Steemit 3d Printed Challenge Coin, Available Now!
There's a certain joy in designing new things. I love getting my fingers wet dabbling in 3d design, and for some reason, challenge coins are one of the things that I truly get gratified by.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A challenge coin is a small coin or medallion (usually military), bearing an organization’s insignia or emblem and carried by the organization’s members. Traditionally, they are given to prove membership when challenged and to enhance morale. In addition, they are also collected by service members. In practice, challenge coins are normally presented by unit commanders in recognition of special achievement by a member of the unit. They are also exchanged in recognition of visits to an organization.
It's unreasonable to design things without having a prototype, though. You want to know the tolerances and the overall heft. Having a 3d printer of your own is more than a little invaluable.
That's where my Monoprice Mini Delta comes in. Is it the biggest printer? Oh, Hades no. Does it produce the best prints money can buy? Not really, though it's surprisingly good. Is it cheap? You betcha. Is it fast? Like quicksilver on a hotplate.
So now there's this, the utterly unofficial, completely un-hand-crafted Steemit Challenge Coin. 6cm across, you can slap it down on the bar the next time someone says, "I don't believe you were ever on Steemit!"
Or whatever use your heart desires.
I wouldn't think of telling you what to do with it.
Well, you could buy it!
That's right, you can pick up your very own Steemit Challenge Coin at Shapeways for relatively cheap! Well, fine, currently $10 in yellow strong and flexible plastic, but if you've really been working the market, $3,600 for 14k gold is pretty reasonable, right? (If you're a hardcore whale, can I interest you in a $12,300 platinum coin? Buy one and I promise I'll send you a designer certificate of authenticity with a genuine blood stain. Not necessarily mine, but a stain!)
C'mon, be one of the cool kids. Or don't, that's cool, too.
Oh, sure, I suppose you could be one of the cheap kids and get one for free from Thingiverse if you have your own printer or access to one.
That's okay, too, but if you do, be sure to leave a message, a note, a tip, a random insult -- whatever you feel it warrants.
Be good to each other, or if you can't be good -- be good at it.
Ahaha, I'm nearly tempted to get one myself :)
The design is interesting, and it could easily be transformed into a pendant too.
I was wondering, how did you make the logo ? Did you work out a design yourself, or get your hands on an SVG file ?
I'm personally planning to create a Steemit-themed christmas bauble, or star, to follow up on my old Steemit-related models.
I recently got back into 3D design specifically because someone over at MyMiniFactory test-printed those models !
For those who really want to show their families how much Steemit means to them, they should begin a collection of Steemit-themed 3D prints !
Oh yes, it would be extremely easy to turn this design into a pendant. Just a matter of scaling it down, adding a loop, giving a little more thickness proportionally – absolutely doable.
I made the logo in the theoretically worst possible way: I took the available PNG files of the Steemit logo, plopped it on a canvas in my 3D design software (Onshape, in this case), and manually sketched around it with curves. It was the only way I could guarantee that the results would be contiguous in a way that would let me manipulate the sketch elements to get a clean 3D extrusion.
Steemit themed Christmas baubles could absolutely be something people might want. Maybe we should make a collection of such things!