Description
Models made in stainless steel are printed in stainless steel powder that is infused with bronze. Stainless steel is the cheapest form of metal printing, very strong and suitable for very large objects.
Color
The color of the material is silver colored. The material is polished by default. Unpolished spots like tiny holes stay darker than the polished surfaces. Other finishes are Medieval Pewter and Wheat Penny.
Finishes from left to right: Old Silver, Wheat Penny and Medieval Pewter.
Pricing info
- Up to 5 cm³ model volume: $35.00
- For every extra cm³ above 5 cm3 till 40 cm³: $8.00
- For every extra cm3 above 40cm³: 7.5$
Our pricing scheme is meant to encourage models of 5 cm³ and larger because we want to encourage you to make bigger things. There is now also extra discount for compact models. The more material you have within the imaginary box around your model, the bigger your discount becomes for the same model volume. So the pricing scheme is the maximum price you will pay. To know the real (discounted) price, upload your design.
Examples:
- The maximum price for a model with a volume of 3 cm³ will be $35.00
- The maximum price for a model with a volume of 8 cm³ will be $35.00 + (8-5) * $8.00 = $59.00
- The maximum price for a model with a volume of 11 cm³ will be $35.00 + (11-5) * $8.00 = $83.00
- The maximum price for a model with a volume of 45 cm³ will be $35.00 + (40-5) * $8.00 + (45-40)*7.5 = $352.50
The price is first calculated in dollar and then converted to euro for non-US customers.
Typical use
Stainless Steel can be used for robust, functional, decorative but not too thin models. Not possible are interlinked chains or designs that have very thin unsupported structures emanating from them.
You could make jewelry with Stainless Steel 3D printing. But, please be aware that the material contains bronze and skin irritations and redness have been known to occur.
Technology
The technique used to build your design with stainless steel is steel 3D printing. The process itself takes 5 days and involves a lot of steps, machinery and labor.
- Stainless Steel powder is spread out in the printer.
- A printing head deposits binder on the parts that will become your design.
- A heating lamp dries the layer.
- A roller rolls out a new layer of powder for the next layer of your design.
- Repeat.
- The model is now very fragile and porous. It is put in a curing oven for 24 hours.
- After this the loose powder is removed.
- Bronze powder is added.
- Your design then goes into another oven for 24 hours.
- The bronze is infused into the design and hardens.
- Supports are then removed and the model is given its finish.