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Thread: glass ladybugs

  1. #1

    glass ladybugs

    Hello; my name is Karin Lacy. I'm a Lightworker of the First Wave, presently living in a small town in Oregon. I'm glad I came across your forum. I'm interested in 3D glass printing and I'd like to request advice from you for the following reason: In the past, when I lived a middle class lifestyle, I bought over the years about 3,000 small glass ladybugs which I gave away as tokens of good luck. It was great fun and people always loved it when I laid one of those adorable beautiful glass ladybugs in their hand. Years later, when I lived in a small town in California, where I handed out hundreds, they called me "the ladybug lady" and I loved that. I summed up my ladybug lady story on my website here. There is a picture of me showing a glass ladybug. http://www.karinllightworker.com By now the website is outdated and stale. I have no money to buy glass ladybugs and by the way, these glass ladybugs from China are not even available anymore.When I learned about 3D printing and that now also glass printing exists, I got excited. I want to find out whether there is a company where I could purchase glass ladybugs in great numbers at minimal cost. Also, I'd like to approach the local high school and ask whether they would be interested in purchasing a 3D glass printer for their art classes to teach students 3D glass printing and expand it into creating art objects. I myself would want to get involved and print glass ladybugs by the thousands, for pennies so to speak. I'd love to become the ladybug lady again. Even though it may appear insignificant to give away glass ladybugs, however, I experienced countless times how much joy and heart opening this harmless random act of kindness generates in people.Does anybody have an idea or suggestion for me of how to pursue my dream of becoming the ladybug lady? I'd love to hear from you. Thanks, Karin Lacy
    Last edited by curious aardvark; 01-13-2020 at 09:27 AM.

  2. #2
    Super Moderator curious aardvark's Avatar
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    well glass 3d printing is still expensive and in it's infancy.
    What you could do is to make a model ladybird, then make a clay mould from it and use the mould to make your glass ladybirds :-)

    or just buy them: https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/7204...20413478&cns=1

  3. #3
    Hi Curious; Thanks for your response. These ladybugs at etsy are beads. They have a hole through them. I'm familiar with them, but I'm looking for the ones without holes, that are wider and prettier. I still have 5 or 6 of my glass ladybugs left, so I do have a model, but I cannot make one from clay. Do you know of any 3D glass printing company that I could contact? I would appreciate any advice that leads me further in this search. Thanks, Karin Lacy

  4. #4
    Super Moderator curious aardvark's Avatar
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    also bear in mind that 3d printing as a service is Expensive.
    It will cost you a LOT more to have them printed than to have them moulded.

    Your best bet is to keep looking, there are hundreds of little glass ladybirds for sale on etsy and amazon and ebay.

  5. #5
    Hi Curious; Thanks for your reply. You must be British where they call ladybugs ladybirds. Your advice amuses me. I was so glad that I came across this 3Dprinting forum. I thought I'm now closer to a 3d glass printer. When I first learned about 3D printing, I was so excited about this fantastic innovation. It will make life easier in many ways. But it seems it is easier to print houses than little glass ladybugs. For years I have this dream of owning a glass printer. As I said, I could print glass ladybugs by the thousands and give them away right and left. Of course nobody other than me knows what that means to be the ladybug lady and the ramifications of joy and upliftment it generates. In my first email the admin did not allow the link to my ladybug lady story.
    I had enrolled in another 3d printing forum, but I'm un-approved there, maybe that means not allowed.
    Being a Lightworker I live on the leading edge of thought, I am a forward thinker. People like me are calling forth those magnificent inventions for the betterment of humanity. I thought I could contribute by inspiring the local high school to buy a 3d glass printer, so young people could learn it and tap into that incredible potential that they promise.
    These ladybugs (mostly beads with a hole through them) on etsy, ebay, amazon, alibaba, etc. are not as artistic, precious, and beautiful as the ones I had. But they don't make them anymore in China, alas.
    Anyway, I appreciate your advice and I will not give up hope about the future of 3d glass printers. Thanks and blessings, Karin Lacy

  6. #6
    Super Moderator curious aardvark's Avatar
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    like i said it's much easier to use 3d printing to make a mould and and mould the bugs.

