I am trying to use the form 3+ to print injection molding inserts out of Rigid 10k. If I print my inserts so that none of the critical mold geometry needs support, there are cups, and I need to add drainage holes. I printed plugs, applied uncured resin to the plugs and plugged the holes before curing the piece. As you can see from the attached images, that didn’t turn out well as the uncured resin didn’t cure during the curing process. If I print the piece oriented so there are no cups, then the critical geometry I need is roughened by supports. Has anyone found an elegant solution to this dilemma? Is there a better way to plug drainage holes for 3d printed mold inserts?
Can you orientate the part to exclude cupping but minimise supports to critical surfaces?
I usually orientate the part so there are no cups and then add my supports manually letting Preform guide me as the where supports are need via the red shading. Unsupported minima are the hardest to deal with so some times I still need to add supports where they are not ideal for surface finish. But supports used sparingly reduce the post processing required.
I’ve had success with a 1mm hole to relieve the cup and thickened UV curing glue. Before the part cures, fill the hole, zap it with a UV pen light, and then put it through the normal cure cycle. You wind up with one small blemish where the glue is, but it’s generally not too bad, especially in the light colored resins.
I never heard of UV curing glue, but I’ll check it out for sure.
I’ve just been automatically generating supports. I’ll try manually adding them and see what I can get away with.
1 Like
I’d love to hear how it turns out. I’ve been wanting to try printed molds myself.
1 Like
To solve the drainage hole issue, you might want to try adding solid plugs directly into the mold design, possibly with a removable feature for easy extraction. Alternatively, using a resin that’s easier to cure in bulk may help, and experimenting with different support structures could reduce roughness.
1 Like