Thanks.... (I got more!) I sent the model off to the printer - modified somewhat to get the cup volume up over 2 oz. - we shall see - it may be enough to assess the feel and design and feel of the thing but it is not likely to be very robust for day to day use, is my guess. And, it's a 40 dollar bill to get the print... It's an experiment.

-Pascal

Would you mind posting a link to the printer? I have been looking for one, since the two I had been using quit printing ceramics.

Would you mind posting a link to the printer? I have been looking for one, since the two I had been using quit printing ceramics.

Yep, sure - this is the one I'm trying - http://kwambio.com/ It was the only one I could find the other day that does other than industrial sorts of parts. No idea if they have a good rep, or what. They told me this morning that there is a bit of a queue - it may take two weeks or so to get the part. I'll let you know how it all goes...

@cpreston - a couple of things:

1. it turns out the place is in the Ukraine, so postal costs are up there with production costs. I will still try it once.

2. they volunteered some 'fixes' to get the design to conform with their guidelines (I was under 5mm thickness in one spot) From what I can tell, I would not just say OK to these suggestions if you decide to work with them - find out what is wrong and fix the digital model yourself in the original. What they sent back to me for approval was junk and it took me about 3 minutes in my original model to fix it cleanly.

-Pascal

Your best bet would be to print with PETG. It will have better temp resilience than PLA. And won't have the toxic off gassing of ABS. Food Safety is an oft debated topic in 3D Printing. General issues with food safety, regardless of filament type generally are:

1. lots of little crevices in which bacteria can grow and are difficult to thoroughly clean.
2. Many nozzles for 3D printers are made of brass, which contain lead. Minute particles of lead might be transferred to the plastic from the nozzle during printing.

The standard responses to these are:

1. Finish the print with food safe epoxy and then sand. The food safe epoxy will fill all the little holes and crevices.
2. Use a stainless steel nozzle instead.

Having said that... I usually don't use food safe epoxy on my own prints. At most I sand then a little to smooth out some imperfections during printing.

I print exclusively with PETG. And I have cleaned my prints in the dishwasher with it set to 'anti-bacteria', 'extra-heat', 'heated-dry' modes enabled. I think that should suffice in killing of any bacteria which might be on the print.

Well, citizens, I said I'd update when I got back a ceramic 3d print - it's been an adventure, but I got it the other day, a mere couple of months since sending in the stl file.

So - thing one is, if you deal with Kwambio - who are, by the way very attentive and helpful, don't just accept their modifications to your stuff - make the modification yourself and re-submit the file. I had a spot at the foot that was microscopically too thin, by the book - I say it would have been just fine but whatever - and they 'fixed' it. They did send me a mesh back for approval, so I was able to avoid a mess but just beware...

Once that was sorted, all went just fine. Almost. The first print waas shipped (did I mention this service is in the Ukraine? Though I think they may have just opened an office in London) and promptly disappeared into the void of the Ukraine postal service. When it became clear that the thing was lost, Kwambio immediately started a new print but with the shipping this dragged on and on - shipping was at least as expensive as the part itself. I knew this but just took a flyer on it. ]

So thing two - it's expensive and slow to ship.

The results are about as I surmised they would be - while the glaze is much cleaner and whiter than a previous attempt at a similar part from Shapeways back when they used to offer 'porcelain', it is thick and opaque - so the design loses a good deal of crispness in the details of the handle and the foot - images below. The feel of it is fine - the inside shape and feel of the rim is just what I was shooting for. As an extra convenient bonus coincidence the finished part weight is exactly 100g, so I can just shove the whole thing on my scale and see what the pour was even if in brain-addled early morning state. That said, I doubt this is durable enough for any extended use - I can't really tell if the body is porous but if enough water enters the body through the unglazed foot ring, it might just bust it - a colleague had a glazed 3d print break spontaneously from this. At any rate I doubt it is anything close to real porcelain in density.

Here's the digitally perfect 'design surfaces':



and grim reality - you can see how the thick glaze kind of mushes things up:



I like that it's low, so it fits in that low headroom CT-1, I can actually watch the pour:

That's a really nice looking cup.

Cheers, Chris. It would be fun to make adjustments for the glaze thickness and try to hit the design better - and if it were a 'real' durable part I'd be tempted, but as is I'll leave it for now. In real life use, I find the handle 'ok' but the articulation, a slight edge, that is in there in the digital model is pretty much lost under the glaze, so there is a definite feeling of lack of purchase in the grip.

Just to follow up further, in case anyone is tempted to get glazed 3d prints - I mentioned above that the first part made was lost in the mail and could not be tracked, so Kwambio made another and sent that out - well, eventually I got both! The second one first, I believe - I say that because they sent pics of the final parts before sending and they were different. On the first, lost, one, the shot was very much looking down... it looked peculiar to me at the time but I put it down to 'fish-eye' effect of shooting so close. For the second one, they photo was much more from the side, as I'd expect... and it looked correct so that supported my fish eye theory. Well, when the first one arrived the other day, there I was thinking that I'd scored two cups for the price of one and some waiting time, but it was a mess - completely distorted and horrible, and went straight into the circular file.

The upshot is, get proper pictures from them before they send the thing out!