@KenCitron The material should work on the form 1+. You will need to use the longest exposure setting with some custom support settings but it should work just fine.
@Sculptingman the material will print at 25nm. It also shrinks so the printed details will become smaller after firing as well.
@sculptingman If you contact Tethon 3D we are happy to work with you on how to find the best process for your 3D files. There will some experimentation needed to find the best process for your techniques. We can give you more specific information based on your part design and your printing and sintering set up. If you contact us we are happy to give you more specific information once we know more about how you are processing Castalite.
Does the ceramic in the resin degrade the resin tank window faster than a normal resin?
I don’t have any one process… I make things from jewelry scale to the size of a bridge,
But we work with a number of foundries when needed by the project in hand, and want to know what different processes we have available… above the Form 2 build volume, we are experimenting with wax infused starch printers for producing burnable patterns,
Other than a jewelry job- the foundry we would most likely use casts bronze and stainless and aluminum and uses an autoclave to dewax…
but I am not sure of their firing schedule.
If you folks could post a chart that plots shrinkage against temperature for at least a close approximation, that would be a huge help in getting folks to give your media a try.
As good as this all sounds I think there might be few issues:
Modeling a ornate object then creating a shell might be difficult in some software such as most cad programs where they may simply run out of memory or ed up with bad faces.
Other problem I think might be in the model cleanup and removal of raw resin from the printed mold. I assume this has a high viscosity with may make the cleanup process even more difficult.
Long exposure times and ceramic filler makes me think the tank will cloud much quicker than standard resins.
Costs comes to mind, In many cases a silicone mold can be used and wax copies made then proceed with standard procedures and still have that master model to fall back on if things go bad.
My suggestion would be to develop a good exposure for it for OpenFL and work with some the experienced casters here to test and show results. I opt out on the offer because I am not adept with lost wax or investment casting at this time. I would like to see the results where the process could be a viable option for me with medallion work down the road.
Ceramic shell molds are time consuming to make… and for most items the size the Form 2 can print, foundries would opt for a standard refractory investment.
Where this might have application is for complex parts that can be very difficult or even impossible to make traditional silicone molds on or demold accurate, un-distorted waxes.
Think teensy engine blocks or rocket engines.