Open Gallery
Brass
Copper Alloy (80% Copper, 15% Zinc, 5% Tin)
Colors
About Brass
Brass is a material commonly used in jewelry, accessories and home decor. It is a copper alloy containing 15% zinc, 5% tin and 80% copper and is capable of showcasing intricate details and offers a professional, finished look and feel. Brass will tarnish over time, but can be polished back to achieve a like-new surface.
Common Applications
Jewelry, Fashion Accessories, Home Decor, Prototypes, Miniatures
Material Properties
High Quality & Shiny Finishing
Capable of intricate details
Great value
Handling and Care
Like all brass, our Polished and Natural offerings will tarnish over time and may need to be polished or cleaned.
Upload a file to get started
Frequently Asked Questions
What finishes are available?
Natural: Light polishing to achieve a matte, somewhat rough surface Polished: Hand-polished to achieve a smooth, shiny surface
Will this turn my skin green?
Brass can react with your skin leaving a non-harmful greenish tinge with wear over time. To prevent this, you may consider coating the inner diameter of rings with clear nail polish.
How is this material made?
Brass models are fabricated using lost wax casting. First, the model is printed in wax using a specialized high-resolution 3D Printer. It is then put in a container where liquid plaster is poured in around it. Once the plaster sets, the wax is melted out in a furnace, and the remaining plaster becomes the mold. Molten brass is poured into this mold and set to harden. The plaster is broken away, revealing your new product. Natural Brass is briefly tumbled. Polished Brass is carefully cleaned and hand polished. Please be aware that polishing can wear down or fill in very fine details and edges.
Why is there a limitation of 6 interlocking parts per file?
For interlocking parts, we connect each wax part with a sprue and then cut and polish the sprue away after casting. Due to the intensive labor involved in every part we connect, we limit the number of parts allowed.
More Materials
Professional Finish
Great Value
Capable of intricate details
Applications
Pendants
Tie Bars
Home Decor
Technology
Lost Wax Casting
High Quality Finish
Capable of intricate details
Many colors available
Applications
Bracelets
Earrings
Cufflinks
Technology
Lost Wax Casting
- Bounding Box
- Wall Thickness
- Wires
- Surface Details
- Escape Holes
- Clearance
- Interlocking Parts
- Multiple Parts
- Accuracy
- Design Tips
- Pricing
BOUNDING BOX
Maximum
89 × 89 × 100 mm
75 × 75 × 40 mm (Interlocking Parts)
Minimum
2.4 × 2.4 × 0.6 mm
Your model should be within the minimum and maximum bounding box sizes. The maximum bounding box represents the largest model that our printers can produce. The minimum bounding box size is the smallest dimension in which we can print in this material.
WALL THICKNESS
Min Supported Wall Thickness
0.6 mm (Natural)
0.8 mm (Polished)
Min Unsupported Wall Thickness
0.6 mm (Natural)
0.8 mm (Polished)
A supported wall is connected on at least two sides. Walls in your model must meet the minimum measurements to ensure it survives the printing and cleaning process. Thin walls are prone to warping during printing and are fragile to clean. Objects that meet the minimum requirements may still be rejected based on the geometry in which case our production team will communicate with you if the design needs improvements and can assist you to strengthen your model.
WIRES
Min Supported Wires
0.8 mm
1.5 mm (For Interlocking Parts)
Min Unsupported Wires
1.0 mm
1.5 mm (For Interlocking Parts)
A geometry considered a wire when its thinner in both unconnected directions than its length. Wires that are under our suggested minimums are prone to breaking in the cleaning process.
SURFACE DETAILS
Min embossed detail
0.35 mm high & wide (Natural), 0.4 mm high & wide (Polished)
Min engraved detail
0.3 mm high & wide (Natural), 0.35 mm high & wide (Polished)
We recommend these minimum measurements for details like embossing or engraving, based off of printer resolution.
ESCAPE HOLES
Single Escape Hole Diameter
4.0 mm
Multiple Escape Hole Diameter
2.0 mm
Escape holes allow excess material inside hollow products to be removed.
To create brass products, a plaster mold is poured around a wax print of your product, and then brass is cast into the plaster mold. For products with hollow areas, escape holes are essential for two parts of this process. First, the liquid plaster must be able to enter the hole to fill in the hollow area. Then, once the metal is cast, the escape hole must be large enough to allow removal of the hardened plaster from the hollow area. If escape holes are too small, the hollow area may be completely filled in with metal or plaster.
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.
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
0.3 mm
1.0 mm (For Interlocking Parts)
Clearance is the space between an two parts, e.g. space between gears or a ball and socket joint.
INTERLOCKING AND ENCLOSED PARTS ?
Yes, up to 6.
MULTIPLE PARTS ?
Up to 2 identical parts (like earrings or cufflinks) may be uploaded in the same model file. We cannot accept multiple, unique, non-interlocking parts ordered in the same model file; there should be one file for each unique part.
ACCURACY
Your model may shrink about 0.25 mm plus 2.5% after casting and finishing. For rings the inner diameter is accurate within +/- 0.1 to 0.15mm. On average, the model shrinks about 2.5% after casting and finishing. We do our best to polish the internal diameter to match your model file.
DESIGN TIPS
Polishing
Polishing gives this material a beautiful finish, but can have an impact on fine details. During the polishing step, fine or sharp-edged details may be polished down or even broken off. Keep this in mind when you're designing fine details.
We can only polish well-reachable surfaces, so tight internal spaces may remain unpolished.
This material will leave green stains on the skin after long term wear
The copper in the brass material will react with chemicals on the skin and create green stains. These are harmless, but often undesired. This material is therefore less suited for rings.
Keep embossed and engraved details shallow
Engraved details must not be too deep, and embossed details must not be too tall. The width of your detail must be the same or greater than how far it juts out from the surface (or sinks in for engraving). Engraved details that are too deep will cause issues when casting. Embossed details that are too tall are more likely to chip and break during production (unless the detail meets the minimum wall requirements).
Stone holding prongs should be short
Prongs for holding stones cannot be too long without anything connecting them. This connecting beam is to prevent the wax from breaking away. Also, with thin and long prongs, the product will not to be able to hold big stones. Make sure your stone will sit snug and tight.
PRICING
How will the price of my model be calculated?
- Material Volume - the amount of material needed to 3D print your product
- Production - associated production costs including labor; quality control; machine maintenance; general utilities; and other supporting services required to 3D print your product
What is the minimum price per model?
- Natural - $12.50
- Polished - $17.50
