Revisiting Jewelry Casting

[katkramer]

I have a Form 2, and life got in the way, so I haven’t printed or cast in a while.

The last thing I remember is that the Castable Wax 40 came out, and I bought it, and because the supports were so large and square, I never cast with it. The supports protruded through the jewelry pieces, and my assumption was that there would be too many supports and too much cleanup of the extra supports. I liked the ability to make my own supports (in ZBrush, using ZSpheres), but they had round touchpoints. It sounded like this wasn’t possible using the Castable Wax 40.

I had horrible results with the purple Castable Wax. I cast many models with this, and each casting came out crusty and most were unusable. It didn’t matter the investment I used…I even tried adding boric acid to make the investment stronger. My best results were with BlueCast, but I hated that I had to pre-warm the resin to use it in Open Mode.

I know my Form 2 will eventually not be supported, and I will eventually need to update to a newer printer. Some of my concerns are tank longevity, print quality, but also the ability to burn out resin cleanly. I have not heard anything good about the Form 3 that makes me want one…I’d actually prefer to keep using my Form 2, but would love the ability to rehabilitate my tanks. I bought the PDMS silicone to try and do it myself, but haven’t gotten around to it.

But I’ll be honest that I’m looking at other brands. I LOVE my Form 2, but castable resins are a royal pain in the ass, and at the price, I need successful prints/casts. I don’t mind the price because my Form 2 was a really nice printer. I need consistency, and I’d prefer to direct cast from resin. I do have a wax injection system, and if I am mass-producing, I’m using gray resin and RTV mold making material to create waxes because it’s more reliable.

Another issue is that people seemed to be very protective of their “successful” firing schedules. Yes, I understand that every casting situation is different, but the firing schedules provided by Formlabs never worked for me. I tweaked them, but struggled. I was very forthcoming with my experiments and results, but would really appreciate if anyone would be willing to share their casting schedules for a vacuum casting setup and sterling silver, if possible. I have a KayaCast.

I appreciate any info…thanks!

[Phil.O]

Hi katkramer,

I understand you are looking into other options but you still love our Form 2.

While we at Formlabs do not have any input on alternative options - if you want to (re)visit setting up your print up for success with us with both Castable Wax, you can create a support case with our support team, while providing the logs/form files/setup - they may be able to have additional insight to help you.

At the very least, I will at least help bump this thread for you for visibility for additional insight with alternative methods - best of luck!

[katkramer]

Thanks for the reply.

I have talked with the B9 folks, but the $14,000 price tag is more than I want to pay. However, I’ve heard nothing but good things about their castable resin. I am tired of fighting resins.

I love my Form 2. I loved the printing experience of the first three castable resins…I liked the small touch points. I find the castable wax to be intimidating because of the number and shape of supports, the softness of the resin that distorts so easily and doesn’t capture detail well. I know the castable wax is supposed to be for heavier pieces, but I also need detail. That means going back to the purple, but my success rate with casting that resin is not good. I’m kind of lost.

I don’t understand why there isn’t more guidance on successful casting.

[Hillzzz]

Hi Kat,

I cast with the Castable wax 40 and I am getting good results. I always run at the highest resolution 0.25. I am finding that if you don’t wash it for too long maximum 5 minutes in each bath, (If there is still uncured resin in the detail I use a fine nylon haired paint brush with Isopropyl Alcohol to clean up the detail.) Then invest fairly quickly within a few hours, using an Investment plaster formulated for resin, leave the Flask to bench set for an hour then when the investment has set put the Flask in the kiln for two hours at 55 degrees Centigrade.

Then follow the burnout formlabs specify and it works quite reliably. Its much more of a struggle to get a good cast and you have to follow the instructions to the letter but if you do it works.

Good luck.

Hillary
07919 488425
zen71001@zen.co.uk