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Old 02-03-17 | 12:14 PM
  #24  
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squirtdad
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From: San Jose (Willow Glen) Ca

Bikes: Kirk Custom JK Special, 86 De Rosa Pro, '84 Team Miyata,(dura ace old school) 80?? SR Semi-Pro 600 Arabesque

Originally Posted by rhm
Hmm... well, at the risk of giving away proprietary trade secrets...

I start with a drawing...


and I go to the 3D printing service "Shapeways:"
https://www.shapeways.com/creator/2dto3d#landing

and I upload my drawing. After a few steps I get a preview of the stamps, which might look like this:


I chose a material (in this case, the cheapest plastic). They do various checks of how thick it will be, and... eventually I pay them, they print it, and they send it to me.

I do something similar with the head badge, except it was "printed" in brass or bronze. That actually means they print in castable wax and then turn it into metal by a lost wax casting process. It comes to me flat; I file it as needed, add paint, sand the paint of the high parts, curve it to fit a bicycle, and... that's about it. Please don't tell anyone.

I made [MENTION=381793]gugie[/MENTION] four head badges; two of them are brass, two are bronze. I can't tell the difference, but I believe they will oxidize differently, so in a year or two they should be different colors.
thanks for the "traded secrets" This may be very helpful to me on a completely not bike related project I have going
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