Our sailing season hasn't exactly started out as expected... The Admiral did an amazing job of getting the boat in ship shape, but we ran over something on the weekend causing some rudder damage. We'll have to haul her out to determine how serious it is. Argh.
Yesterday, our friendly UPS man brought something to lighten the mood a bit. A few weeks ago, I designed a C36 pendant, and had it 3D printed in sterling silver and stainless steel with an "antique bronze" finish. The finished product looks amazing, and more importantly, the Admiral loved it!
[IMG]http://img651.imageshack.us/img651/7144/photo1fk.jpg[/IMG]
![http://img651.imageshack.us/img651/7144/photo1fk.jpg[/IMG]](http://img651.imageshack.us/img651/7144/photo1fk.jpg[/IMG]){kind=link}
The next project is to scale this up into a nice key chain for myself. I'm sure there are many more practical uses for printed stainless steel on the boat, but this is a start.
Alex, I am sure other Admirals are going to want one. Any thought of adding it to the items the C36IA sells? Or making it available in some other way?
Yes, I'd be happy to put up a link to where you can order one. It'll probably be next week because there are a few tweaks I want to make to it.
NIIIICE job Alex!
Laura Olsen
Past Commodore
S/V Miramar
hull 938 (MKI 1989, TR,WK, M25xp)
Edgemere, MD
These would make lovely ear rings, my wife does not wear jewelry and I need a haul out soon. Any suggestions Alex?
Cepheus dream
C36 MK I # 825
MK I Tech Editor No Mas
Yes, they are a good size for earings. One of the tweaks I want to make for the pendant is to increase the size by 25-30%.
I don't know, Steve. Being in the corporate jet business as you are, perhaps earrings aren't the best thing for you. You have a fairly conservative market demographic. Of course, after working hours you can let go.
Larry Brandt
S/V High Flight #2109
Pacific Northwest, PDX-based
2002 C-36 mkII SR/FK M35B
I have done some work with the models, and posted them on Shapeways so you can order them for yourself.
Shapeways is a 3D printing service based in NYC. After placing your order, they "print" it and ship it directly to you via UPS. My order took about 3 weeks, and shipped from the Netherlands. I'm not sure if that's because I'm in Canada, or if they just produce silver items in Europe.
You have a choice of several metals for each item. I ordered the original in silver and "antique bronze glossy". The silver manufacturing process is fairly involved. First, the item is printed in wax, then a mold is made from the wax, silver is cast in the mold, and finally it is polished. Other metals are simpler; they are printed directly in stainless steel then polished and/or coated with a finish. [URL="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9VOwqtOglg"]Here's a video that describes the process[/URL].
The silver pendant turned out beautifully. It's pretty much what you would expect... silver, polished, shiny. One quirk worth noting is that there are visible vertical lines in the recessed triangle with the 36. That's an artifact of the printing process, and the fact that the recessed area can't be polished. Aesthetically, I really like it, but want to mention it because it's not part of the model. The polished antique bronze is nice too. As you can see from the photo, it's more brown than bronze. I'm going to try regular stainless or gold plating next.
[URL="http://www.shapeways.com/model/592120/c36_small_pendant___earring.html?k..."]Here is the original C36 pendant[/URL]. As you can see from the photo, it is just over an inch long, and has a small circular loop for attachment to a chain. The loop is fairly small, so in most cases, you'll need some sort of clasp to attach it to a chain. It's also a good size for an earring (you'll have to add your own hook).
[URL=http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/816/c36pendantwithruler.jpg/][IMG]h...
[URL="http://www.shapeways.com/model/628695/ed76427b527d450c2e7a70de1ed9ba67"]Version 2 of the C36 pendant[/URL] is about 25% larger overall, and has a redesigned, larger hook that will fit most chains. The pendant itself is about 1.5" long, plus the hook on top. The original felt a bit small... hopefully this just right.
Finally, I scaled it up further to make a [URL="http://www.shapeways.com/model/627943/c36_key_chain.html?key=692d1b779a2..."]C36 key chain[/URL]. This version is about 2 inches long. I used my car key fob for sizing.
Since I just finished the v2 pendant and key chain, I can't vouch for how they will turn out. I'm going to order both and will post photos when they arrive.
If there's interest in 375 versions, I'm happy to make those too.