im trying a metal casting experiment.

Ill figure out how to post photos one way or another…i documented everything on my phone so i need to make sure i bring my data cable to work tomorrow…thats why i offered to text photos because i could do it right away…anyway…i will make sure i post the photos of the process tomorrow i know u guys are interested…

Its so easy with the direct to abs mold casting that i began to experiment with some cool twists.

What i did before i left work was only cast half of the ring in metal and after it cooled i then filled the other half with colored resin…my plan was to try and create a half metal and half resin object…

Julia as far as the media im using steel shot…its a mixture of balls and tiny rods…so far its been a pretty good all purpose media for my purposes…for strictly polishing abs i would probably use ceramic media…i suspect it might polish plastic better but i use my tumbler a lot to remove milling tool marks from objects i mill in my 3d milling machine so i dont want to switch media so iv been using steel shot for everything.

Generally it doesnt add an acetone vapor like shine but it smooths out the prints to a less dramatic shine and removes the print lines very well.

This is importand because i use my printer to make molds for resin casting and if i dont tumble i get print linesvin my resin castings.

One cool trick i use is to print my molds in abs and i rub museum wax in the mold cavity…i then hit the wax with a torch for a second and it melrs the wax and creates a perfectly glossy mold so that when i cast resin the pueces come out glossy.

And as far as my zinc alloy,i buy bars from a company in nyc called metaliferous.

Iv very excited at the possibilities this offers and ill be happy to help anyone who wants to try this…i have a 4 axis mill that i use to create all my metal work but for those of you that dont know, 5 axis is required to make very complex metal shapes…5 axis mills and software cost like 70,000 so now i can create 5 axis metal work withoyt the need for 5 axis☺

Very interesting!

Cannot wait for pictures. …

what kind of tumbler do you use?

hi guys, sorry for the delay but im not one to share photos online so i needed to find time to create an account.

anyway, if i had more time i would have created a better album with a storyboard but oh well.

http://postimg.org/gallery/2ll04f1da/

nice!

yes,as you can see the results are spectacular...even with the magnified photo the metal looks blemish free and trust me, in normal eye view it looks much better...the casting is literally perfect.

i have seen a couple lost abs where they abs is burned out and the results are poor imo...this is a 100 percent acceptable solution and the best part is that it requires no furnace.

i will post photos of my direct casting into abs tomorrow but like i said, the results are similar but the abs must be tumbled ....the key to a good casting from a a 3d printed part is to have a smooth finish before casting

Looks AWESOME!!!! I'm gonna have to try this. Did you print with light infill? I'm guessing you did..

 i am calling my new method the 'feinberg" method..lol

Well, if you don't change your forum name, I'm sorry but it's more likely to become known as the "need more options" method, or the "some guy on the Zortrax forum" method ;)

I would have liked to see a picture of the result after the ABS was removed from the plaster. Here you only show a little plaster painted on the outside and pretty much a before and after the whole process.

Do you have a picture of the cast with the ABS removed? I don’t think you want to play a joke or anything, but this just shows your print, and the finished product and no steps in-between. I would have loved to see the part directly after removal from the cast.

Now, I would lean more to believe you could’ve printed the part and had the part cast by another company, or it was already a cast piece and you made a copy print of it on your printer. Sorry, I guess I don’t hear the music yet . But I do think that this is possible don’t get me wrong.

Kyle's gonna try it and provide step-by-step photos, right, Kyle?

Of course… I need to figure out how thick his plaster mold was though. I’m thinking a thick shell might be enough… Going to try a couple different things before I post a failure. LOL!!

Great read this thread, one of those things that seem simple but nobody has tried before :)

This could be a great way of making things - cheaper and faster.

And I would like to suggest to try to smooth the ABS parts with acetone, not in a closed chamber but with a droplet bottle or the bottle Kyle uses for gluing. I always use that to make print lines disappear, for instance I made this Einstein bust from multiple parts and the only sanding was for the glue seams:

http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:317004

I don't have a tumbler so maybe that works too but the acetone always leaves a shiny smooth surface. I hold the model with a glove in one hand and pour just a little acetone on it, evaporates fast so you can apply it quick.

