News | Monday, 20th March 2023
Printing the past one layer at a time
Touchstones is an award-winning arts and heritage centre based in an historic Grade II listed building in the centre of Rochdale, Greater Manchester.
The collections and exhibitions team is currently digitising art works and museum objects from their collection to futureproof their exhibits.
Touchstones joined our PrintCity Network programme, a European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) project, to explore how new technologies, such as 3D printing and 3D scanning, can digitally archive a range of different artefacts, and make them more accessible to museum visitors. The collections in Rochdale includes art work, sculpture, decorative arts, archaeology, Egyptology, furniture, dress, social history, and natural history.
3D printing an earthenware bottle
Phase One of the ERDF PrintCity Network programme is the 3D Print Accelerator, which helped the Touchstones team to understand the potential of digital manufacturing technologies.
During the two-day workshop, Touchstones experimented with a Stoneware medicine bottle, used by a Veterinary Surgeon in Rochdale, dating from 1850-1860.
Using an Ein-Scan Structured Light 3D scanner with turntable, we scanned the bottle to produce a full-colour 3D model. We replicated it using our HP Multi Jet Fusion 580 Colour 3D printer.
This small project shows how an accurate replica can be archived and reproduced within 24 hours.
The next steps: Delving into the museum’s collection to 3D print artefacts
Through Phase Two of the ERDF PrintCity Network programme, the team at Touchstones will continue to explore further digital manufacturing processes. This will allow them to define the processes they need to implement 3D printing internally.
Mark Chester, Product Development Specialist at PrintCity says: “We’re honoured to be able to interact with these historic artefacts, it’s truly a unique experience. The civilisations that created these artefacts were already highly advanced, it would be interesting to see how they would use digital technologies that we have in the present day. Projects like this are important to ensure that these pieces are preserved for future generations. Additionally, 3D Printing these pieces allows people to get a more hands on experience, which will hopefully inspire young individuals to pursue ancient history and continue to visit the museum”.
We visited Touchstones in March 2023 to begin exploring their archives and scanned an amphora or wine jar known as the 'Swing Painter' vase dated from around 550-520 BC. We can’t wait to see how other items in the collection turn out!
Learn more about Yourtrust Touchstones here and explore our PrintCity facility here.
The PrintCity Network programme is fully funded by the European Regional Development Fund and there is no cost involved for eligible businesses to participate.
