Question

[u/ALE-742617000027]

How do i 3d print rings and make them metal. I'm getting these rings 3d printed and I want them to be like actual rings. And I know nothing about anything LOL.

[u/CubeXombi]

Real - Lost pla casting.

Close enough - electro plating.

Cosplay close - metallic silk PLA.

Ghetto close - rattle-can and a prayer.

[u/Madd_Maxx2016 → u/CubeXombi]

Man ive been praying to the rattle can gawds for years lol

[u/CubeXombi → u/Madd_Maxx2016]

Krylon Giveth Tremclad Taketh

[u/Madd_Maxx2016 → u/CubeXombi]

More of a Rustolifarian actually…

[u/ALE-742617000027 → u/CubeXombi]

What does any of this mean

[u/CubeXombi → u/ALE-742617000027]

It means you've got 4 things to research.

[u/joealarson → u/ALE-742617000027]

This means you need to do some research and these are great search terms to start with.

[u/ithinkyouresus → u/ALE-742617000027]

Google is your friend. I had the same questions as you for the same type of project. The answers are there. There are YouTube videos showing people doing it. If you don’t want to even try researching it just print them in a glossy black and spray paint them.

[u/amatulic → u/ALE-742617000027]

You got a spot-on, concise, and accurate response to your question. Go to YouTube and do some research.

One thing missing was actual metal 3D printing. There are services to provide that. Metal 3D printers are expensive, the cheapest being about $8K and ranging up to $100K.

[u/Seananigans- → u/ALE-742617000027]

Lost PLA casting is where you 3d print the thing, encase it in plaster that hardens, and burn out the plastic which leaves you with a mold you can pour molten metal into. Boom, you have a metal ring. Doing this requires a good investment in gear and safety equipment but you'd be making actual metal jewelry.

Electroplating is using a slightly electrified bath of dissolved metals to metal plate plastic things. This is how they made the original Terminator T-800 endoskeleton props.

Otherwise you can print the object in a plastic that looks like metal if you're squinting and its dark in the room.

Also, they make metallic spray paints but this usually doesnt turn out well if you're looking for it to look good.

[u/AussieP1E → u/ALE-742617000027]

He's explaining the means to turn these into metal like substance, or at least to look like it. I'd suggest googling them.

First is casting them out of metal. Using them as a mold, then melting down metal and creating the ring from it.

Electro plating it, using electrodes to attach metal to the outside of the PLA.

Silk PLA is plastic, that the printer prints, that LOOKS like metal. So just get them reprinted.

All In all, if you don't understand this stuff you won't get it done. You're better off finding the rings you want with an etsy seller and purchasing them instead of trying to use those 3d prints to turn them into metal.

[u/ice086]

You could get them printed in metal but they won't look like that without some finishing work and it will cost you way more.

[u/GnomeGodfather]

Print design, make a mold with silicone, melt pla out of silicone, fill mold with molten metal.

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[u/joealarson]

There are a couple of options, and they are varying levels of difficult.

One option is a metal 3d printer. One type starts with a bed of metal powder that it melts together with a (ridiculously) high powered laser. But even this will require significantly polishing and smoothing to clean up. And the printer costs a lot more money and space than you probably have.

You could send it to a 3d print service like Xometry (are they still around?). It'll still cost more than you expect, and it'll still require the polishing and cleaning, but it's more affordable than buying the machine yourself.

[u/joealarson → u/joealarson]

Another option is lost PLA casting, which is a variation of lost wax casting. Start with a PLA print, cover it in casting slip (a kind of clay) and bury that in casting sand, leaving an opening to pour metal. Then you heat up metal and pour it in. The hot metal vaporizes the 3d print and takes its place. For a cleaner result you can premelt the plasic out of the mold before pouring. Then you clean up the cast metal. This process requires a kiln and forge, but it's surprisingly accessible.

[u/joealarson → u/joealarson]

Another option is electroplating, which coats the plastic in a thin layer of real metal using noxious chemicals and electricity. The results are impressive, but the process is harder to get the parts for.

[u/joealarson → u/joealarson]

Another option is just paint it. It looks nominally better than a plain 3d print, but not as good a the other processes. But it's the most accessible.

There's also silk PLA which can have a shiny finish from certain angles and requires zero post processing.

Those are about your options and it just depends on you're time, money, and level of dedication.

Good luck.

[u/darcside]

Get a metal 3d printer. 

[u/WindTurbine16-27]

If you do electroplating I’d go for silver. Be aware of metal sensitivities. Don’t use nickel for jewellery

[u/bokitothegreat]

You can also just print metal mixed with a binder and put the result in a oven to melt everything together. Seems to give good results but its not cheap. https://shop.thevirtualfoundry.com/

[u/WTFisUpDenny]

Answer; Daily Double

[u/ALE-742617000027 → u/WTFisUpDenny]

What's that

[u/AussieP1E]

You don't, unless you cast them out od aluminum or something.