Here’s a ring 3d printed with a wax filament! Low temperature is needed. I’ll try to cast an object with the lost wax process; it seems to be the best material to do that.
Where do you get wax-filament? Does it cool quickly enough?
PLA should work well for that too. others have even tried ABSm, but I would advise against that because of the fumes created:
Of cause wax is much easier to postprocess to get the surface smoothness/texture you want to have.
…at least as long as 3d pritners haven’t reached layer heights of 1/100mm(visible surface texture) or 1/1000mm(“touchable” surface texture) but only 0.1=1/10mm or 0.2=2/10mm.
I spoke to my dad a while ago about this…he is a goldsmith and do lost forms in wax. He has 2 different waxes and they melt at different temperature. I think it is doable, but the wax is so soft you easily squeeze it between your fingers. The pressure on the filament must be minimal. I think the extruder-gear must be replaced to a wheel or similar.
important is to test if PLA leaves behind anything when it gets heated to empty the form, I do know wax doesn’t
Hi everybody. Someone else try the lost wax process with PLA before but the results weren’t the best, so we think there’s the opportunity of new challenge with wax filament. The filaments I used comes from my lab, Design for Craft (www. http://designforcraft.com), they are experimental. Of course the resolution is a weak point but we can work on the final finish of the piece (smooth)
Recycling failed prints should be dead easy.
Should be but isn’t. Constant material properties (failed prints from multiple reels from different suppliers), water content, no air bubbles, perfect roundness, perfect, consistent diameter.
@Marcus_Wolschon I often print in. .08 on a Mendel 90 hybrid so resolution isn’t limited to .1mm and Ultimaker or tantillus get better resolution than I get on my Mendel
0.08 is not much better then 0.1 and very far from 0.001 or even 0.01
I am not saying that it is the max others can do. but what I cobbled together sourcing my own parts and with a very inefficient design. I have even heard of .025 which is a far cry better than .1
http://www.tridimake.com/2013/01/how-fine-can-ultimaker-print.html?m=1 I’d also like to note this guy’s prints on Ultimaker 1 at .04mm
This is cool! I have been talking to my friend about using the printer we are building to make jewelry!
There are two approaches that I have been considering: print the basic model in PLA then carve the fine details by hand or use a wax specific setup tailored to printing at high resolution.
There are professional wax printers for that purpose. They combine wax printing and milling.
…if only I was a professional. 