Printing Time
Remember how we can see things as small as 29 μm? Turns out, it isn’t so easy to print them.
I had checked before starting some basic calculations. 600 ppi should be 42 μm sized dots. And 1,200 ppi should be 21 μm sized dots. Exactly what I need.
Except dots on paper are made of ink. Which spreads. So although in theory you can have a dot this small coming out, that isn’t the size it stays. It’s almost impossible with commercial printers to create the accuracy I’ve designed!
To add insult to injury, I have even determined the average color of each planet. That won’t happen. Sad. Maybe I should have checked sooner. Or not followed this crazy plan.
There must be a solution. I’m not trying to print a microchip and they’re much smaller! Time to explore options. I find out about microphotography. That would be very cool if viewed under a microscope. But this isn’t something available nowadays and I don’t fancy setting up my own studio.
We have microdots. Talk of messages hidden in the dot the size of the one at the end of this sentence. That could work. Commercial markings to hide things like serial numbers are done using this. But even they are very blocky and limited in scope.
Ah ha! I’ve got it. Lasers! I mean, what can be better than space and lasers? These are used to cut and to engrave, they will do the trick for me. A bit of digging online and I confirm they have the right resolution for my needs. I just need to get a laser with a resolution of 10 μm and I’ll be within tolerance for my design.
Even better, there’s now color laser marking! Maybe I can still do color after all? Not so fast. That only works above a certain scale. We’re too small.
A few hit-and-miss conversations with laser marking firms and we’re sorted. Laser-marked metal it is. As an added bonus, unlike paper, it’s luminous (reflective), so the visual twinkle of my metal planets when illuminated simulate light from the Sun. It’s as if I planned it all along!
So here we are. A 4m wide diagram with metal planets winking back at me against the blackness of space. I’m stoked!
And now I need a name. Inner planets is a bit boring. Metal planet? What else do we call these planets?
I’ve heard of terrestrial planets but it turns out another name is tellurian or telluric planets. Which comes from Tellus, the original Earth goddess in Roman mythology.
Well, my Earth (and planets) are metal – Metal Tellus we are!
And this is how it came to be. Do you want one for yourself or someone who appreciates precision plus inspiration? Then buy now. If not, I hope you enjoyed this journey as much as I did!