Hello everyone. I am a jewelry hobbyist and decided that I would make an anchor chain necklace by casting wax models of 12mmx7mm anchor chain segments. What I thought would be a very easy process because I can make the entire wax tree of 24 anchor chain models using Sketchup Pro… has become a ridiculous brick wall.
I don’t own a wax printer so I thought I could easily outsource it.
The ridiculous problem of 3d printing wax from what I have discovered is this…
No one I have ever found whether it would be Shapeways or individuals will print an entire wax tree of these simple anchor chain pieces. (The bounding box is only 65mm high and even less wide). So the other issue is that if I were to try to order 24 copies of just the 12mmX7mm anchor chain links, I would have to pay a 10 to 35 dollar surcharge for each individual copy just for it being made of wax, then the cost by volume. So in other words… 3d printing in wax is completely and utterly impossible for anything that you need more than one copy of. I find this extremely surprising for many reasons. For one… If Shapeways or individuals are concerned the sprues will break during shipment… that is no problem because wax can be welded back together. Secondly… wax printing has been around for a while now so I don’t see why the material is so difficult to handle or print. Castable wax has a pretty high melting temp.
Does anyone please have any ideas on how to efficiently order 24 copies of a small wax model?
Thanks for any advice.
Rick
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Just for giggles, send me an stl ( converted out as mm ) and I’ll see what it looks like on my printer
contact@solidprint3d.com
-Pat
Sure, thanks for taking a look at it. I’ll email it to you.
If I had the choice, I’d like to find someone who would print the 24 pieces out by themselves without the tree if I had one surcharge and then cost of wax. The only reason I made the entire wax tree up as one model is because there is a 10 to 35 dollar surcharge for printing one item in wax. (But for all plastics you only pay for volume of material).
I know wax printers used to cost over 50,000 dollars. But isn’t there a lot of new wax printers out that are cheap or am I mistaken?
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I don’t see a problem printing something like this on the form1+ in castable resin. Granted, it’s not wax per se, but it still has a clean burnout.
There are some things you could do to the model to increase success rate of print, but it does look printable for the most part.
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Wax printers are still pretty expensive. Not 50,000, but not as affordable as a $3800 form 2, which could print these individual parts all day long. You don’t need the tree, but you will have to remove support material. If you keep it on the tree, you wouldn’t need support material.
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Thanks for your information.
Is castable resin that PLA stuff that is made from organic material? I did hear it can burn out, but how cleanly does it burn out? I was afraid it may not burn out as cleanly as wax. But you have a point about it being an option.
What is the best castable resin brand or type you would recommend to try?
No, it’s a resin used for SLA printing.
here’s a link so you can read up on it
http://formlabs.com/products/materials/castable/
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Monger
8
What’s your budget for all 24 pieces?
To me a fair price would be 45 dollars and then shipping on top.
I get this price by the following. When I upload my entire casting tree of 24 pieces plus the huge amount of sprue and support, it costs 45 bucks and that is with a 10 dollar surcharge. It means the volume of wax is costing 35 dollars. (Bounding box is about 65mm high).
So if I have to have each anchor chain link printed individually, it would be inefficient and more expensive, right? If in wax only?
I just found out I could possibly cast this in castable resin from FormLabs. It may be cheaper to print than wax?
HI Rick, No jeweller would try and print an entire tree. The way to reproduce multiple copies affordably is to get one item printed and cast. Take the metal cast and polish and finish it lovingly. Get the best shine on it that you can. make it as perfect as you can. Then that becomes your “Master Model” next you get a vulcanised silicon mould made from your master. expect to pay around £20 and the casting house you choose will not give the mould. Then they will inject wax into the mould and supply you with 24 cast items. for each one you will pay a spruing and casting charge plus the metal costs.
If you have your own casting machine then you can purchase 2 part RTV silicon rubber from jewellery supply houses. However making a mould is a skilled business and involves the use of scalpels so only do this if you know what you are doing. You will then need a wax injection machine to fill the mould _ you can’t pour it in. If all of that is too complex google “cuttlefish casting”
as a cheaper but rougher alternative.
I have all the equipment above and could supply you with 24 castings from an stl or obj file if you want a cheaper way then getting 24 waxes printed. Drop me a note if you want a quote.
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In My opinion it burns out cleaner! You can cast lace work and filigree with it very well! Very Slick Stuff! I love it but the price ouch! $300 dollars for 1 liter and about $60 US per build tray and a build tray last two liters…it adds up but awesome for light weight things!
http://formlabs.com/products/materials/castable/
If I was printing a tree I would want all the links interlocking already, so we don’t have to spend hours assembling and welding and finishing our welds off…That and time restraints are the only reason I see to print a tree. but I have casted interlocked chain before, it is absolutely amazing when you pull it off! It even helps if you can interlock three or four links at a time… unless you’re using a different style or color to join links. If it was me and I was in a hurry i would load the file and print it while i sleep, get up and sprew them up and invest them! I am very picky about my sprew style and have made molds on many. When that metal hits the flask it is a TURBULENT mess, think of the vortices in a wind tunnel when spruing, and remember they need a reservoir to draw from as they cool and shrink.
Also once this castable resin breaks you cannot fuse it back together like you would wax, you can add wax to it to bond , but I have had no luck welding it to itself at all! but beautiful cast from it. I use my custom wax sprues to attach.
Start an Inquiry with my hub if you wish and I’ll quote it both ways! for say what 30 links and or 1 to 2 trees? I am a firm believer in “it never hurts to ask” But I hope you already have this conquered Sir! Your Price sounds right to me or real close give or take, we used to pay 3-5 dollars from wax supply houses. for simple waxes 
about a buck each sounds about right and you want them left on the supports! (tell the hub) I hope this helps please feel free to ask me anything sir.
Thank you! You sound like the right person to partner up with. I’m on the road now and can’t access my models but early next week I will contact you. I am a self taught hobbyist jeweler and have made things before. I built my own vacuum chamber and my own electric kiln. I use a centrifugal caster but it is small. I also fabricate with my Durston roller and old fashion hand tools. 3d printing would allow me to make more creative items. Thank you .
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Just a tip, but you can fuse, patch, puddy, etc resin prints. We do it all the time. We use either laser or something like this https://www.amazon.com/TaoTronics-TT-FL001-Ultraviolet-Flashlight-Batteries/dp/B00RV8PREI/ref=sr\_1\_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1469310236&sr=8-1&keywords=ultraviolet+pet to cure liquid resin, whether it be castable, flexible, whatever, to the part, much like a glue. Holes can be patched this way, broken parts can be mended… etc.
I also have a friend that just moved to our area From Florida lol, Made me think of you today! 
but his website is waxpatterns.com ! I know he would be happy to help also, but I do not know at what price though! although he has very good pricing on what he does and he does it very well, a true veteran of the 3d community if you will! just thought I throw that up here as well!
