Hey Foundry Group, I'm in Ohio, and have a putter head (golf club) prototype that I would like to have cast in Zamak (either 3 or 12). The prototype was designed in CAD, I have it as an .stl and a .step file. I can also send the part 3d printed (in PLA, ABS, or PET-G). The model does have a few undercuts, which I think would make it tricky to cast unless done as lost investment. The lost investment process seems to require a decent amount of equipment to attempt, I was going to buy a crucible and try to melt some zamak with an oxy torch, and create the investment mold buy burning out PLA with the same torch - but started to realize that route probably wouldn't create great results, and would still be pretty expensive. In total, each putter head will have around 350g of zamak, plus whatever extra is needed for sprues and vents. The "envelope" for just the part is 4.5" x 2.5" x 1.25" It does have a few features of "fine detail" (ie, 2mm) If you are a hobby caster who can help me cast 1-10 of these, please let me know! These are not going to be sold (they are experiments for me), curious to see who can help. Happy to send the Zamak, plastic parts, and/or cad files - lemme know what you need!
If it was drafted in the upward direction from resting on its face, it could be conventionally sand cast.....you'd want to fill the hole in any case and drill it from the solid casting. It looks to be filament printed. Resin will generally produce a better pattern finish but may not be necessary depending upon the dircetion of the layers and you find them to be aesthetically acceptable. It could be lost PLA cast as printed (hole filled). If you bought a used kiln (they are often available very inexpensive on CL and FB), you could used for both burn out and metal melting. Best, Kelly
I'll have to shop around! The kilns on craigslist by me are all right around $1,000 (they look like $3,000+ machines when new).
I have a small kiln and 2 small furnaces, 1 big one. I've been doing small pewter castings just for fun. I use 3D prints as patterns but just use Petro bond and regular flasks. No lost plastic castings. Do you think Zamak will be heavy enough? I'm not much of a golfer but I remember the putter heads were pretty heavy. Mine appeared to be faulty along with the wedges and drivers. Haven't been golfing in years.
Thanks Jammer! I designed it for 6.0g/cm3, which was kinda neat because I could get a head shape somewhere between a milled steel and milled aluminum putter (just due to the density). I may pull the trigger on a cheapie propane forge and some petro bond, that would be easier than investment where I would need th more expensive investment media, degassing chamber, etc etc.
Just put some draft on the pattern so you can pull it from the sand. Looks like there may be an overhang on the top of the head. You may need to redesign that area, use a core, or ram it with the face up.
