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Castable Wax 40 Resin - FormLabs
Castable Wax 40 resin is a new resin developed by FormLabs for direct casting into the lost wax. Castable Wax 40 resin has a high wax content that provides low expansion and exceptional casting performance.
Castable Wax 40 resin contains 40% wax compared to 20% wax in Castable Wax resin. This results in clean castings, with no ash residues and a smooth, precise finish of the highest standard.
To guarantee the performance of this material, Formlabs has partnered with Rio Grande Jewelry, a world-renowned supplier of materials and accessories for the jewelry sector, thus validating the use of Castable Wax 40 resin in the professional environment and providing proven reliability.
As with the use of Castable Wax resin, 3D printed pieces with Castable Wax 40 resin do not require post-curing, as the material itself is sufficiently resistant to allow the pieces to be handled safely. However, it is possible to cure the parts with FormCure, which gives extra strength.
Castable Wax 40 resin allows both heavy and intricate jewellery work. Printing with this material makes it possible to cast engraved text, gemstone holes and channels with confidence, as well as watermark jewellery, making it ideal for 3D printing of wedding jewellery.
Compared to the traditional working process of wax carving, the digital working process for 3D printing of the pieces can save a lot of time and costs. Digital design offers endless possibilities, allowing designers to efficiently create complex models with great precision. In addition, digital design allows the designer to make small modifications in very short periods of time, as well as the creation of customised pieces adapted to each customer.
In addition to Castable Wax 40 resin, there are other types of resin that are very useful in the jewellery sector, such as Castable Wax resin, Grey pro resin or High Temp resin. The following table explains the different possible applications for each of them:
In short, Castable Wax 40 resin is the one that most closely resembles casting wax itself, due to its formulation and high wax content.
This resin is very useful in jewellery workshops that have the necessary tools and machinery to carry out the whole casting process, but also for those jewellery designers who work with external casting workshops. By offering resin pieces that are compatible with the caster's production line, the costs per piece are reduced, as well as the subsequent welding or polishing work.
Next we explain the necessary steps to obtain the final piece from the 3D model in CAD with Castable resin and Castable Wax:
Once you have chosen the pieces you want to make, you import the files into the FormLabs lamination software (PreForm), where you simply need to select Castable Resin and layer height, import the files, generate the supports and start the printing.
With the pieces already cured, the supports can be removed, always with great care. To achieve total elimination of the support and a perfect finish you can use sandpaper (grain 400 or higher) or even a rotary tool with a polishing attachment. The placement points of the wax deposits are made in the same way as for the case of lost wax.
With the base of the drinker connected to a flask, previously wrapped in tape in case of holes, casting slowly, always on one side of the bottle to avoid damaging the wax tree. Don't forget to perform the degassing process in the vacuum chamber according to the manufacturer's instructions for use.
The flask is placed in the oven always following the instructions of temperature and time of the manufacturer and then the desired metal is poured for the final piece.
After casting, the mold is carefully removed and the investment is washed. Once washed, the pieces are separated, polished and reviewed until the desired finish is achieved.
Below, a series of usage tips are cited that must be taken into account at all times with the use of FormLabs resins:
Changing the resin cartridge of the FormLabs printers is very simple, just close the top cap of the ventilation duct (vent) and remove the cartridge by holding it by the handle it has. Then the other is inserted and the vent plug is opened in case an impression is to be started. To avoid drips through the 3D printer, this process must always be carried out with the resin tank mounted.
After finishing each impression the vent plug must be closed so that the resin maintains its properties. In addition, if you don't use the printer for some time, you should keep the cartridge in its original box to keep the properties of the resin intact.
Each type of resin must have its resin tank, which must be changed after using 2L of resin. FormLabs has developed a more powerful tank, the Resin Tank LT, which has a life up to 20 times longer than the standard tank.
To protect and store the excess resin in the tank after each printing, FormLabs supplies a lid that ensures a perfect closure. Once the tank is closed, it is recommended to store it (with resin and lid) in the original box so that the resin doesn't lose its properties when exposed to UV rays for a long time. Another point to keep in mind is that the tanks can't be cleaned with any cleaning product or similar (for example, isopopyl alcohol), since they lose certain qualities that can cause continuous failed impressions.
When an error occurs in printing may be because solid parts of a previous printing have fallen to the resin tank. In this case, a spatula at 45° must be passed through the printing tank, gathering all the solid parts in a corner and removing them. To ensure that the tank resin doesn't contain any solid parts, the resin should be cast with a 190 μm paper filter. Once cast, it is put back into the tank and it is ready to be used again.
Isopropyl alcohol is the key to the washing and post-processing of parts and you should know when it is time to change it. In the Finish Kit the moment to change it's when the IPA (Isopropyl Alcohol) is so saturated with resin particles, that after washing the pieces are still sticky. At that point you must remove all the liquid, clean the container well and throw new IPA, but never fill in on the previous one.
In the Form Wash, the wash center itself indicates through its screen when it is time to change the isopropyl alcohol.
If you wish you can contract our SLA 3D printing training courses (online or in person) by contacting us through the contact form. The training is oriented to obtain a wide knowledge and know how to use the 3D SLA FormLabs printers from the beginning and thus avoid major errors.
Castable resin with 40% wax filling, ideal for the jewellery sector.