Steel Material Information

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Finishes
Stainless steel Stainless
Matte Bronze steel Matte Bronze
Polished Bronze steel Polished Bronze
Matte Black steel Matte Black
Polished Grey steel Polished Grey
Matte Gold steel Matte Gold
Polished Gold steel Polished Gold
Polished Nickel steel Polished Nickel
Price $6.00 per part
$5.00 per cm3 		$10.00 per part
$5.00 per cm3
Ships in
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Design Guidelines for Steel

The rules to follow in order to create successful products in Steel. Read more on model checks
Max bounding box 762 × 393 × 393 mm 330 × 190 × 228 mm

For us to be able to make a product, each of its pieces must fit within these dimensions.

For Stainless, Bronze, Black, and Grey Steel, the maximum bounding box is determined by the size of the printer we use to create your product. For Gold and Nickel Steel, the maximum bounding box is determined by our ability to apply the desired finish.

To ensure the successful creation of your product, make sure the bounding box fits within our maximum limit. If it does not, you can try scaling it down, removing unnecessary features to reduce the bounding box, or considering another material with a bigger maximum bounding box.

Min bounding box 3.0 × 3.0 × 3.0 mm

For us to be able to make a product, each of its pieces must be bigger than these dimensions.

For Steel, the minimum bounding box is determined by the printer's ability to successfully print very tiny products.

To ensure the successful creation of your product, make sure the bounding box of your product is larger than our minimum. If it is not, you can try scaling it up, thickening, combining, or enlarging parts and features, or trying a material with a smaller minimum bounding box.

Min supported wall thickness
When longest dimension of the model is  Minimum Thickness
less than 76mm 1.0 mm thick
between 76mm and 152mm 1.5 mm thick
between 152mm and 202mm 2.0 mm thick
more than 202mm 3.0 mm thick

A supported wall is one connected to other walls on two or more sides.

For Steel, the minimum supported wall is determined by our ability to successfully print your product and infuse it with bronze. Before your product is infused, it exists in a fragile "green state." Walls that are too thin will collapse at this stage, or during the infusion process.

To ensure the successful creation of your product, make sure supported walls are thicker than the minimum requirement. If they are not, try making them thicker, or consider a material with a thinner minimum supported wall requirement.

Min unsupported wall thickness
When longest dimension of the model is  Minimum Thickness
less than 76mm 1.0 mm thick
between 76mm and 152mm 1.5 mm thick
between 152mm and 202mm 2.0 mm thick
more than 202mm 3.0 mm thick

An unsupported wall is one connected to other walls on less than two sides.

For Steel, the minimum unsupported wall is determined by our ability to successfully print your product and infuse it with bronze. Before your product is infused, it exists in a fragile "green state." Walls that are too thin will collapse at this stage, or during the infusion process.

To ensure the successful creation of your product, make sure unsupported walls are thicker than the minimum requirement. If they are not, try making them thicker, adding supports, or considering a material with a thinner minimum unsupported wall requirement.

Min supported wires
When longest dimension of the model is  Minimum Thickness
less than 76mm 1.0 mm thick
between 76mm and 152mm 1.5 mm thick
between 152mm and 202mm 2.0 mm thick
more than 202mm 3.0 mm thick

A wire is a feature whose length is greater than two times its width. A supported wire is connected to walls on both sides.

For Steel, the minimum supported wire is determined by our ability to successfully print your product and infuse it with bronze. Before your product is infused, it exists in a fragile "green state." Wires that are too thin will collapse at this stage, or during the infusion process.

To ensure the successful creation of your product, make sure supported wires are thicker than the minimum requirement. If they are not, try making them thicker, or consider a material with a thinner minimum supported wire requirement.

Min unsupported wires
When longest dimension of the model is  Minimum Thickness
less than 76mm 1.0 mm thick
between 76mm and 152mm 1.5 mm thick
between 152mm and 202mm 2.0 mm thick
more than 202mm 3.0 mm thick

A wire is a feature whose length is greater than two times its width. An unsupported wire is connected to walls on less than two sides.

For Steel, the minimum unsupported wire is determined by our ability to successfully print your product and infuse it with bronze. Before your product is infused, it exists in a fragile "green state." Wires that are too thin will collapse at this stage, or during the infusion process.

To ensure the successful creation of your product, make sure unsupported wires are thicker than the minimum requirement. If they are not, try making them thicker, adding supports, or considering a material with a thinner minimum unsupported wire requirement.

