While the overall 3D printing industry largely focuses on enterprises and industrial uses, Shapeways exists to take the power of that innovation and put it in the hands of people who otherwise wouldn’t have access to it. Unlike the early consumer 3D printing industry that focused on desktop printers, we created a service business model that enables creators to access the best and most innovative technologies without constantly buying new machines themselves.

EOS has been a key partner, providing the most innovative technology for selective laser sintering (SLS), or powder bed infusion. The company is the leading machine manufacturer and materials supplier for SLS industrial 3D printing, which is known for having the best repeatable quality result — key to serving our million-strong community of creators. EOS also gives Shapeways a competitive advantage beyond quality and consistency: access to material parameters unavailable from other technologies — in any color, size, or repeatable dimensional accuracy. The powder bed acts as a natural support structure for parts, enabling geometries that are difficult to print with stereolithography and fused filament fabrication. And quite simply, it is one of the most forgiving materials processes as the world of 3D creators rapidly expands – with versatility for tech accessories, jewelry, eyewear, scaled models, fixture, mechanical parts, and more.

Our factories house 19 industrial-sized EOS 3D systems that print thousands of products at once, running 24/7. With roughly 200,000 unique designs uploaded each month, we’re pioneering high-mix, high volume production.

As Adam Penna, EOS Sales and Marketing Lead put it, “We have supported Shapeways since its early days and we’re listening closely to them as a customer and to their community for improvement of processes involved in the digital value chain related to industrialized production as well as innovation on what’s next.” At 5 million products printed, we and EOS are celebrating the milestone — and then getting back to work building the accessible 3D printing service of the future.

The post Our Community Makes History: Congrats on 5 Million Strong & Flexible Prints! appeared first on Shapeways Blog.

Material Properties

“Are the material properties the same between regular Strong & Flexible and Premium Strong & Flexible?”

Yes. The same material and printing process is used for Premium as our regular Strong & Flexible plastic material.

Appearance

“But how different is it from regular Strong and Flexible? Do you have any comparison photos?”

Premium adds a sheen to your product, giving it a more finished look. Due to the way it is processed, Premium will also have more color consistency across the geometry of the part. We know that there’s nothing like seeing the product in person, but hopefully these pictures provide a bit more detail.

Orchid Bracelet by Collected Edition

Black Strong & Flexible (left) and Premium Black Strong & Flexible (right)

Bracelet Bluups ORIGAMI R by Bluups

Black Strong & Flexible (left) and Premium Black Strong & Flexible (right)

Black Strong & Flexible (left) and Premium Black Strong & Flexible (right)

The sheen is more subtle for White. However, if you do any post-processing on your own, such as dyeing for your own custom color, your product will have much better color consistency with Premium. Additionally, you can expect the product to have a bit of sheen, as shown with the Black.

Feel & Surface Roughness

“How much smoother is Premium?”

Just saying Premium is smoother is vague. We get it. To quantify how much smoother Premium really is, we did some surface roughness tests.

A surface roughness tester quantifies the texture of a surface by measuring the distance between the peaks and valleys. The larger the distance and the higher the value, the rougher the surface. Small values indicate a smoother surface.

Surface roughness is measured by its Ra value. Ra is the average of these distances between the peaks and values on the surface to its “mean line.” You can think of the mean line as center line between the peaks and values.

We took 6 measurements on each sample. The averages of these values can be seen in the table below.

But so what? What does this mean?

Looking at the values in the table above, the Ra of Premium measured around 5 micrometers whereas regular Strong & Flexible measured around 10 micrometers. This means that in comparison to Strong & Flexible, Premium is about twice as smooth.

Dimensional Accuracy

“Is the dimensional accuracy different for Premium Strong & Flexible?”

We also tested the effect of our Premium finishing on the dimensional accuracy of the part by measuring multiple dimensions both before and after post-processing. Six measurements were taken on six different parts.

On average, the parts decreased in size by 0.9mm. The maximum material removed was 0.1mm.

We recommend slightly scaling up your design to account for this difference if dimensional accuracy is important for your product’s application.

Detail Level

“Do you lose more detail with Premium?”

Although the dimensional accuracy changes slightly with Premium, we did not notice any visible difference in details. Both embossed and engraved details looked very similar before and after finishing.

PremiumWhite S&F (Left) and White S&F (right)

Painting

“How is the surface for painting?”

We had a suspicion that Premium Strong & Flexible would be better for painting. After all, the surface is smoother and less porous.

After a quick test using acrylic paints, no noticeable difference was seen between Strong and Flexible and Premium Strong and Flexible. The paint seem to apply about the same and there was no noticeable visual difference. The picture below shows the surface with one layer of paint. However, we encourage you to test it out for yourselves!

Bracelet Bluups ORIGAMI R by Bluups
Black Strong & Flexible (left) and Premium Black (right)

We hope this was informative and answered your most pressing questions. Now, go test it out and tell us what you think!

The post Your Questions Answered: Premium Strong & Flexible Nylon Plastic appeared first on Shapeways Blog.

This finish will elevate your designs by offering a smoother, glossier surface. Premium Strong and Flexible is perfect for functional parts like phone cases and interlocking mechanisms to jewelry, art, and home decor that are designed to be durable, yet soft to the touch.

Design by Kasia Wisniewski

Premium is finished with a multi-step tumbling, polishing and dyeing process to create a consistent color and surface finish, while removing the grainy feel and layered look of 3D printed parts. Although it is available in both Black and White, we recommend Black for products you’ll carry or wear, like necklaces, rings, bracelets, phone cases, money clips, keychains, eyeglasses, and other personal accessories.

try it now

Design by Michiel Cornelissen

As a designer or shop owner, this new finish will empower you to deliver on your most discerning customers’ expectations – to design products that equal injection-molded finishes. The added smoothness and eggshell sheen of Premium will meet the quality expectations of high-end consumers, enabling you to offer unique, customized products with a finished look and feel.

Premium Strong and Flexible was developed in response to your demand for top-quality wearable and touchable products, in collaboration with members of the Shapeways community. Your feedback has been invaluable through this development process. We are proud to deliver this next-generation offering as a result of your generous participation.

To try out Premium on your own designs, upload here.

To find out how to help Shapeways test future product developments, click here.

print in premium

The post Our Best Material Finish Ever appeared first on Shapeways Blog.