Jul.24, 2013
Shapeways has launched a new material... Gold Plated Brass!
Gold Plated Brass is a rich, highly polished material that's perfect for jewelry and precious objects. The base is solid brass, and the gold plating gives it a smooth, beautiful finish.
Gold Plated Brass models are fabricated using a complex five-step process. First, the model is printed in a wax using a specialized, high-resolution 3D printer. It is then put in a container where liquid plaster is poured in around it. Once the plaster sets, the wax is melted out in a furnace, and the remaining plaster becomes the mold. Molten brass is poured into this mold and allowed to harden. The plaster is broken away, and the brass piece is cleaned and polished. Finally, this piece is electroplated with a thin layer of nickel for durability and an outer layer of high quality 24K gold. The result is a smooth gloss finish comparable to a solid gold item.
Shapeways is currently conducting a one month trial through August 25th to test this new material.
Gold Plated Brass at a Glance:
Price per cm#: $35.00
Minimum Wall: 0.8mm
Max Bounding Box: 100 x 100 x 30 mm
Posted in 3D Printing Services
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This is not unusual... My company, Racecar Jewelry Co in Pawtucket RI has been casting customers rapid prototypes into bronze, brass and many other metals. In small volume production, we easily gold plate , rhodium plate our customers designs for themthe material. This is called the lost wax casting process. After casting, you give the item a polish .. then it gets plated. Not new and not complex. The key is having a castable Rapid prototype material or at least something that can easily be molded and then cast. Both are old Jewelry manufacturing methods.