3d printing an enamel pin?

[choanata]

So I have a few enamel pins I'd like to get made, but between licensing or just not enough interest for a full run, I really want to go the one-off route. Which seems prohibitively expensive going through a pin maker. So my thought is, what if I just have the design 3d printed in metal, solder on a pin backing, and then fill in the lines with enamel myself and bake it? Would that work? Am I overlooking something?

 

[Jintosh]

I use Shapeways (3D printing website) frequently. I can answer most questions about size and shape and price. Do you have a picture of what you want ? What size and thickness would it be?

Smooth metal would either be brass or the chrome looking "Rhodium". Unfortunately, these metals are pretty expensive to print in.

 

[Kokanee]

I've done this before, it will work just fine if you order from a place like shapeways. The more unfinished metals are fine, just understand there will be some cleanup before you can apply enamel.

 

[Jintosh]

That's true. If you do it in stainless steel, it's better priced.

 

[choanata]

Thanks for the info. I'm looking at something around an 1" or so wide, and not very deep, so I'm not too worried about the cost. Though now I'm wondering if it's worth it to solder on a pin back or just design the 3d print to have the pin stick out of it. Any ideas? Would shapeways be able to do that and would shipping a sharp object be an issue? Or would I be able to solder onto 3d printed nickel or steel?

 

[Jintosh]

You're still better off soldering the pin on afterwards. Pins are made of bendable metal. (spring steel?)
What Shapeways does is more like cast-steel. Not flexible.

If you make a black and white 2D picture of the design (minus the enamel), I can give you a quote.

(please use 900 dpi)

 

[Kokanee]

Instead of soldering the pin on , you can use a product called "Jewelers Epoxy" by Vigor;

https://www.amazon.com/Vigor-Jewelers-Odorless-Bonding-Adhesive/dp/B00470913G

I used it to attach a clasp to a butterfly brooch I made for my grandmother through shapeways, and there is no way this stuff is ever going to fail. I now keep a few tubes on hand always to use as "ULTIMATE GLUE!!!".

 

[daedalus99]

I've had a couple of things done in brass/silver about that size and they were relatively inexpensive for one-offs (about $50 for brass). I think if you go with designing it with the pin attached—which is doable so long as you follow the material guidelines for unsupported wires (1mm)—having a point on it shouldn't be a problem. It may get rounded over in polishing if you go that route though. The only downside I can think of is you may need a custom clutch for it to match the size.

To be honest, I would just glue a brooch pin on the back assuming the back doesn't need to look nice.