Beglian 3D printing service i.materiliase has been greatly expanding its materials portfolio, making a wide variety of metals, ceramics, and even laser-sintered wood available options for customers ordering 3D prints online. Now, the service bureau wing of Materialise has announced the release of its 19th material so far, copper.
As beautiful has that copper shine may be, any engineer will tell you that copper is also a highly functional material, for its thermal and electrical conductivity. Therefore, i.materialise’s new reddish material isn’t just ideal for jewelry and decorative items, but electronic parts. Polished both magnetically and by hand, printed copper objects can be optionally coated with polyurethane to protect against scratches, slow corrosion and tarnish.
Prints made with copper are crafted with the same lost-wax casting process as their gold, silver, bronze, and brass materials, with 3D printed wax items coated in plaster and burned out, to yield a plaster mold for subsequent metal casting. Because it uses the same process, the same technical guidelines applied to those other metals are in place for copper: minimum wall thickness of .5 mm, minimum details of .3 mm, and a max printing size of 88 x 63 x 125 mm.
With i.materialise’s new offering, you can now earn a penny, save a penny, and counterfeit a penny with your face on it. To learn more about the material, check out i.materialise’s blog post on the subject as well as their materials page.
Feature Image: Lady Balloon by Bert De Niel
