E-Commerce Integration presents, we spoke to Brian Richardson, a Shapeways community member who is using the link to expand his business. Richardson is the founder of Mythic Articulations, a company that specializes in creating 3D-printed mythical creature and cryptid skeletal models.

The term ‘Etsy’ is a registered trademark of Etsy, Inc. This application uses the Etsy API but is not endorsed or certified by Etsy, Inc.

Shapeways Makes 3D Printing Simple

“SHAPEWAYS WAS THE FIRST 3D PRINTING COMPANY I CAME ACROSS AND I STUCK WITH IT. THE PRICING IS STILL BETTER THAN THE COMPETITION FOR THE MATERIALS I TYPICALLY USE AND THE AUOTMATED CHECKS AND 3D TOOLS THEY OFFER MAKE CREATING PRINT-READY MODELS VERY SIMPLE”

Brian Richardson: I initially took up 3D modelling on a whim after finding the free program Sculptris by Pixologic. I very much enjoyed it and ended up teaching myself a bit more about it and eventually bought Z-Brush due to the plethora of additional features and ease of use it provided. When I decided I’d like to bring a sculpture or two into the real world, Shapeways was the first 3D printing company I came across and I stuck with it. The pricing is still better than the competition for the materials I typically use and the automated checks and 3D tools they offer make creating print-ready models very simple.

With Shapeways, it’s easy to get a model to the point where it will print without issue. The New York production facility is also located a few hours away from where I live, so orders generally get to me the day after they are shipped, which is always a plus.

Shapeways’ High-Quality Materials

Dragon Skeleton 3D Print Taxidermy Sculpture by Mythic Articulations

Most of the models I print are skeletons, which have many thin and intricate parts. I use Shapeways’ laser-sintered white nylon, partly because it gives a nice bone-like texture and appearance, but also because it requires no support material. I’ve recently acquired a small FDM printer but having to support the model as it prints takes a toll on the intricacy of the parts I can produce and the surface finish as well. Laser-sintered parts just have a nicer look and feel than ABS or PLA prints.

The Etsy E-commerce Integration

Selling on Etsy opens my sculptures up to a much wider audience than selling on Shapeways alone. Where the main focus of the Shapeways marketplace is 3D-printed items, the general vibe of Etsy is more handcrafted products and art/sculptures, which fits my products fairly well.

The sales channel integration will also allow me to transition away from manually re-packaging and re-shipping orders. This makes the whole business a bit more turn-key and will also lead to faster processing times for a good number of orders, as well as cheaper shipping, since the orders will go straight to the customers rather than going through me first. This will be especially helpful for foreign customers as most international orders will no longer be shipping from the US. Orders to the U.K. and France, for example, will instead ship from the Eindhoven facility, which should greatly reduce the delivery time and shipping cost.

I currently only sell my work on Etsy and Shapeways. My immediate plans are to transition the majority of the non-poseable skeletons I offer over to the Etsy-Shapeways sales integration.

Connect your Etsy store with Shapeways

You too can have access to seamless order fulfillment for all of your products today.

The post How Our Etsy E-Commerce Integration Helped Expand Mythic Articulations’ Business appeared first on Shapeways Magazine.

Expand Your Business With Our All-New Etsy Integration

We’ve heard your feedback and are thrilled to announce an all-new platform partnership with Etsy. With the launch of our Etsy E-commerce Integration, there’s now a seamless way for Etsy shop owners to manage their orders and fulfillment directly from Shapeways. This partnership also gives the members of our community who may not be current Etsy users an opportunity to set up their own shop and expand their customer base.

Etsy and Shapeways share a similar passion for supporting small business owners and making entrepreneurialism accessible and straightforward. Through this integration, selling and shipping your very own 3D printed product is easier than ever before. Etsy shop owners can now automatically push their orders to Shapeways and then ship directly to customers or their own locations. With multiple options available, users can truly customize delivery to fit their businesses’ needs.

We can’t wait to see how this new e-commerce integration helps you eliminate the inconvenient administrative steps that often bog down a small business’ journey and devote more energy to creation and your customers. Get started now by setting up your free Etsy E-commerce Integration on the Shapeways E-commerce Integration page.

The post Expand Your Business With Our All-New Etsy Integration appeared first on Shapeways Magazine.

Twist Light Reinvents the Lighting Industry

What started out as an exploration into the flexible properties of different materials soon became a revolutionary product for Boston-based industrial designer Evan Gant. His design, the Twist Light, is a pendant light that transforms to adjust the brightness with a simple twist. At the start of his design process, Gant was making prototypes simply out of paper towel rolls. Then, seeing the product’s potential, he moved into using 3D printing to prototype the Twist Light.

“I started out trying to find a way to get some of my ideas out of my sketchbook and into a physical form,” Gant told Shapeways. “My first project was a printed ring for my wife as an anniversary present. Then I made a few items to use around the house before I decided to start selling some of my projects.”

From Paper Towel Rolls to 3D Printing

While using paper towel rolls was of help in the very beginning stages of the design process, Gant has now seen the many benefits to prototyping with 3D printing. In fact, he notes that using companies like Shapeways over traditional manufacturing methods — like injection molding — has proved to have many more benefits than expected.

Array pendant light made by Evan Gant, shop owner of OliveBird

Array by OliveBird

“It gives me an opportunity to try ideas out and get them in people’s hands rather than committing to a larger scale production. I also love that I can test out people’s interest in an idea and see what feedback I get from selling/sharing the ideas. It is very easy to make changes, or even scrap the idea and move on without feeling like I am too invested. My favorite part of the design process is iterating and seeing the reaction to ideas. In a traditional process (like injection molding), a large portion of your time is spent optimizing from a mold, finding a vender that will make you parts, doing quality control, etc. You often need to make a lot of compromises to your design in the end.”

