3 ms·
I was thinking the edge could have a radius of about 350μm (like 21-gauge wire) while the main body might be 200μm thick. Price is always an issue. Maybe you'r
by kragen 2y ago
I was thinking the edge could have a radius of about 350μm (like 21-gauge wire) while the main body might be 200μm thick.
Price is always an issue. Maybe you're willing to pay €100 a spoon, or €1000, or even €10000, but nobody is going to pay €1000000000 per spoon. If there's a good chance the price will drop by a factor of 10 in the next year, many rich people might be unwilling to pay even €100.
The process described sounds like it would currently be able to produce a spoon for a cost on the order of €100k: four PhDs working for a month is maybe €50k, but they're also tying up a lot of rather expensive lab space, and I think they're using analytical-grade fine chemicals rather than metallurgical-grade copper and tantalum. And in this study they made roughly enough for half a spoon. The second spoon would probably cost closer to €1000.
- fc417fc802 2y agoI'm just not clear what the aesthetic advantage of making the body thinner than the edge is. At least not once you're already down under a millimeter. In an adjacent exchange it seemed we both expected the price to be far lower. 10x or even 50x the material cost of a piece of stainless steel flatware seems well within budget for a rich customer.
- kragen 2y agoSure, silver silverware already costs that much (and is antibacterial, and requires scrubbing tarnish off, though only for aesthetic reasons). It'll be interesting to see what shakes out.