I have never worked with a 3D printer so I hope someone can answer

3D Printing
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1

I have never worked with a 3D printer so I hope someone can answer some questions.
I would like to know if you can use any kind of wax on a 3D printer?
The idea would be to create a model for casting.
is this possible?

2

Some people have done it with PLA models the same as the lost wax method.

3

You’ll also potentially pick up surface ribbing from the print. that either requires grinding/sanding/polishing on the back end, or work on the printed part on the front end. This is a long and excellent video on the process: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWVVSZP3Au4

4

Thanks guys, as you can see I don’t know much about 3D printers and printing.
I know about lost wax and casting for gold, but only used the molds for wax then clay and then gold or silver but think would be easier if I could have the pieces printed in something like lost wax since my molding skills are quite poor.

5

It’ll definitely depend on the size of the part, too. If you’re doing jewelry, you may be spending time expanding our expertise on REALLY SMALL prints. While we’ve seen some folks printing with sub .4 mm nozzles, I haven’t seen a lot of work there.

6

I am unaware of a way based printer. But I don’t think it would be impossible. The filament designs (most of reprap) would not work as wax is to soft.

As for printing for jewelry if I were picking a printer it would be formlabs. They are using resin cured by lasers. That allows for really small layers with high detail.

Down side is material cost, print time, and in your case the hardness of the plastic.

One thing to consider is doing a simple model in a mechanical cad package, then importing that model to sculptris. Then the modeling feels like clay.

7

Side note after you do make a model you can “try printing it” at shapeways, materialize, or other print vender. Those prints will be more expensive, but they are doing all of the cleanup and they are using awesome printers.

8

I have successfully cast PLA wax printed molds. The burn out is less noxious than jeweler’s wax. The investment does pick up every small detail. So what I have done is take red sculpture wax and rub a very thin layer over the printed piece, then smoothed it off with my finger. The out come is incredible.

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Thank you @High_School_Art_Teac ​. I did not think of this method and have been sanding and hot smoothing mine.

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Here you go @Paulo_Dias :

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There are resin printers (SLA) that use a laser to fuse castable resin into a form. There is FormLabs and DWS systems that I can remember the names of.

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Only problem with the resin may be noxious fumes during burnout. PLA smells better than wax and leaves undetectable ash .

13

Ken W, that might be true. But, we should look into it more regarding toxins. It’s probably bad enough that anything is burned to a char/ash as that alone can cause respiratory issues.