The question is whether there is any overlap at all where the price would be high enough to motivate supply (worth it to him) but low enough that there's still demand (worth buying). Also factoring in the cost of marketing, since potential buyers don't just automatically find you.
There are a huge number of business ideas where there is no overlap at all. Finding an overlap even without competition is hard enough. (Then add competition and it gets even harder, of course.)
There are resins you can use for projects like that if you want them to last, but they're less fun to work with.
I guess we'll wait and see!
For the UV-stable options, you have polyesters (which are very smelly) and premium aliphatic polyurethanes (which are finicky to work with).
Or just a yellow tint?
That was my only note: it would look incredible if squared off and polished to perfection.
I did a resin cast that had a similar "lip" at the edge (I turned a LGA CPU socket into a coaster), and I was able to sand it down fairly easily using regular sandpaper of progressively higher grit, producing a more or less perfect cuboid. The flatness was achieved by taping the sandpaper to a flat surface, and moving the part.
It's been a while, I can't remember if I used some kind of polishing compound at the end or whether the sandpaper alone was enough for a good finish.
Here's the process as explained by a reputable epoxy vendor: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-WYOK90KNo
Source: holy shit can you get a knife sharp using this method.
(Of course that means creating a new vacuum for every layer, probably).
This is apparently a well known issue among people who create resin-cast structures.
"To achieve the effect I want, I need around 20 layers for a regular pocket watch movement. If I were to cast each layer in a transparent container, adding components and epoxy as the previous layer was half-cured, I would be doing nothing else for a solid week."
I guess the epoxy's index of refraction depends on all kinds of factors such as the mixing ratio and the conditions under which it cures.
This company works from photos:
but there should be companies doing 3D --- I distinctly remember a company doing a 3D map of the nearby star systems (which the _Universe_ role-player in me desperately wanted) --- perhaps:
https://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/advice/diy/3d-model-neare...
could be modeled in Lego bricks?
Still, if you’re interested in more of the same sort of thing, worth a look:
I'd imagine Adam getting a kick out of my resin project, but I don't think he hangs out on HN.
I mean, given sufficient resin to attract and then encase him...
I don't know how viscous SLA 3D printer resin is, but if it could be made viscous enough then it seems like maybe you could just suspend the parts in it, tweaking their positions as much as you want until they're just right, then blast the whole thing with enough UV to cure all of it.
jasonjmcghee•3h ago
Also https://ciechanow.ski/ is an absolute inspiration.