Creating a ceramic shell for large casting

Support & Troubleshooting Materials
1

Hi,

I am trying to create a ceramic shell to cast a two-foot-tall bronze sculpture. I tried using the castable wax, but the ceramic shell cracked apart during the burnout. The sculpture foundry did not do the FL recommended heat schedule, and will not do that long of a process for me. I assume the castable wax 40 will have a similar expansion problem, but let me know if anyone has had luck at scale. The foundry recommended PLA. Does FL offer a resin that can burn out like PLA?
Otherwise, I am open to suggestions for combining FL printing with bronze casting.

Here is a picture of the design and the cracked ceramic shell:

image001
image0011920×2485 103 KB

Ceramic shell
Ceramic shell1920×1440 433 KB

Thanks,
Tommy

2

Hello Tommy,
Have you experimented with steam dewaxing, it can remove most of the wax and eliminate the pressure on the investment.

Good luck!
Carl
Quality Casting Inc.

3

Carl,

Thanks for the suggestion, I started looking into it last night. Do you know if the FL castable purple wax works with steam?

Thanks,
Tommy

4

Is that the cartable wax 40? If so I am using that wax and can test it here a my facility.

Regards,
Carl

5

The one I used was the castable wax 20%, but I am not committed to that material. If you would be willing to test the castable wax 40 that would be greatly appreciated. I would really like to have some more information on this before moving forward. Please let me know if you decide to run a test and any of your results.

Thank you,
Tommy

6

I will run some test and let you know.

Carl

7

Thank you, I’m looking forward to hearing more.