So let’s have another take on finding the gold in 3D printing. After all,it is a highly prized material. Well Shapeways of 3D printing fame are developing a niche that they hope will become profitable for them.
The company based in New York of Dutch heritage are now offering products in 14 carat gold which are created from 3D prints, adding to the other metals offered which include silver, brass, bronze and steel. However, without stealing their thunder, 3D printing in gold is not exactly what they are doing and so the term itself appearing in the blogosphere is a little misleading. Shapeways are in fact a great example of companies trying to find the gold in 3D printing using moulding. In other words they are complementing the manufacturing process. This is where it all gets interesting for 3D printing – when you couple it with a traditonal manufacturing process. Another example of this marriage is given where Legacy Effects 3D printed master moulds for Robocop costumes which were used to film the forthcoming Hollywood blockbuster.
The process is as follows:
Shapeways first 3D prints the model in wax to a very high resolution. This is the relatively new and exciting part per se. However, they then return to one of the ancient and traditional processes of smelting items in gold. The wax model is put in a container where liquid plaster is poured around it. After the plaster has set, the mould is placed into a furnace where the wax melts and is duly extracted. This leaves a perfect cavity in the plaster which can be filled with molten gold. When the gold has set the plaster can be easily removed,leaving the gold item intact. Voilà! the item can then be hand polished in the time honoured manner and dispatched to the customer in a nice box.
As a quick aside: looking at this process it is a little puzzling why Shapeways would 3D print in wax as the mould depression is destroyed each time. Surely it would be better to make a permanent mould even in a multi-stage process. Perhaps they have good reasons not to proceed in that manner.
The Shapeways service doesn’t come cheap and it is not the cost of the gold. A recent news item suggested that the gold pendant below costs $900. In fairness though to Shapeways, the items made are very likely to be produced in low volumes. There is also the opportunity to customise. Potentially it means you could end up owning a unique piece of jewellry. In that context $900 is not that expensive at all.
Shapeways now 3D prints in gold
You can find a good selection of 3D printers who will quote and make items in metal here as well by clicking the Makexyz 3D printing service.