Choosing 3D Printing Over Desktop Printing

On the flip side, Gant notes the benefits of using Shapeways over other 3D printing methods like desktop printing, saying, “I love having access to the variety of printing methods. I can switch between materials, colors build volumes, etc. If I had a home machine, I would have to stock the materials, maintain the machine and probably deal with a small build volume, or have a very expensive machine. Also, most of the affordable home machines are FDM, which is a great process but has limitations in terms of surface finish and level of detail.”

Twist pendant light made by Evan Gant, shop owner of OliveBird

Twist by OliveBird

The Twist Light is now in its 4th iteration and only getting better. Gant explains the constant need for it to be dimensionally accurate, as well as for it to have good aesthetics.

“Given that I would like to sell the ideas with no secondary finishes, I need the parts to look good when they come out of the printer, which is why I really like the durable and flexible plastics. It is cleaner than an FDM while being flexible and durable (obviously), and the cost per square inch is reasonable.”

As he moves forward with his product, Gant is excited to see it come to fruition. He applauds Shapeways for our customer service and low costs, among other benefits.

“I think that Shapeways is a very customer friendly service, easy to understand the costs and build limitations. The best part for me is the ease of which I can turn ideas around into something I can sell, which I can use to fund my next project. I have appreciated Shapeways sharing my projects in the past and driving more sales.”

Interested in 3D Printing for Your Business?

Interested in manufacturing with 3D printing? Contact us to learn about all the ways Shapeways can aid your business.

The post Twist Light Reinvents the Lighting Industry appeared first on Shapeways Magazine.

The World at Your Fingertips: Ola Shekhtman’s Cityscape Ring Collection

Ola Shekhtman, 3D designer, jewelry maker, owner of Wearable Cityscapes

Ola Shekhtman, 3D designer and owner of Wearable Cityscapes

Meet Ola Shekhtman

Ola Shekhtman is a 3D designer, jewelry maker, and avid traveler who uses 3D printing to realize her most worldly ambitions. After learning jewelry making in Saint Petersburg and 3D modeling in New York, Shekhtman now utilizes the freedom afforded to her by 3D printing to manufacture and sell her designs from anywhere on Earth with a Wi-Fi hookup. Since conceiving of her Cityscape collection, Shekhtman has called the U.S., Israel, and then Canada her home, and is currently based in Berlin, for now.

“Traveling is my powerful engine and my high quality fuel is feedback from my customers,” says Shekhtman. “Every day I receive messages with stories what Cityscape Rings mean for people, and I am very thankful to each of my customer who shares touching story with me. It gives my work great meaning.”

Shekhtman’s rings retail on Etsy, Shopify, and Uncommon Goods, as well as on the Shapeways Marketplace. Soon, Shekhtman hopes to have them retail in museums and galleries, and in brick and mortar shops.

Inspiration and Process

The Cityscape ring collection was born from Ola Shekhtman’s love of architecture and travel. At home after a trip to France, Shekhtman was searching for something special to keep the memories of her travels close at hand. She imagined wrapping the iconic landmarks of Paris around her finger and wearing them as jewelry. Finding nothing like her vision on the market, Shekhtman decided to try her hand at creating the keepsake herself.

Paris Ring, Made by Wearable Cityscapes

It took Shekhtman about six months to create her first Cityscape design, the Paris ring. She placed an order with Shapeways, and in two weeks, a prototype arrived at her desk. Delighted by the beauty and wearability of her design, and realizing that the concept she had created had potential to spark joy for people other than herself, Shekhtman posted photos of the Paris ring to social media. Within a couple of months she received her first custom order, from a client wanting a ring for his wife on their ten-year wedding anniversary, honoring Edinburgh, the city where they had wed. Says Shekhtman, “The process of 3D modeling the Edinburgh ring absorbed me for 3 weeks. But it was worth it. The client was delighted by the ring and I gained confidence that I can provide people with something to keep their warm memories about special events that happened in particular places.”

Edinburgh Ring, Made by Wearable Cityscapes

Now, it takes Shekhtman only 12 to 15 hours to 3D model a new ring. For each new city she renders in ring form, Shekhtman first studies the architecture and chooses the best buildings to model, based on their relevance to the city’s culture, and how well they will translate onto a ring. Then, she 3D models each building in careful proportion. For rings of different sizes, Shekhtman will add or remove buildings rather than stretch or squeeze the design so as to maintain maximum recognizability. Once she has her design fully rendered in 3D modeling software, she submits an order to Shapeways, and two weeks later she is able to try on her new design.

Shekhtman x Shapeways

Shekhtman is a trained goldsmith, and though she sometimes misses handcrafting her jewelry designs, she says of 3D printing, “3D gives me three kinds of freedom: 1. Geographic freedom. I can live where I want and travel all year long, and the only tool I need to have with me is my laptop. 2. Freedom of creativity. Details rule! Customers adore buildings with columns and tiny statues, which I create in 3D software. It is tricky to pierce windows [by hand] and 3D lets me make it easily. And, 3. Freedom of time – To make 1000 rings by hand I would spend nearly 100 years. Shapeways can produce this amount in 2-3 weeks. Using 3D modeling I can make a city once and it is available to order in any quantity, forever, which frees me up for new designs.”

Indeed, since the collection’s inception in 2015, Shekhtman has sold over 6,000 Cityscape Rings—an impossible achievement were she making each ring by hand. Of her shop on the Shapeways Marketplace, Shekhtman says, “It is my first passive income. All I need to do is upload models, photos of real products from different views, and detailed descriptions to help potential customers make a purchase.”

The post The World at Your Fingertips: Ola Shekhtman’s Cityscape Ring Collection appeared first on Shapeways Magazine.