Form 2 Castable Wax Resin (FormLabs) View larger

Castable Wax Resin - FormLabs

RS-F2-CWPU

Formlabs

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299,00 €
299,00 €

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Enhance the work of jewelry and dental sector more quickly and economically than with traditional methods.

Castable Wax Resin is an ideal material for the jewellery and dental sector.

In the field of jewellery, this resin allows creations to be made directly from a 3D design made with CAD software. The desired design can be printed with the Form 2, Form 3 or Form 3B 3D printer and after a few hours the prototype is available to make the casting directly.

Castable Wax Resin contains 20% wax to provide a safe ash free casting, a smooth and precise finish at such high levels that jewellery elements can be created in great detail.

Pieces printed with Castable Wax do not require further curing as the material offers sufficient strength for safe handling of the pieces. While curing of Castable Wax parts should not affect their castability, curing can shrink the parts slightly (less than 1%), which can cause some distortion.

Great finish

Image 1: Great finish. Source: Formlabs.

In jewellery, the pieces stand out according to their complexity and surface quality. It is essential for a jeweller to manage to surprise his customers with creations of incredible and innovative details. The Castable Wax resin (20% wax) in combination with the 3D SLA Form 2, Form 3 or Form 3B printer, makes the manufacture of jewellery pieces easier and faster by offering easy and clean casting of such incredible elements as these pieces:

Castable Wax

Image 2: Parts printed with Castable Wax and silver end pieces. Source: Formlabs.

All parts printed with Castable Resin achieve perfect casting qualities:

  • High precision: The laser precision of the FormLabs printers is capable of producing precise and sharp details that transmit to the part fine and very detailed points.
  • Great finish: Thanks to layer heights of 25 and 50 microns, an ultra-smooth surface finish is achieved, which means less metal loss and less polishing of the part after casting.
  • Opaque resin: The wax-like appearance of the Castable Wax Resin highlights the finest details and thus helps to verify the prototype before casting.
  • Low cost: The Form 2 platform allows up to 50 rings to be printed at a time with a very low material cost per ring, something totally unthinkable with other traditional methods.
  • Burning performance: FormLabs has specifically developed this resin to be ash and residue free after the investment casting process. The Castable Wax Resin is optimised to provide the best burning performance, but the specific casting process must be adjusted by each user.

For the dental sector, Castable Wax Resin is a high precision material for casting and pressing crowns, bridges and removable partial dentures using 3D printing in Form 2 or Form 3B.

Castable Wax in dental sector

Image 3: Use of Castable Wax resin in the dental sector. Source: FormLabs.

The Castable Wax Resin has been tested by numerous dental technicians to ensure precise margins as well as safe casting free of residues.

Crowns and bridges

Image 4: Crowns and bridges printed with Castable Wax resin. Source: FormLabs.

In the jewellery and dental sectors, workflows are more efficient with the introduction of 3D printing, which simplifies and speeds up the manufacturing process.

Hide color variations (Hide color variations)

Next we explain the necessary steps to obtain the final piece from the 3D model in CAD with Castable resin and Castable Wax:

1. Print the piece

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.

Print with Castable Wax

Image 1: Print the piece. Source: FormLabs

2. Wax tree

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.

Castable Wax Tree

Image 2: Tree for casting. Source: FormLabs

3. Preparation of the mold

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.

Tape to the flask

Image 3: Tape to the flask. Source: FormLabs

Pour the laundry

Image 4: casting. Source: FormLabs

Degaussing

Image 5: Degaussing. Source: FormLabs

4. Burnout

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.

Burnout

Image 6: Burnout. Source: FormLabs

5. Washing and polishing

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.

Washed

Image 7: Washed. Source: FormLabs

 

Below, a series of usage tips are cited that must be taken into account at all times with the use of FormLabs resins:

Change cartridge

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.

Vent plug FormLabs

Image 8: Vent plug of the FormLabs cartridges. Source: FormLabs

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.

Resin tank

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.

FormLabs Resin Tank LT

Image 9: FormLabs Resin Tank LT. Source: FormLabs

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.

FormLabs Resin Tank

Image 10: FormLabs Resin Tank. Source: FormLabs

Failed printing

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.

Video 1: Clean resin tank. Source: FormLabs

Isopropyl alcohol

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.

Finish Kit FormLabs

Image 11: Finish Kit FormLabs. Source: FormLabs

In the Form Wash, the wash center itself indicates through its screen when it is time to change the isopropyl alcohol.

Video 2: FormLabs Ecosystem. Source: FormLabs

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.

General information
Manufacturer FormLabs (Massachusetts, USA)
Technology  SLA / LFS
Material Photopolymer
Wavelength UV 405 nm
Format 1 liter
Color Purple
Compatible 3D printers Form 2, Form 3Form 3B
Compatible resin tanks Form 2Form 2 LTForm 3
Print settings
Layer height 25-50 microns
Exposure Time It is not necessary to configure the printing parameters in the Formlabs printers. The chip incorporated in the resin cartridges detects the type of material by configuring the printing automatically.
Off time
Lifting height
Bottom exposure
Bottom layers
Curing and washing properties
Washing time (FormWash) 5 min
Curing time (FormCure) Curing not necessary
Mechanical properties 
Izod impact strength -
Charpy impact strength -
Elongation at break  -
Tensile strength  -
Tensile Modulus -
Flexural strength  -
Flexural modulus -
Surface hardness -
Thermal properties 
Softening temperature -
Additional Information
Lifetime (since manufacturing) 24 months
HS Code 2916.1


* The typical values detailed in this table should be considered as a reference. Actual values may vary depending on the 3D printer model used, part design and printing conditions. We recommend confirming the results and final properties with own tests. For more information you should consult the technical data sheet of the product.

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