I created (with help from good people like DaveR) a shackle clasp and it’s knurled bolt.
They are on “casting trees” so that they could be 3d printed in wax and then burned out and cast in metal.
I’m actually only going to make 2 or 4 of them. I just copied two trees for the photo. I will cast them in Argentium silver in my garage. (It’s a premium silver that has germanium instead of copper in the .935% silver alloy). The symbol you see is the offical hallmark of Argentium. Because I have to pay shapeways to 3d Print my model, the wax printing actually costs me the same as over 2 ounces of argentium silver!
The shackles are only about 12mm for the longest dimension. Because metal shrinks when you cast it… it’s better to cut the threads after you cast the metal. So bolts are about 1% larger in diameter than the target for cutting with a die. The holes in the shackles are plenty smaller than needed and will be drilled out with a drill bit. Shrinkage is usually between 1 and sometimes even 3%.
Thank you DaveR and everyone for inspiring me to be more creative in my jewelry hobby.
Unfortunately, they still don’t make inexpensive wax printers. I believe they can cost 50K. But I believe they started working on creating cheaper 3d printers that can print wax. I can have a lot more fun once cheap printers can do wax.
