Anyone printing in wax?

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Sandiapaul
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Anyone printing in wax?

Post by Sandiapaul »

If so what printer are you using? Thinking about setting up for investment casting. PLA is also a possibility...

thanks!
FLtenwheeler
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Re: Anyone printing in wax?

Post by FLtenwheeler »

There are other options when it comes to investment casting. Anything that does not produce toxins when burned out will work. But the less ash it leaves behind the better.

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wms6
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Re: Anyone printing in wax?

Post by wms6 »

https://www.machinablewax.com/product.p ... 2MQAvD_BwE

Wonder how well this works. I don't have a 3d printer, yet.
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Dick_Morris
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Re: Anyone printing in wax?

Post by Dick_Morris »

I have read that resin 3D prints can also be used. They are supposed to have a much better surface finish. I think my PLA printer will meet my needs, but it leaves small lines where the material is deposited. The lines require some work to remove for the best castings.

Some disadvantages of resin printers is that the are they are messy, smell, and the resin and fumes are toxic. Low cost resin printers are in the same price range as low cost PLA printers.

I wasn't familiar with resin printers when I bought my PLA printer. Knowing what I do today I might make a different decision.
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Adirondack
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Re: Anyone printing in wax?

Post by Adirondack »

Dick_Morris wrote: Sat Jul 20, 2019 5:32 pm
Some disadvantages of resin printers is that the are they are messy, smell, and the resin and fumes are toxic.
Not really. I use Druckwege Pro Black exclusively, and it has none of those problems if you are the least bit careful while working.

Check out the Phrozen or Form2 3D printers, and look for Bluecast resin for investment casting. It works, and it works well. Personally, I find the time factor to be an issue, as well as the size of the finished parts. I prefer to print a master pattern at 16 microns and then have the casting house pull a mold and run the waxes the way they like them.

Your mileage may vary.

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Adirondack
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Re: Anyone printing in wax?

Post by Adirondack »

wms6 wrote: Sat Jul 20, 2019 4:04 pm https://www.machinablewax.com/product.p ... 2MQAvD_BwE

Wonder how well this works. I don't have a 3d printer, yet.
It works just fine, but you need to post-process the print to give clean faces. Works well on driver and wheel patterns with large details and flat surfaces.

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Rick
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Re: Anyone printing in wax?

Post by Rick »

I have bought a spool of thus but haven't had a chance to print. Looks very promising.
https://us.polymaker.com/product/polycast/
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Fender
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Re: Anyone printing in wax?

Post by Fender »

Dick_Morris wrote: Sat Jul 20, 2019 5:32 pm Some disadvantages of resin printers is that the are they are messy, smell, and the resin and fumes are toxic.
I had similar results when I made sand cores that used a mixture of molasses and linseed oil, hardened by baking in the oven. Yuck!
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Adirondack
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Re: Anyone printing in wax?

Post by Adirondack »

Rick wrote: Sat Jul 20, 2019 8:41 pm I have bought a spool of this but haven't had a chance to try it out. Looks very promising
https://us.polymaker.com/product/polycast/
Somewhat fussy to print depending on your machine. I spent a lot more time than I wanted to tweaking settings in Cura to get it to work.

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A little locomotive with 4 wheels on the track is a lot more fun
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kenrinc
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Re: Anyone printing in wax?

Post by kenrinc »

Moldlay was the stuff that was recommended to me for investment cast 3D prints. Haven't had a chance to try either it or polycast.

https://www.amazon.com/PORO-Lay-Mold-La ... B00WAJBB48

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Rich_Carlstedt
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Re: Anyone printing in wax?

Post by Rich_Carlstedt »

Paul, I think the first question to ask is
" What accuracy or dimensioned tolerances and window sizes will I be printing "
Like you, I was interested in "Lost Wax" these past two years and at first thought of the ordinary "filiment" 3 D Machines ( called FDM).
The only machines that came close to my desired level of accurate reproductions used a number 1 nozzle ( # 1 = .1mm or .004")
Normally , everyone uses a # 4 nozzle for extrusion ( #4 = .4mm or .016")
Now its pretty hard to extrude a desired size of say .002" when your nozzle is twice as big and impossible if it is 8 times larger !
Now , I did see some exquisite work done by one friend who "Modified" his 3 D printer, but I didn't want to go there.
I ended up going to our local tech college for a class and was able to use all the various printers and try different formats
The most promising was the SLA process using a Formlabs 2 machine and their liquid wax casting resin at $300 a Litre.
Now before you scream about the cost, since you only print exactly what you want in the model, a little goes a long way, and having made and done Silicone molds for earlier lost wax jobs, it is a whole lot simpler !
I have not done my burnout yet as I need a controller for the oven. The burn out is much more complicated and longer than using real wax and can only be done (IMHO) with a stair step process over 13 hours.
The waxes I made are superb . I did very small bevel gears that are almost impossible to make unless you have a 1/10 size Fellows Gear Shaper ( Think 18 perfect form teeth on a 3/8 bevel gear )
As ADK said , you can get 16 micron (or less!) layers (~ .0007").....and it didn't smell
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Sandiapaul
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Re: Anyone printing in wax?

Post by Sandiapaul »

Thanks for the info Rich. I have a friend with the Formlabs printer and he has offered to print for me(if I buy the resin of course!)

This seems like the way to go, but it also seems like a trade-off, loose the whole step of making the model and then making waxes vs buying a printer and learning and tweaking it to work right.

Care to share your recent work? I'd love to see it!
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