AndyID Posted March 14, 2015 Share Posted March 14, 2015 Dear Santa, Could you please get me one of these? http://www.minimetalmaker.com/ Andy (No affiliations etc.) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Reichert Posted March 14, 2015 Share Posted March 14, 2015 Dear Santa, Could you please get me one of these? http://www.minimetalmaker.com/ Andy (No affiliations etc.) 6 thou printing resolution may not be that useful for the sort of 4 mm scale parts that need to be metal. That said, there is no mention of any further shrinkage, etc. that might occur during kiln firing. Plain clay normally shrinks considerably. As a kiln owner, I would suggest you ask Fr. Xmas for both as your one present. The latter will set you back a lot more than the printer otherwise. Andy R Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyID Posted March 14, 2015 Author Share Posted March 14, 2015 6 thou printing resolution may not be that useful for the sort of 4 mm scale parts that need to be metal. That said, there is no mention of any further shrinkage, etc. that might occur during kiln firing. Plain clay normally shrinks considerably. As a kiln owner, I would suggest you ask Fr. Xmas for both as your one present. The latter will set you back a lot more than the printer otherwise. Andy R Yes, shrinkage has to be factored. 6 thou is the layer resolution. XY res. is less than half a thou. Neighbour has a kiln! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Reichert Posted March 14, 2015 Share Posted March 14, 2015 Go for it! Andy Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
raymw Posted March 15, 2015 Share Posted March 15, 2015 They mention 12% to 20% shrinkage. I reckon it would be far better to print in PLA, then use it as a lost wax pattern. It would take a few more steps to get to a metal object, but it would be more accurate, give a choice of metals, and possibly cheaper if you melted scrap. Maybe you could make it in OO, and end up with HO Best wishes, Ray edit to add - you can get the 'metal clay' from various jeweller suppliers. if you wanted wheels, then make a silicon mould and manually knife in the clay, leave to dry a bit, remove and fire it in your neighbours kiln. If it works, quicker than 3d printing, and saves buying the printer. If you used a cheap latex for the mould, it may not be worth removing the clay, the latex will burn off in the kiln. Or, may the mould out of plaster or paris and sand mix, and fire the lot. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyID Posted March 15, 2015 Author Share Posted March 15, 2015 I have a PLA printer that I could probably adapt to print the metal clay. The main difference will be the extruder. Whether this thing is any use or not is going to depend on how consistent the shrinkage is for a particular metal. Whether or not I'll get around to it is a different matter! I posted the link mainly for information. It occurs to me that it's probably a good idea to always print parts first in PLA as it is relatively inexpensive. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marbelup Posted March 15, 2015 Share Posted March 15, 2015 The process seems similar to the High Detailed Stainless Steel material offered by i.Materialise. I have ordered a couple of small parts in this material and the quality has been good. The quoted detail size is 0.1 mm. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giles Posted March 15, 2015 Share Posted March 15, 2015 ... Always good to see this sort of innovation. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beatty 139 Posted March 17, 2015 Share Posted March 17, 2015 Firing off the silicon is not a great idea unless the kiln is outside and well away from the house, been there done it had the windows open all afternoon ventilating the house to clear the stench! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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