Updates to Shapeways Material Names

[pmpexpress]

Today, an email recieved from Shapeways indicated that the names of several of their materials were updated.

As part of this week’s update, we changed the naming of certain materials. Some bigger changes include:

Strong & Flexible Plastic is now Versatile Plastic

HP Plastic is now Professional Plastic

Stainless Steel is now Steel

Frosted Detail Plastic is now Fine Detail Plastic

If you have a marketplace shop, these names have automatically been changed.

Shapways New Materials Guide has a complete list of all of the name changes (e.g., "Ultra" is now "Smooth" and "Extreme" is now "Smoothest").

[peteski]

Some new names seem logical (and more descriptive), while others seem to be more vague than the original names. 

[Maletrain]

Stainless Steel is now Steel

Is that because it rusts?

[Lemosteam]

Is that because it rusts?

@Maletrain Do you have experience with it rusting.  Seriously?  I use it in some of my kits.

[Maletrain]

No, I have no experience with it at all.  I was just commenting on the name change, wondering what the motive was for that particular change.  The rest seems like marketing thinking, but this one seems almost counter-intuitive from a marketing perspective.

As for "stainless" steel rusting, my experiences with it in other situations is that it can and does corrode to some degree under some conditions.  But I would not expect those conditions on a model railroad, short of some sort of catastrophe like fire or flood.

[Lemosteam]

Thanks.

Had me worried for a minute.,

Shapeways moves in mysterious Shapeways.  Sorry for that.  I hate when things get renamed for no reason.

[peteski]

Is that because it rusts?

This seems like one of those illogical name changes (if the material is unchanged).  I suspect this was done by someone in marketing or advertising sections who has no clue about materials.  They probably thought that a shorter name is easier to remember. But now it brings up a questions about the material's durability.

[thomasjmdavis]

I suspect the stainless steel change is for 3 reasons-

1. According to the page it is not "food safe"- and given that so many kitchen utensils, pots and pans are stainless steel, it could be confusing, and they would not want people using stuff made from their "steel" material in food prep.

2. Due to the printer artifacts, the finish doesn't really look like what we associate with a "stainless steel finish." (at least, not to my eye in the couple photos I have seen) Not sure how much sanding and polishing it would take to get to brushed stainless or polished stainless appearance.

3. "Stainless steel" has a chemical definition in the steel industry, and I would be inclined to think the Shapeways material does not meet that definition. (that must be a scary machine to put molten steel through  something the size of an airbrush nozzle.)

In any case, I could see any of those 3 leading to dissatisfied customers.

[thomasjmdavis]

I was so focused on the little stuff, I missed that the Shapeways page states that "steel" is 60% stainless steel and 40% bronze.  So I could definitely see some issues with marketing that as "stainless steel".  Or even as "steel", for that matter.  I think I would have gone with something that specified what was in it, because small print notwithstanding, someone will be trying to make replacement parts for machines or autos out of the stuff.

[peteski]

I suppose we can all speculate why their steel is no longer considered stainless (food-grade or otherwise).  I also don't think they squirt molten steel out of a printer nozzle. It is likely some sort of sintered steel process where they probably use a laser to "melt" the steel powder.

[thomasjmdavis]

I didn't really think they were spraying hot stainless steel like ink jet printer ink.  I need to learn to use the  when I am not serious in a comment.

Their description does make it clear that it is a 2 step (or more) process, and if I read it correctly, the bronze is part of step 2, and fills in voids around the steel.  Apparently the process can result in various different colors.

As 3 D printing is beginning to come to the desktop level, how long before someone here has an N scale steel mill actually producing I beams and other structural shapes? (no doubt in plastic rather than metal, for the time being, but still....)