Oh yeah! I am back into resin 3D printing casting models for metal casting. It’s the Lost Wax Casting process but using resin model instead of wax.
I have been here before but with mostly disappointing results with the resin burnout from the investment. This is a new brand of resin so expectations are high for good results. I’ll identify the brand if the burnout is good.
Wax is the traditional investment model material but can’t be easily 3D printed. There are some resins that get close to wax but a very expensive. There is also an extrudable (FDM) plastic wax I have tried.
The resin MSLA process has the best detail and surface layer heights and are usually 0.050mm and can be as fine as 0.025mm thick. Producing very good models.
Here I am using my Anycubic Mono SE resin printer with 0.050 layers.
The ring I designed in Autodesk Fusion 360 (F360) CAD. One picture is the CAD rendering. The F360 CAD STL file was then sliced in Chiubox, a resin type 3D slicer application. There is another rendering picture from Chitubox.
The print was successful and I show the ring being sprued and installed in the flask.
CAD rendering of the design | Rendering of setup for 3D printing |
Finished print on the build plate | 3D printed ring master model |
Ring on wax sprue and base | Model in flask, ready for investment. |
Next post will be the investment and burnout. that takes about 10-12 hours. I can’t see inside the mold after the burnout. So the casting will be made in hopes all went well and I have a clean mold.
The model and the investment mold are all “lost” in the casting process. Only the metal casting remains. The reason it’s called “Lost Wax Casting” but the mold itself is also lost.
Next post will be the results of the casting.