Would a 3d printer work for me ?

[hiddeninsite]

I run a small business making figurines from silicone moulds.
I am self taught so I get by but my moulds are not perfect and i usually have a lot of repair work on the more complicated castings.

I have a dream of just buying a 3d scanner scanning my sculptures in and just printing them out ,lol But i'm guessing its not as easy as it sounds ?

I also want to make make spherical "trinket" boxes , I have the prototype which is a hollow sphere in two halves that slot together. Is it at all feasible to just take a scan of the two halves and print it. I would be happy to sand and finish the finished product. I'm not expecting perfection , just would love to bypass the tiresome silicone mold making process.

Also can 3d printed object be painted ?



Thanks for any advice

[awerby]

Everything you're talking about can be done - to some extent. But these processes all have their limitations. Yes, you can scan sculptures and print them out. But just as you've noticed with your molds, the scans won't necessarily be perfect, and the prints might have artifacts of the process you'll need to remedy somehow.

Without seeing the specific trinket boxes you refer to, it's hard to say how well they'd scan. But they sound like something that might best be constructed from scratch in a CAD modeling program.

There are many different 3D printing processes, so one can't generalize too much, but most kinds of 3D prints can be painted.

Andrew Werby
www.computersculpture.com

[hiddeninsite]

Thankyou , very helpful

Will think of other questions to ask

[hiddeninsite]

10418458_792995834081139_1638491326844594249_n.jpg ok so this is what i currently make with a silicone mold , but it has hinges which are a pain & the halves don't fit exactly so it needs sanding & drilling.
So I have got hold of a polystyrene ball from a craft shop that opens in to two halves and slots together nicely , I was thinking of , sealing decorating and adding feet to it ( similar to above ) & making a silicone mold from that. But obviously as it slots together it would need to be exact which is difficult with my limited experience.

I usually use one piece molds so these boxes are very complicated for me & take a lot of silicone and time , but something i would like to make more of.

How easy is Cad to learn , its the cutting out inside the sphere to make the two halves interlock neatly that I imagine i'd have the most problem with (as with silicone casting)

[awerby]

That part (cutting a spheroid to make two interlocking halves) would be the easy part, in a CAD program. Sculpting the dog on top would be hard. I'd say use CAD and 3D printing to make the spheroid, use clay to make the sculpture, and use your molding technique to integrate the two. You don't have to restrict yourself to one-piece molds, though.

Andrew Werby
Juxtamorph.com

[Bobby Lin]

I believe every requirement you need for your business is possible with 3d printing. However, we may have to tweak and experiment in order to fully achieve the output you need. There are 3d printers that can fulfill your requirements but they have some limitations. The problem is overcoming those limitations by other means in order to fulfill all your requirements.

[hiddeninsite]

That part (cutting a spheroid to make two interlocking halves) would be the easy part, in a CAD program. Sculpting the dog on top would be hard. I'd say use CAD and 3D printing to make the spheroid, use clay to make the sculpture, and use your molding technique to integrate the two. You don't have to restrict yourself to one-piece molds, though.

Andrew Werby
Juxtamorph.com

Thankyou,

I want to do different types of dog so i think you're right that making the dog through traditional methods might be better.

[hiddeninsite]

I believe every requirement you need for your business is possible with 3d printing. However, we may have to tweak and experiment in order to fully achieve the output you need. There are 3d printers that can fulfill your requirements but they have some limitations. The problem is overcoming those limitations by other means in order to fulfill all your requirements.

What kind of limitations ?

The equipment I have now for casting was in the same price range as a 3d printer ( & traditional casting has issues of its own to overcome) so if it would work for me its something i'm seriously considering.

I would hope to sell a few per week so enough to pay for the printer , Though not the volume i'd need to have items made in bulk by a factory.

Would it be best to get a cad program, make something up and pay to have them printed to see how they turn out ?

[3DMarkt]

When you search a 3D Print who is cheap and just to try out first things, I can show you a good oportunity:
The Wanhao Duplicator i3 costs 495 euro and works perfectly!
Here the link:
http://3dmarkt.at/en/3D-Printer/Wanh...D-Printer.html

[awerby]

Yes; if you're not experienced in this and want to know how various different 3D printers will do with your models, it's a good idea to send them out for printing and compare results before spending a lot of money on a printer that may not be capable of doing what you want. There's also something to be said for not having to set up, adjust, babysit, feed and maintain a 3D printer; that all can be a lot more work than anticipated.