Ping: Trav (3-d printing)

[rickvs]

I've recently tripped across a site at which I may set up a shop:

http://www.shapeways.com/

I've seen a couple of Green Lantern ring models available for sale, but I dunno if they are shipped already painted or not. I don't have a source to have green anodizing added later, but I expect it can be done somewhere.

Myself, I've got an idea about a gift for my mother (and also her aunt):

Have you seen those cubes with a letter drilled all the way through one face to the other side, and two different letters drilled through each of the other axes?

Since the tolerance of Shapeways' production process looks to be less than a millimeter, I think I can make a necklace pendant that reads "Father", "Son", "Holy Spirit" ...one from each direction, each passing all the way through. Maybe I'll shear the cube into more of a rhombus, so all the text can be seen when the pendant is just hanging free. This seems like a pretty obvious design, especially given all the different analogies I was told as a child in an attempt to explain the Christian Trinity concept, but I don't seem to find that anyone's manufactured it elsewhere (!)

I'm also looking into replacement parts for my boss's old printers -- I think having some of the gears reproduced in metal may make them strong enough to tolerate daily use inside a production machine, although I don't think Shapeways will officially warranty them for such wear and tear.

I'll have to talk this over with my boss, but I've got a bunch of ideas dancing through my head :>

Comments

[twfarlan.livejournal.com]

Cool.