Min embossed detail 1.0 mm high & wide

A detail is a feature whose length is less than twice its width. Embossed details stick out from a surface.

For Steel, the minimum detail is determined by the printer's resolution. When detail dimensions are below the minimum, the printer may not be able to accurately replicate them.

To ensure details come out clearly, make them larger than the indicated minimum. We may refrain from printing products with details smaller than the minimum, since the final product will not be true to your design. If your product has details smaller than the minimum, try making them larger, removing them, or considering a material with finer detail.

Min engraved detail 1.0 mm high & wide

A detail is a feature whose length is less than twice its width. Engraved or debossed details go into a surface.

For Steel, the minimum detail is determined by the printer's resolution. When detail dimensions are below the minimum, the printer may not be able to accurately replicate them.

To ensure details come out clearly, make them larger than the indicated minimum. We may refrain from printing products with details smaller than the minimum, since the final product will not be true to your design. If your product has details smaller than the minimum, try making them larger, removing them, or considering a material with finer detail.

Min escape holes 2.0 mm diameter for one escape hole

Escape holes allow unbuilt material inside hollow products to be removed.

When products are printed in Steel, steel powder is glued together by a binder material, layer by layer. Extra powder is then cleared away, and the product is infused with bronze. If hollow sections of your model do not include large enough escape holes, extra powder cannot be cleaned out successfully, and this extra powder interferes with the infusion process.

To ensure the successful creation of your product, make sure the escape holes are large enough to allow removal of the leftover steel powder. Multiple holes make this process easier. If your holes are not big enough, you can enlarge them, add more, or fill in the hollow areas so they are solid.

A single escape hole at the end of a cavity will not allow material in the corners near the escape hole to fully escape. So we recommend multiple escape holes at both ends of the cavity.

Clearance 3.0 mm clearance

Clearance is the space between any two parts, walls or wires.

Steel is printed by depositing a liquid binder onto a bed of steel powder one layer at a time. The product is then removed from the printer and infused with bronze. If the clearance between two features or parts is too small, it is difficult to remove residual powder, and bodies can be fused together during the infusion process.

To ensure the successful creation of your product, make the clearance between parts, walls, and wires greater than the indicated minimum. If your clearance is too small, try making the gap bigger, or consider fusing the parts or features if their independence is unnecessary. You can also try a material with a smaller minimum clearance.

Interlocking and enclosed parts? No.

Steel is printed by depositing a liquid binder onto a bed of steel powder one layer at a time. The product is then removed from the printer and infused with bronze. While the product is being transferred from the printer to the infusion chamber, it exists in a delicate "green state" which does not support interlocking parts.

Multiple parts per model file? Yes.
Accuracy ± 5% of any dimension (and one layer thickness of 0.1mm)

The bronze infiltration of each steel part makes this material less dimensionally accurate than other Shapeways materials. Shrinkage is more prevalent, especially on small holes and inner diameters. Accuracy and tolerance can vary greatly depending on the model, and are hard to predict because they are so geometry specific.

More On Designing for Steel
Material Traits
Color Variation

The way that bronze infiltrates the steel can vary, and this changes the color of your product. If there is a higher concentration of Bronze near the surface, it will take on more of Bronze's deep brown color over steel's gray color. This has the most noticeable impact on Stainless Steel, but can also affect the shade of other finishes. The color can range from bronze to silver.

Design tips
Sandcastle Rule: If this structure was made of wet sand, would it break?

There's a part in the production process for stainless steel 3D printing during which the model is fragile and brittle. It's basically like wet sand. When you design, ask yourself this question: if I made this out of wet sand or brittle clay, could I lift the design without it breaking? If the answer is "no," then your design might break in production.

Hanging structures are more likely to break

Any model that has a hanging structure is likely to break. This includes the end piece in an unsupported, heavy object, as pictured. Another example of something that would break is a miniature of a person with an arm sticking straight out. The arm would break off.

Walls under 3mm might be printable depending on your design’s structure

In general, if your model is well supported (thicker walls weave in with thinner walls), or if your thin walls are small relative to your structure (small rings and cufflinks), you can print walls as thin as 1.5mm. To learn more about this, take a look at the Design Guidelines.

Polishing media may get stuck in small engraved details and sharp corners

Steel products are tumbled with a corn polishing media to smooth out their surface. If your product has small engraved details or sharp corners, this polishing media may get stuck. To avoid this issue, make your engraved details over 2mm wide and avoid sharp corners.

