My LIGO Commemorative Paperweight Arrived!

The paperweight I designed to commemorate the detection of gravitational waves by LIGO finally arrived.  I ordered it in stainless steel via Shapeways and their 3D printing partner ExOne.

 

When I opened the box I saw that it had some polishing material stuck in between some of the words and numbers. This is pretty normal with steel 3D prints so I was ready to pick the material out with my trusty  X-ACTO knife!  A few minutes later I was done and it was looking great.

I took some photos of the LIGO paperweight using my Foldio to ensure that I got some good shots.  Overall I think it came out well, thought I wish it was a little bigger.

However, it's expensive to print in metal so I think all in all the size is a good compromise. I am especially pleased with the legibility of the text.  It's hard to do right in steel, and technically the type shouldn't have passed the vetting process at Shapeways. But I have some experience using this typeface at a smaller size on my steel dog tags so I was confident that it would print.

Enjoy the photos and let me know what you think!