3D Printing

A 3D Printed Dire Wolf Skull Pendant Could be Yours

If you thought the Dire Wolf was an invention of Game of Thrones then you may be shocked to find out that it was in fact a real species of wolf that died out about 10,000 years ago. It is just one of the seven all new skull reproductions being offered via Fire & Bone’s new Kickstarter campaign.

3d printed skull pendant jewelry collection

Fire & Bone 3D scans and 3D prints wax moulds of real animal and fossil skulls and turns them into miniature replicas cast in precious metals. After their first Kickstarter completely funded at about $150,000 when they only asked for $8,000, they’ve returned with higher quality scans, new skulls and a new type of product to see if they can do it again. And do it again they did, after only a day online the second Fire & Bone collection easily breezed past the $6,000 goal. The campaign has reached well over $40,000 with a whole month left on the clock.

3d printed Dire Wolf skull jewelry

The new scans include the Dire Wolf with it’s awesome hinged jaw, a Northern Owl Monkey, Red-Tailed Hawk, Merino Ram, Great Horned Owl, American Bison and an awesome Velociraptor skull. Each skull is available in yellow bronze, white bronze or sterling silver and can be purchased with a matching chain, or a wooden base so the skull can be displayed on your shelf.

The team’s video below, gives some nice insight:

Each animal skull is 3D scanned with a powerful industrial quality laser scanner far more advanced than any available consumer model, and it is then scaled down digitally. This preserves the high level of detail on the 3D model and prevents the loss of important features to the skull. Once there is a digital model, it is 3D printed in wax, turned into a master mould and then cast using the traditional lost-wax casting process.

owlmonkey skull jewelry compare

The team behind Fire & Bone has also stepped up the quality of the new collection by using higher resolution 3D scans, better quality 3D printers and new polishing techniques. While the quality of the first set of skulls was impressive, the new collection seems to improve on the first in every way.

“Anyone  who  has  seen  our  original  skulls  will  be  amazed  that  the  new  ones  look  even  better.  We’ve adjusted  our  polishing  technique  so  you  can  appreciate  even  more  of  the animal’s  teeth,  horns [and]  cranial  structure,”  explained Jason Bakutis, co-founder of Fire & Bone.

grey wolf skull cufflinksThey’ve also added a new product to Kickstarter this time around — they’ve turned the Gray Wolf Skull from the first campaign into a cool set of cuff links. This is the first new type of product that they promised would come from their first campaign and personally I think they look great. If I ever wore suits I would buy a pair but writing about 3D printing on my sofa doesn’t give me a lot of opportunity to wear dressy clothing.

However, if they wouldn’t mind a few unsolicited ideas for new ways to use the skulls, then personally I’d like to see some very small earrings, the Great Horned Owl would be perfect. They could also 3D print the skulls in stainless steel and make key chains, I’ve love to put a Velociraptor skull on my keys. The possibilities are endless, really.

Velociraptor skull 3d printing industry

Currently you can buy previous skulls on the new Fire & Bone website and store, and you may see some of them on display at a few natural history museum gift shops around the country. But the only way to get these new skulls at the moment – including the awesome Dire Wolf – is by funding their Kickstarter campaign.