Formlabs announces Castable Wax Resin

#12

Thanks for making that clear ! I’m sure you guys are aware that there is a market there, with professionals, artisans and artists all having a use for this. Plus it would make the Form2 that much more capable of producing real functional parts :wink: Can’t wait to see what comes next with the new LT tank’s new capabilities !

#13

Hello, what is the shrinkage of this resin in the time since printing?

#14

Before I purchased my Form 2, I made sure that castable resin was available for the printer.

No where did it say on any of your product pages that the castable resin was only useful for jewelry sized prints, so I assumed that I could use the entire print volume. How I was wrong!

Which means that I have a $4,000 paper weight collecting dust. Most disappointing and truthfully I feel a bit ripped off.

Sad to see that still no progress has been made with this new formulation. Looks like the dust will continue piling up.

#15

Has there been any attempt during your internal testing to use this new resin on any printer other than the Form 2?

I am always on the search for good castable resins regardless of the printer or company.

#16

Where did you find the max build vollume. I can’t seem to find it.

#17

HI Formlabs folk, Whats the shrinkage on the new resin? does it shrink if kept for a few days or does it have to be invested and cast immediately? Does it expand in the plaster and damage the mould like the original castable resin does? Can you cast thicker parts with it without mould damage? say 4mm thick and over?

Thanks

#18

@MAREK_WIELICKI, Since Castable Wax does not require a post-curing step, the parts won’t experience any shrinking after printing. They can be used as-printed (and of course after washing).

@Hillzzz, to address your question about the shelf life of a printed part, Castable Wax prints are pretty robust! You can print a part, then cast it a few days or even weeks later.

#19

NO shrinkage and robust - sounds great!

#20

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Always great to get new castable resin options, and the elimination of post-curing will be of benefit to our production process.

I’m curious if the recommended burnout schedule remains the same (i.e. 14 hours)

-JD
Lab Partners Jewelry
(pic for attention)

#21

Our casting support page has two suggested burnout schedules. The first general purpose method is 14 hours long. There is also a short schedule (8 hours) that might be appropriate for certain geometries and investment types. Full details linked below!

https://support.formlabs.com/hc/en-us/articles/360000039219#schedule

#22

Is this a replacement for Castable or a new product offering? Will original Castable be discontinued?

#23

Let me ask you somerthwing because the bigest group of users for this kind of ressin and printer are dental technicians. there are fare more dental technicians that jewelry makers how does this ressin performs when is used in dental laboratory because we don’t have a luxury of 8 hours burnout or 14 hours burnout because I am burnig 3-4 investment flasks a day. Can you give me some information about this issue? Even I am willing to test it my self if you can send me a sample of this ressin. Currently I am using castable v2 but not so satisfied with some of the properties that v2 have. Thanks in advance for your time and consideration.

#24

Is this a replacement for Castable or a new product offering? Will original Castable be discontinued?

Castable Wax is a new product offering.

Castable V2 is Formlabs’ original material (well, version 2 of it) for investment casting, and Formlabs will continue to support it (and sell it) to avoid disrupting the workflows of customers who have already developed successful workflows using it.

#25

Any user here interested in doing comparative print and cast BlueCast vs Formlabs Wax Resin? Same models, same flask, same burnout, obviously if this is acceptable for Formlabs, here we are guests.

#26

If anyone is interested, I reformatted the burnout schedule to be more friendly to 3-button and 12-button kiln controllers. I’m primarily a glass artist, and most of our kiln schedules follow a format that shows ramp in degrees per hour, then the “arrive” temperature, then the amount of hold in minutes. Each segment in a program contains these three bits of information.

The other schedules require math (horrors!!). Hopefully this is helpful.

These are based on this article, which can also explain the difference between the standard 14-hour schedule and the 8-hour schedule. The 8-hour schedule is used for models weighing under 1 gram, in flasks smaller than 6”/150mm, and using a stronger investment than the R&R Plasticast.

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#27

OH, Thanks Kat! I was wondering what it might be for smaller stuff. I was thinking of using some molds for pate de verre. That’s helpful, makes complete sense to me. I just got my printer back from the Formlabs Homeworld, for a refurbish…Works great now. Got the ceramic resin, dying to try it too.

#28

(Right now I’m at 14 hours on my burnout and the kiln still has two hours to go before casting…my old schedules were very close to the estimate, but my experience with the new castable wax looks like it might be more like 16 hours…anyone else have numbers to share?)

@AnnDavisStudio, that’s so cool! I’ve taken a couple of pate de verre classes and I would like to incorporate it into my jewelry. I also TA for a woman who does glass casting sculptures. Check out Alicia Lomne and Linda Ethier. Two other glass artists are Bob Leatherbarrow and Richard Parrish. They do amazing things with glass.

Have you ever made molds for pate de verre? You can easily do pate de verre by modeling a shape in water-based or plasticine clay, then building a little mold box (I use legos!) and fill with a plaster mix that’s 50% silica flour and 50% pottery plaster. Then turn it over when set and pull out the clay, then pack with crushed glass/frit. So you can make any shape that way, but it’s a single use mold that can be fired in the same kiln you use for burnout. I’ve been experimenting with making a 3D printed model with no undercuts, with the intention of making a rubber mold from it to be able to do multiples. Seems like making a 3D-printed cabochon mold would be divine!

Anyway, PM me if you’d like! I love where the mediums overlap…

#29

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Wow that came out big! I don’t often post here, but read everything, so much to learn.

Those are wonderful artists!! That’s big glass, I do jewelry size, been doing glass for 30 years. In my other life, I’m a goldsmith:)) This pix is about 18 yrs old. It’s amazing how our lives intersect and yet we don’t meet. Maybe we will some day:)) I got sidetracked from glass into enameling the last 8 years, teaching at Sawtooth in a couple of weeks. Enameling, that’s baby glass! But with the printer, hahaha I waited for that for 20 years! Kept seeing them demoed at Tuscon, the big ones, and other places goldsmiths and gemologists hang out…anyway as I’m mastering the 3D programs I’m thinking of more uses than just a substitute for wax carving. I LOVE my printer!!

#30

That’s great!

I’ve noticed that jewelry people and women don’t post much work on this forum

Kathleen

#31

HOLEEE FRIJOLE! That’s amazing work, Ann! I bow to the master…it’s so nice to meet you!

My folks bought me an enameling kiln when I was about 10 after a trip to YMCA of the Rockies, which had an enameling setup in the art studio. Of course, that means I was playing around with lead-based enamels and probably even the depleted uranium ones (Forsythia Yellow and Burnt Orange Thompson). I always wondered…twitch…why…twitch…I had that annoying…twitch! :smiley:

I used to live in Denver near a jewelry artist named Lexi Erickson, so when I moved there I took a couple lessons then worked with her at Wubbers, the plier company. Her forté was definitely large statement pieces. I was also a systems engineer with Apple and a technical trainer in the past, and we worked a bit with CAD. I needed the parametric CAD capabilities of something like SketchUp for a particular two-piece interchangeable jewelry project—accurate dimensioning was key—but I learned that I couldn’t sculpt in SketchUp easily, so I started looking for something else. I have since learned how to force ZBrush to make accurate models, especially for setting stones.

About 2 years ago I picked up ZBrush—the only program in my life that made me CRY—but now I understand it and post tutorials on YouTube. I’m working on a full-blown course, but I absolutely LOVE that program for jewelry.

We have so many cool people up here on the forum, so I’m so glad you shared your work…it looks like you were way ahead of your time! And @kkingcgi, it’s so nice to meet you, too. It’s nice to find other girls working in 3D and jewelry.