Some products are too delicate or large for polishing

Products larger than 6”x6”x6” and products with particularly thin features or details will undergo bead blasting instead of the regular polishing process in order to avoid breakage. This may lead to a rougher and less consistent finish than usual.

Internal geometry may not receive finishing

Our finishing processes can only reach the exposed surfaces of your product. So, if parts of your product not visible from the outside (such as the inside of a hollow cavity), those surfaces will remain unfinished.

Make strong sprues to prevent breakage

For sprued steel parts, the main sprue body should be at least 3 times the volume of the combined parts and should fillet into the part at a 1mm radius. Sprued parts are usually too fragile to be polished, and will only be low-pressure bead blasted. The longer the sprues are, the higher the likelihood of breakages and rejections.

Material Info

Look and feel

A robust metal with a rough, pitted surface. Steel is available in a variety of polished and matte finishes, and good for a wide range of applications including jewelry, functional parts, and small sculptures.This material is 3D printed 420 Stainless Steel infused with bronze, and has a final composition of approximately 60% steel and 40% bronze. The way that bronze infiltrates into the steel can vary, and this changes the color of your product. If there is a higher concentration of Bronze near the surface of the product, it will take on more of Bronze's deep brown color. This has the most noticeable impact on Stainless Steel, but can also affect the shade of other finishes. The bronze infiltration process also requires the addition of sprues that are broken off and polished away after infusion. This can create small, round marks on the final product that appear smoother and more polished than the rest of the product.

Handling and care
This material
  • is not recyclable
  • is not foodsafe

It is heat resistant to 831ºC / 1528ºF degrees. Higher temperatures may significantly change material properties.

Nickel and Gold finishes can wear through

Matte Gold, Polished Gold, and Polished Nickel Steel go through an electroplating process that deposits a 0.1 micron layer on the outside of the product. This gives them a unique finish and is great for aesthetic purposes, but will wear off on functional products that are exposed to friction.

Please note

Some people may have a nickel allergy, so we do not recommend using the Polished Nickel finish for wearable items, particularly jewelry. Shapeways Steel is not completely corrosion-resistant and may tarnish.
Details on pricing

Large, extremely low density models printed in Steel are priced based on bounding box volume as well as material volume. For models with a bounding box over 1,000cm3 and a density less than 5%, the price is $.30 per bounding box cm3, $.80 per material cm3, and $7.00 per part.
How it's 3D printed

To build steel models, special 3D printers deposit small drops of glue onto layers of stainless steel powder, one layer at a time, until the print is complete. We carefully remove these models from the printer. At this stage of the process, the objects are very fragile, similar to wet sand. The models then go through an infusion process that replaces the glue with bronze, creating a full metal product. Models are then processed to achieve your desired finish, sprayed with a sealant, and shipped to you.
Technical documents

What Others Are Creating With Steel

Tools
Fish Bottle Opener 9 in Stainless Steel
Fish Bottle Opener 9
$27.00 by PLAIN ORB
44
T-Bar Tool in Stainless Steel
T-Bar Tool
$33.00 by TOFTY'S EDC ITEMS
47
DruNKey v1.0 - A Drum Key Bottle Opener in Stainless Steel
DruNKey v1.0 - A Drum Key Bottle Opener
$27.99 by A Place for You to Buy Yourself Things
19
Jewelry
TK FF 0511 in Polished Nickel Steel
TK FF 0511
$30.00 by TK
5
Exo Bangle sz M in Stainless Steel
Exo Bangle sz M
$275.00 by Nervous System
45
Bead in Polished Gold Steel
Bead
$30.00 by Studio Batch
11
Plus Ring in Polished Gold Steel
Plus Ring
$95.00 by LucasPlus
32
Dice
Steampunk Gear Dice Set in Stainless Steel
Steampunk Gear Dice Set
$91.42 by Masterworks
167
Thorn Dice Set with Decader in Matte Black Steel
Thorn Dice Set with Decader
$127.00 by Made by Wombat
464
Celtic Dice Set in Stainless Steel
Celtic Dice Set
$75.00 by eondesigner
157
Disclaimer:
Please note that the 3D printed products are intended for decorative purposes. They are not suited to be used as toys or to be given to underage children. The products should not come into contact with electricity and be kept away from heat. Our materials, except for Porcelain, are not food safe.