Originally shared by Diego Porqueras (Deezmaker)
http://deezmaker.com/deezmakers-experiments-in-lost-pla-casting-of-glass-and-bronze/
Disappointed, as there is virtually no info about the process or what is needed to do this.
@Shachar_Weis I’m a little more sympathetic. After all, these guys need to make a living; intellectual property arrising from their efforts will have come at a cost and its not good business to then publish it so your competitors can leverage your findings to their advantage at zero cost.
@Shachar_Weis , the process is posted quite widely across the net. It’s almost no different than any other lost wax process. You take the piece, lay it 1/2 submerged in a 50/50 mix of plaster of paris/playground sand (mixture ratios vary), add wax sprues, risers, etc. Let it set up, then cover the rest of it in the same mix. From there you have 2 avenues: you can just pour the molten metal in the mold and let it vaporize the PLA from the heat, or you can put the mold in a large furnace to burn out the PLA and then pour in the molten metal.
You have to scale the part up when printed (103%) to account for shrinkage, but the process is rather simple.
Once the metal is poured you just smash the plaster mold apart and out comes your piece. You cut off the sprues and voila.
http://www.backyardmetalcasting.com/
Link is relevent but nothing secret about lost wax technique. I think its better to print out a 2 part negative mould than melting a print.
There is also a similar casting process called “Lost Foam” where the investment is made from foam (typically in a mold) the processing is almost the same except you don’t do a “burn-out” of the investment. When you pour the hot metal into the plaster the foam vaporizes. Is there a printing process for Styrofoam?
@russ_neff as @ThantiK mentioned PLA prints work like lost foam casting. Especially very sparse prints.