    As a forward thinker and Lightworker - whatever that is :-)
    You need to learn how to use cad modelling software. Thatw ay you can advance things with your own models.

    not sure what you mean by 'glass printer'.
    I don't think anyone is making a machine that uses actual liquid glass to print.

    I have heard of a couple of experiments using filament and resin 'filled' with glass powder that is printed and then 'washed' and sintered in a very expensive kiln.
    It's the washing and sintering machines that really make it not viable for most people.

    An alternative is to use clay and paint your ladybirds (yep english :-)
    Or even just use transparent pla or pet-g to make a glasslike model.

    So it's not neccessarily the printing that is the big issue here. A cheap resin printer and glass powder resin (if you can get it - as far as I can see it's just been a small scale experiment so far and not an actual commercial venture). The big issue is the precision kiln needed to sinter the powder into solid glass.
    If it's not the exact tmp the model will either not bind or just melt. So the kilns involved can run into tens of thousands of dollars.

    However, if you live somewhere with a lot of sunshine, you could arguably make your own: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ajzOaauYa4
    But precision it's not - but it could be.

    Either way you are going to have to acquire a bunch of new skills to get anywhere with this project :-)

    There are a number of 'ladybug' models on thingiverse. This is probably the easiest to print.
    https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3628848

    Without a picture of what you actually want - I'm just guessing :-)

  7. #7

    glass ladybugs

    Thank you, curious, for your response. I sure appreciate your advice.I'm not a technical person, I'm more of a right-brain person. I don't want "to learn how to use cad modelling software and advance things with my own models." I want to lay the glass ladybugs in people's hand and look in their eyes and say something uplifting to them. I'd rather let others who are gifted technically do the physical creation of those glass ladybugs. It's not my calling to delve into the science of 3D printing. But I watched on youtube how a 3D printer printed a glass pretzel and I was sure it can print glass ladybugs too. Some years ago, when I found out that the glass ladybugs from China are not available anymore, I used paper mache and made a dozen ladybugs and painted them and gave them away. They looked like made by a third grader, lovely, but no comparison to the elegant glass ladybugs I'm talking about. Glass is just the ideal material for that purpose, in my perception. I liked the video, showing how to make a bowl out of sunlight and sand in the Sahara desert. That was back in 2011. Would be interesting, what they do by now, nearly ten years later. Take care.

  8. #8
    Super Moderator curious aardvark's Avatar
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    Ah - so maybe exercies your left brain a little :-)

    The the video showed and experimental glass filled resin being sintered in a very expensive kiln.
    It's still experimental and still really bloody expensive.

    3f printed bugs in a transparent pet filament (also comes in shades of transparency - a transparent red would look good) would look an awful lot better than paper mache.

    So maybe exercise the left brain just a little and make you own - lots of existing designs to choose from. Hell if you use atransparent red, you'd just a litle black and white paint and a couple minutes to finish it off :-)
    At the moment 3d glass printed ladybugs will cost more than solid silver ones made by a left brain person :-)
    https://rigid.ink/blogs/news/how-to-...t-more-clearly

    So maybe invest a couple hundred bucks in a cheap 3d printer, exercise your left hemisphere - just a little - and get the satisfaction from making your own bugs :-)

    Like all your organs, your brain needs use - use it or lose it :-)

  9. #9

    glass ladybugs

    Hi curious; I watched the video, but that stuff is over my head. I just moved from Eugene OR to a small town and need time to meet new people . I hope to meet somebody who may be interested in my ladybug lady story and be willing to help me with that. Somebody more left brain who loves to learn the specifics of 3d printing. I'm presently working on other projects, in particular about Ubuntu-Contributionism, which means creating community. About the Sahara video: I remembered that there is a member of the mineral kingdom, called Fulgurite, that is created when lightning hits the desert sand. Isn't that interesting?

  10. #10
    Super Moderator curious aardvark's Avatar
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    have you seen the lightning sand sculptures ?

    So simple even you could do it ;-)
    You pound metal spikes into the sand and wait till lightning hits them, then dig out the 'sculpture' attached to the spike.

    Good luck with the bugs :-)
    Pretty easy things to make.

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