3D Printing One's Own Shave Gear

[skipsmagee]

I went to a recent talk by Chris Anderson, DIY guru and the editor-in-chief of Wired Magazine, and he explained how democratizing the means of production with CAD/3D modeling freeware (e.g. Google SketchUp) and made-to-order rapid prototyping tools (e.g. shapeways.com ) is revitalizing the DIY industry. I was wondering if anyone at B&B has looked at printing his own customized DE razor or straight razor handle?

Printing a 3-piece DE razor with the right blade angle and balance would be tough, but with the small material volumes we're dealing with, multiple iterations of a three-piece's head on Shapeways wouldn't be too expensive (compared to some of the RADs here). Printing a screwing adjustable like a Fatboy would take a lot of work, but a toggle even with silo doors might not be too tough. Shapeways can print in a sintered metal powder that essentially becomes stainless steel, and some time with a wire brush and buffing wheel should bring it to a nice shine. Plus, Shapeways is talking about adding a gold plating option.

Even if the printed razor isn't shavable, having a totally custom sculpture of a razor with initials, monograms, filigree, etc. would really spice up my shave den. Thoughts?

 

[_MementoMori_]

Those machines are ungodly expensive, if I'm not mistaken. The first time I saw one in action, I felt like I'd stepped through a magic portal into sci-fi world.

The SketchUp comment is interesting as well. I don't mean to brag, but I'm something of a SketchUp master. Maybe I'll mess around with a razor design tonight and post pics if it turns out alright.

 

[mirwalk]

checked the site and I guess they charge for amount of space. anywhere from .99 per cubic cm to 10.00 per cubic cm. The 10 was for the stainless steel. the aluminum was around 1.59

 

[K.T.]

I like the idea! It may ultimately turn out to be impractical, but I love the spirit of making it yourself. Who knows? Could work nicely.

K.T.

 

[verdict]

Those machines are ungodly expensive, if I'm not mistaken. The first time I saw one in action, I felt like I'd stepped through a magic portal into sci-fi world.

The SketchUp comment is interesting as well. I don't mean to brag, but I'm something of a SketchUp master. Maybe I'll mess around with a razor design tonight and post pics if it turns out alright.

Please do!

I used Sketchup once for a renovation of our house. It was pretty cool but I totally failed with all the proportions. Maybe you'll share some tips while you're at it?

 

[Perrin4]

Wired and MAKE have had quite a bit about this.

While capitalism can be great it tends to be corrupted into corporatism where laws are written to protect companies from their customers rather than the other way around and because they exist only as a piece of paper they face no real consequence for anything they do.
The balance to this IMO is DIY.
When the price of some widget gets too high just make it yourself.
This only goes so far as its hard to DIY a Pentium or a cell phone but we seem to be catching up in many ways.
I kind of expect though that if projects like REPRAP every really catch on the way say a microwave oven has that the same companies that sell us cheaply made junk with programed obsolescence will simply corner the market on the plastics and metals used in our milling machines. That's still a ways off though.

 

[_MementoMori_]

Verdict,

I went out for dinner tonight for my cousin's birthday. So sorry, but no SketchUp yet. I will design one, though. In the meantime, I can try to answer any questions you may have about SketchUp. I've been using it since it came out a few years ago, so I know just about everything a self-taught user can know.

 

[_MementoMori_]

Okay guys, I just drew a very quick and dirty safety razor in SketchUp. If I had accurate dimensions and a few hours on my hands, I could model pretty much any of the existing DEs out there.

Here's a sample of what a quick 10 minute drawing looks like:

 

[Telecaster52]

if anybody wants to steal this and get one made, make sure you get me one too

 

[_MementoMori_]

That's good work, telecaster. Did you model it? If so, what did you render it with?

 

[Telecaster52]

Thanks, david

I use autodesk Inventor

If anyone's interested in actually trying out making something and needs help, lemme know and we can figure something out

 

[_MementoMori_]

I'm definitely interested... for fun if nothing else. I only have AutoCAD2010, CS4, and SketchUp Pro 7.1 at my disposal though. I'd be interested in knowing where you got your dimensions. Did you measure an existing razor? As you can see, my quick mock-up above is cartoonish in its proportions.

 

[Telecaster52]

a standard DE razor head is just about 1.5" x 1" the holes in the guard plate are 3/16" diameter, spaced .5" apart, from that, i just kinda eyeballed

i took the measurements for this from my 50's aluminum Brit tech

As you can see, my quick mock-up above is cartoonish

Just because

 

[_MementoMori_]

Thanks a lot. That's enough for me to start playing with.

By the way, what do you do, telecaster? Are you in the design field? I'm graduating with a Bachelor's degree in Interior Design next year.

 

[Telecaster52]

Thanks a lot. That's enough for me to start playing with.

I would recommend starting out with autocad, works way better than sketchup IMO, i'll have to play around with it for a bit, but i think i still remember how to do 3D in 2010

By the way, what do you do, telecaster? Are you in the design field? I'm graduating with a Bachelor's degree in Interior Design next year.

I'm 1 year out of high school, looking at tech school in the fall, and doing odd jobs

 

[Uncle Erik]

Very cool technology, but I don't think it's quite there yet.

However, I do think it will be in another 10-20 years. You'll probably be able to download plans for all sorts of things and then have a local "printing" shop make what you need.

 

[Telecaster52]

more 3d virtual razor porn
[YOUTUBE]W4zxcFuYchs[/YOUTUBE]

 

[Sueto]

There is a nice plug-in for Sketchup that lets you parametic modelling. After doing projects in ProEngineer and Solidworks that way, it's hard to do modelling any other way. I never really liked AutoCad for design work. Inventor is nice though.