Your Daily dose of Design : Shapeways

Shapeways is a company that started in 2007 inside of Phillips. After Phillips closed the department, they opened up an office in Manhattan, New York. These day they have 2 more offices in Long Island city and Eindhoven.

Shapeways is mainly focused on 3D printing. You can upload your own model to their website and let them print it and send it to your home. Also you can set up your own shop at their website and sell your models, which they print and send the finished product to the buyer.

At Shapeways they manage the whole internal production, from pre-production till post-production and distribution. Shapeways can print models in over 55 different materials. From plastics to precious metals to porcelain and everything in-between. Although, not every material is printed at their own factory, Shapeways mostly prints in plastics. Shapeways has multiple different printers so they can print the different materials. You can also make your models through 3D scanning, like a miniature of yourself.

At first, we got a very interesting presentation about Shapeways and what they do. After the presentation we were given a tour through their factory, where we could see all the stages from virtual model to finished product and distribution. First they will check if the model is printable, after that they put as much models together as possible in one print and send it to the right printer. After the printing they blow off all the remaining dust. Some products are directly ready for distribution, others have to have support material cut off or get painted.

We all would like to thank Shapeways for the very interesting visit. Below are some of their creations they had on display.

Printed Dress

Close Up

Scanned Miniatures