Yea unfortunately i dont think i took a photo of the mold…i was doing all this while at work so the whole thing wasnt a well thought out plan…as far as the amount of plaster, i cast this in one in one of those small dixie cups where i removed the top half so i was small…also when the plaster hardened and i removed the cup, the plaster took the dixie cup embossed logo and after a day and a half submurged in acetone the dixie logo was still clear as it was before going in the acetone so i know the acetone didnt effect the mold much…you guys need to understand that when i first posted i didnt even think the acetone would work or the mold would survive so i just didnt think to document it so well…when it came out of the mold i could tell it worked but the final results are after tumbling for a few hours…good luck !!..just a few other details…i let the plaster harden for 24 hours and then baked the plaster mold in the over for a half hour at 300 degrees to further harden the plaster but this didnt melt the abs at all

Yea unfortunately i dont think i took a photo of the mold..i was doing all this while at work so the whole thing wasnt a well thought out plan....as far as the amount of plaster, i cast this in one in one of those small dixie cups where i removed the top half so i was small...also when the plaster hardened and i removed the cup, the plaster took the dixie cup embossed logo and after a day and a half submurged in acetone the dixie logo was still clear as it was before going in the acetone so i know the acetone didnt effect the mold much....you guys need to understand that when i first posted i didnt even think the acetone would work or the mold would survive so i just didnt think to document it so well.....when it came out of the mold i could tell it worked but the final results are after tumbling for a few hours...good luck !!..just a few other details...i let the plaster harden for 24 hours and then baked the plaster mold in the over for a half hour at 300 degrees to further harden the plaster but this didnt melt the abs at all

So you DO need an oven ;)

Oh and that one photo you see with plaster on the mold was taken when i thought id illustrate that plaster should br brushed on before submurging to avoid air bubbles and lastly the zinc was heated well past melting point with a propane torch…i heated it till it was red hot because i wanted it to remain molten for long enough that all air escapes…as you can see this object is fairly complex so it has lots of areas for air to get trapped

Oh and i heated the mold itself slightly with the torch before pouring so it was hot before adding the casting alloy

Make sure its pure acetone…any water in the acetone might destroy the mold

What did you melt the zinc with? Stove?

no like i said, i propane torch.

its not zinc, its a casting alloy that contains zinc and tin and other metals i believe.

this is the alloy i used, i was wrong, its zinc and copper.

http://www.metalliferous.com/Superdie-I-Kirksite-Casting-Alloy/productinfo/ZI1097/

this is another casting alloy that melts faster and when polished (obtains a very nice polished silver like finish), its easier to work with and looks just as nice, im just not sure its as strong so if you are creating mechanical parts like gears and such, the zinc one might be better but for any statuary or jewelry stuff, i think this one is just much easier to use and looks just as good when polished…this alloy melts faster and remains in a liquid state for quite a while so you get far less bad castings with this alloy, if you dont have something like a vacuum chamber, about half of your casts will be rejects using the zinc alloy but im pretty confident that with this alloy you can obtain an over 90 percent success rate. http://www.metalliferous.com/Special-High-Tin-Pewter-Casting-Alloy/productinfo/PW1099/

i used no vacuum chamber with the sample i posted. materials were simply my 3d printer, plaster, a torch and crucible , my tumbler and acetone.

this was why i was so excited about the results…every experiment i have ever seen online requires a high temperature furnace to burn out the abs…this is not practical for most hobbyists…this method produces no fumes and can be done indoors and the results like you see are literally spectacular.

i do a lot of casting so you may need to practice a bit to fine tune the process, but in general im confident that anyone can reproduce these results…one note id like to mention is that i reread my original post i i see i mentioned i let the plaster sit in acetone for 24 hours, but in reality it was closer to 34 , it was after 24 hours that i removed the plaster and turned it over and the abs ran out, i then put the plaster back in the acetone to help dissolve anything left behind.

happy casting!!