I attended the product announcement webinar and am cautiously optimistic about Castable Wax 40 resin. I’ve conscientiously tried every castable resin FormLabs develops, but I presently use BlueCast for all of my 3D silver jewelry. According to the presentation, this new resin is an attempt to create a product that conforms more closely to standard plaster choices and burnout schedules, with little-to-no-need for post curing. That would be a major improvement.
Two sample rings arrived last week, and while I haven’t cast them yet, here are my first impressions.
Positive:
Smooth surface finish, better than previous castable resins. It feels slightly softer than a traditional Ferris Blue milling wax, and much softer than purple castable wax resin.
2 .Seems to be free of the build-side overcuring problem that has plagued several other resins on the Form3.
Negative:
Poor Dimensional accuracy-- both rings are severely distorted ovals
As noted in the product introduction webinar, this resin does not print as crisp a level of fine detail as previous castable resins at 25um.
Observation:
Not using the same light-touch supports as other castable resins
Packaging/shipping broke away the majority of supports, this is alluded to in the webinar
I will post more after the investing/casting process.
Could you compare the quality of BlueCast resin to Wax 40 resin? I think about the detail of the print and the quality of the casting in a standard casting cycle, like jewelry wax. Thank you for the info.
I’ve not printed my own designs with Castable Wax 40 yet, but comparing the rings pictured above with my own work, I’d say BlueCast is capable of finer detail-- as is the purple FormLabs Castable Wax. I find that BlueCast provides pieces with very fine detail while using standard investment and burnout times, with no need for post-curing. My hope is the new Castable Wax 40 will follow industry standards in this regard.
For fine filigree work, Form Labs recommends their purple resin.
I have printed some rings with the Wax 40 with very beautiful results. These fresh out of the ISO bath no post curing. I do notice some shrinkage after it sits out in the open air after a while and it also gets harder and turns darker blue. I plan to cast a piece tomorrow.
This printed pattern was left in the open air with light overnight. The pattern got much harder and shrank one ring size over night. In fact I felt the need to put it on my ring gauge to ensure it would stay round while it shrank and got harder… this stuff is very soft. Here is the cast in yellow bronze purchased from Rio Grande :). I took the picture with my phone so not the best quality. I will get some better pics on my real camera with macro lense tomorrow… and provide some first impressions…
This printed pattern was taken directly out of ISO bath and then casted. I was a little nervous it would warp or change shape when pouring investment into the flask. I think this one turned out with way less flaws than the one I let sit overnight. Probably the best way to use this stuff is right away after printing. Again, phone pics, but I will get better pics and share my first impressions tomorrow.
