So I am very close to a new printable design for the Pencase which addresses both users comments and my own qibbles with the first design.
I’ll be honest, the first design was ideal for me. It had everything I needed and wanted but it had little in the way refinement. While I am a very skilled 3d modeller for entertainment projects, the demands of working on something which needed specific tolerances and durability required a lot of rewiring.
So with the new design, I think I have something I’d like to test with much more exotic materials – in particular, aluminum and stainlness steel. More 3d printing services are offering these materials and while a single print in either will likely cost into the hundreds of dollars I think it’s a worthwhile test.
But I would never ask a consumer to pay those kinds of prices for a pencase in said material. I already know that some of the parts I have designed are only achievable in the short term with 3d printing. The goal of the material test is exploration.
I won’t entirely rule out another round of design changes if it turns out I need to resort to cold casting, metal casting or other more common short run fabrication methods. But right now, I feel I have a good design and a decent schedule for this round of testing.
