3d Printed Wax Parts

Discussion in 'Lost wax casting' started by Harry Cowley, May 23, 2021.

  1. Harry Cowley

    Harry Cowley Copper

    Hi from Germany , Im a Brit living in Germany , its the beer you know ! And I could not get parts remade for love , but a lot of money ! So I got into 3D printing in plastic PLA , for the parts it meleted out got fairly good results but ofcourse the burnt plastic leftovers spoilt the finsh a little . Then I discoverd Printable Wax filament , then the whole game changed , big time .I must admiit it was not easy at first but once you get used to it and know your settings off you go .I have just finished a cylinder head for my motorcycle , the reason I started this in the first place ,as the original head was shot , cracks dropped valve damage etc . I am learnig a lot from this site thank you for letting me in all the best Harry
     

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  2. Daev

    Daev Copper

    Can you easily smooth out the filament look on the wax parts? Thats what I don't like about 3d printing for a finished item is the finished surface. I don't like the blocky stringy look
     
  3. Harry Cowley

    Harry Cowley Copper

    Yes you can , if needed you can lightly sand it with fine paper the result is very good
     
  4. ddmckee54

    ddmckee54 Silver

    A small heat gun might also work for printable wax, just search for small(or mini) heat gun. It won't take much to smooth out the surface so you shouldn't soften the structure too much.

    Don
     
  5. bill

    bill Silver

    What brand of filament are you using?

    Currently I use Hatchbox pla and have some unbelievably good results but want to move towards wax or wax like filament. I am researching some of the waxes available and curious why you chose the one you are currently using.
     
  6. spelter

    spelter Copper

    For smoothing wax patternwork I use a $10 mini heat gun from Amazon. To aim the heat better, I made a press in tube extension. The end was formed down in the lathe to 3/16 diameter. Since the gun uses the blower to cool itself, I slitted the sides of the tube to shunt the excess flow away from the work. IMG_20210607_085017.jpg IMG_20210607_082757.jpg
     
  7. Harry Cowley

    Harry Cowley Copper

    Im using Moldlay Filament 1.75mm , unfussy to use and the results are , for me perfect . And ofcourse when melting out it leaves no residue .There are a lot of wax filaments on the market and I was lucky to find this one because it worked out of the box
     
  8. theroundbug

    theroundbug Silver

    You can take a $1 candle from the dollar store and rub that wax on your prints. It will fill the valleys smoothing the print lines. I do this with PLA patterns
     
  9. Depending on the size of the piece you want to make and your budget for printers, a resin printer will print a much nicer finish. I love mine for detailed work.

    I understand some filament printers can "iron" the surface but I just got my new filament printer working today and haven't learned how to do that. Perhaps that might help some of the time.
     
  10. bill

    bill Silver

    Thanks. I will keep an eye on that. Seems out of stock at the moment.
     
  11. Jason

    Jason Gold


    What resin printer are you running?
     

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