i.Materialise, one of the popular online 3D print services, now offers an experimental Bronze 3D printing capability. This isn’t bronze plating – it seems to be solid bronze. However, during this experimental phase they limit the size of your bronze prints to 5 x 5 x 5 cm. We think that’s quite appropriate as they have to sort out their staffing and workflow for the new service. Also you’d probably have trouble paying for large bronze objects as they are priced similar to stainless steel objects.
Our opinion? Everyone needs more metal options, but this development is literally just in time to 3D print your own 2012 London Olympic medals!
Via i.Materialise
i.Materialise specifically identifies the material as a copper-zinc alloy (brass) and calls it brass on their specifications page:
i.Materilise: Introducing brass 3D Printing
Some people might informally refer to this material as bronze, but it would be courteous to use the word "brass" because that's the term i.Materialise chose to use. Bronze is typically associated with the deep-toned copper-tin alloys, in contrast with the bright copper-zinc brass offered here.