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Dyeing Shapeways Puzzle Pieces

George Bell ; June 10th

, 2011 ;[email protected]

http://home.comcast.net/~gibell/

This document refers to dyeing puzzle pieces made from the Shapeways materialknown as White, Strong and Flexible (WSF)or PA 2200, produced by the SLS

(selective laser sintering) method. Other Shapeways materials can also be dyed, but

not all can tolerate boiling water.

I use RIT brand fabric dye, but other fabric dyes are probably similar. RIT dye comes in

both powder and liquid forms. In my experience, there is no difference between the

same color in powder or liquid. However, the liquid form is a bit easier to work with. If

you spill a single grain of the powder, it can lurk undetected in your kitchen until it gets

wet. Most likely it will be your wife who discovers this and then you will have to look for

another place to dye puzzle pieces. You have been warned!

Step 1: Wash the puzzle pieces. This removes surface powder and hand oils whichmay have been absorbed into the pieces (if you have been playing with them). I use

dish soap and warm water, scrubbing each piece vigorously with a toothbrush. Rinse

the pieces and keep them soaking in a bowl of water.

The WSF material is relatively porous and readily absorbs water. If you dye dry puzzle

pieces the color may be uneven. I have had much better luck soaking the pieces in

water for 10 minutes before dyeing. Since it takes almost 10 minutes to heat the water

for dyeing, I let the pieces soak during this time.

Step 2: Heat up the dye bath. I use an old camping pot on the kitchen stove. I use 3to 4 tsp (15 to 20 ml) of liquid dye to 1 liter or quart of water. For the powder dye, use

this amount by volume. It does not seem to matter if you add the dye when the water is

cold or hot. If using powder, be sure to stir thoroughly to dissolve, and do not spill

any. When the dye bath starts to simmer, turn the heat off. You do not want to boil the

Colors (L to R): Lemon Yellow, Fuchsia, Tangerine, Scarlet, Purple, Kelly Green, Royal Blue.
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puzzle pieces (although I have done so with no ill effects). I live at 1650m where the

boiling temperature is 94C. Shapeways suggests a dye bath at a constant 90C.

Step 3: Take the puzzle pieces from the water and put them in the dye bath. They willprobably float, so keep stirring and dunking them down to ensure a uniform color. The

amount of dyeing time varies quite a bit depending on the color. Royal Blue is one ofthe easiest colors to work with, and the pieces should be a nice light blue after only 30

seconds, and will be quite dark blue in 3 to 5 minutes. Lemon Yellow is the slowest. I

use double the amount of dye, and soak them for 15 to 30 minutes.

Step 4: When you like the shade of color, remove the pieces from the dye bath andrinse them in warm water. I let them soak in a pot for 3-5 minutes, refreshing the water

every minute or so. Dump the dye water down the sink.

Step 5: Toss the puzzle pieces back in the soapy water. I have a second toothbrush

and I give the pieces another scrub. The purpose of this step is so that your guests donot have dye coming off in their hands when they are handling your puzzle.

Step 6: Rinse thoroughly and let the pieces soak again for a few minutes. If you see

any dye coming off them (primarily for hollow pieces), keep them soaking. Set on paper

towels to dry. You are done! Hollow pieces may take over 24 hours to dry, you can

speed this up by using a hair dryer.

Colors: The recipe here results invibrant and well saturated colors. Allcolors seem to come out much darker

than indicated on the package. If you

want lighter colors use less dye or work

at a lower temperature (Shapeways

uses a 90C dye bath for at least 20

minutes). Some colors are also easier

to work with than others. The easiest

color to work with is black, which always

comes out perfectly. Green and yelloware tricky, taking longer and/or hard to

keep from becoming too dark. I still

have not found a satisfactory green.

Easy RIT colors: Black, Royal Blue,Royal Blue, Kelly Green, Scarlet,

Lemon Yellow, Tan(!), Purple
http://www.shapeways.com/tutorials/dyeing_slshttp://www.shapeways.com/tutorials/dyeing_slshttp://www.shapeways.com/tutorials/dyeing_slshttp://www.shapeways.com/tutorials/dyeing_slshttp://www.shapeways.com/tutorials/dyeing_slshttp://www.shapeways.com/tutorials/dyeing_slshttp://www.shapeways.com/tutorials/dyeing_slshttp://www.shapeways.com/tutorials/dyeing_slshttp://www.shapeways.com/tutorials/dyeing_slshttp://www.shapeways.com/tutorials/dyeing_slshttp://www.shapeways.com/tutorials/dyeing_sls


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Scarlet, Fuchsia, Tangerine, Purple.

Hard RIT colors: Kelly Green, Lemon

Yellow, Pearl Grey, Tan (last two can

easily become too dark).

Not recommended RIT colors: Teal,

Wine, Dark Green, Navy Blue, Denim

Blue (these come out too dark).

Note: Dyeing a six piece puzzle in 6different colors is a time-consuming

process. This can easily take three

hours! I usually dye several puzzles in parallel.

Note: The WSF material starts out as a fine nylon powder which is fused by a laser,layer by layer. Since Shapeways charges by volume of the fused material, one can

save money by making pieces hollow. One can add holes to let the interior powder

escape, OR add very tiny holes which will fuse over, trapping the powder. If the puzzle

pieces appear solid, they may contain trapped powder. These pieces can be more

difficult to dye, and Shapeways refuses to do it. What can happen is that the dye soaks

into the pieces and then into the powder unevenly, producing a mottled appearance

(yellow in particular seems prone to this problem). If this should happen to you, dont

panic. I have found that once the inside powder dries up, the mottling goes away. The

problem is that this drying out may take many weeks or months. I live in a very dry

place, and it took over a month for the mottling to go away.

Reference: Shapeways describes their dyeing process athttp://www.shapeways.com/tutorials/dyeing_sls

Peanut puzzle pieces dyed at a lower

temperature by Ginda Fischer
http://www.shapeways.com/tutorials/dyeing_slshttp://www.shapeways.com/tutorials/dyeing_slshttp://www.shapeways.com/tutorials/dyeing_sls