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Ultimaker for casting jewelry


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Posted · Ultimaker for casting jewelry

Hello everybody.

Has anyone any experience with casting jewelry using an Ultimaker printer? What is essential in casting jewelry is that the plastic model is completely removed from the gypsum-plaster mold while being heated in the oven.

Thanks,

Aravand

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    Posted · Ultimaker for casting jewelry

    I use the Ultimaker mostly for making prototypes. When satisfied, the model is send to Shapeways or something similar to be printed in metal or polyamide. It is possible to use the PLA model directly for casting, but I don't do this myself. I have a roll of MoldLay lying around, but didn't have the time to try.

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    Posted · Ultimaker for casting jewelry

    I've read various stories of jewelry being made on the Form 1, which is a more expensive printer and a lot more clean up.

    I would be really interested to see if anyone uses the elaborate filaments from ColorFabb to print jewelry (Copper fill, Brass Fill, etc.) using the Ultimaker printers

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    Posted · Ultimaker for casting jewelry

    Thank you all for your helpful responses. Like Peggy mentions, PLA might be a good option, since as a polymer engineer, I know this as a rather "soft" plastic in contrast with other "difficult" to handle options. As I have not yet the printer, what I'm gonna do is to get some PLA filaments, make something manually and then prepare the corresponding gypsum-plaster mold. A good mold should result in a flawless piece in the end, that's why I will then pour the mold with silver to make sure about the quality of the final product.

    Form 1 is also a very good option as far as I can see but I will check Ultimake first. Btw, thank you for all nice recommendations. I will post the results as soon as I do the casting. Cheers- Ali

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    Posted · Ultimaker for casting jewelry

    If you want to remove the print layers, smoothing it with a solvent (such as chloroform) is also an option.

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    Posted (edited) · Ultimaker for casting jewelry

    I still find it difficult to get 'good' jewelry prints from the Ultimaker. Small details are fragile and almost all prints need support.

    For example: a ring prints best lying down, printing a continuos circle, but then you have one flat side. Printing it standing up is a pain because the printhead jumps from side to side.

    It will take a lot of patience to get things right and keep your limitations in mind to avoid disappointment. (that is why I use it for prototypes..)

    Edited by Guest
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    Posted (edited) · Ultimaker for casting jewelry

    I still find it difficult to get 'good' jewelry prints from the Ultimaker. Small details are fragile and almost all prints need support.

    For example: a ring prints best lying down, printing a continuos circle, but then you have one flat side. Printing it standing up is a pain because the printhead jumps from side to side.

    It will take a lot of patience to get things right and keep your limitations in mind to avoid disappointment. (that is why I use it for prototypes..)

     

    The best solution would be to use the print and hydrophobic PLA plastic (PWA?) at the same time. But you need to have the ability to print two nozzles. Thus it is available for owners of UMO and @ultiarjan :)

    Update: maybe better is using Moldlay and PWA.

    Edited by Guest
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    Posted · Ultimaker for casting jewelry

    yeh, it will be trial and error, and be persistent. It is not easy, take the time to learn your printer, it is also a lot of fun and addictive.... Dual extrusion is still a bridge too far for me, but the results look promising..

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    Posted (edited) · Ultimaker for casting jewelry

    If you want to remove the print layers, smoothing it with a solvent (such as chloroform) is also an option.

     

    This is very interesting. However, in jewelry parts, we always deal with tiny and delicate shapes such as gem supports, which I think would be very sensitive to the solvent. Therefore we always prefer to get rid of the layers only after the metal product is made. Anyway thank you for the suggestion. I will give it a shot as soon as I purchase the printer.

    Edited by Guest
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    Posted · Ultimaker for casting jewelry

    I still find it difficult to get 'good' jewelry prints from the Ultimaker. Small details are fragile and almost all prints need support.

    For example: a ring prints best lying down, printing a continuos circle, but then you have one flat side. Printing it standing up is a pain because the printhead jumps from side to side.

    It will take a lot of patience to get things right and keep your limitations in mind to avoid disappointment. (that is why I use it for prototypes..)

     

    This is very good to know! Thank you. I don't want to have a ring with a flat side. What is the problem with the printhead jumping from side to side?! does it pose any problem?! I think I should send a file to the company for a test print.

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    Posted · Ultimaker for casting jewelry

    yes, try one of your designs to print it with 3dHubs, look on their map if there is someone in the neighborhood.

    this is an old picture, before retraction was a setting, but you see that the printhead goes from left to right. Also to let a ring stay on its small footprint was a pain and the end result is never a smooth curved bottom.

    Personally I think that delicate details as gem support are too difficult. But try that in a test print. For your needs a sla printer would be better (liquid resin instead of melted wire)

    no-retraction.thumb.jpg.cac3363747beea37381b7ffac48d2896.jpg

    no-retraction.thumb.jpg.cac3363747beea37381b7ffac48d2896.jpg

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    Posted · Ultimaker for casting jewelry

    Form have released the Form 2 SLA printer, so that could be a good option.

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    Posted · Ultimaker for casting jewelry

    Form have released the Form 2 SLA printer, so that could be a good option.

     

    The price of the Form's printer and the consumables he has somewhere in the region of the stratosphere. Again, the printing with rubber is weak, in my understanding, combined with the casting. How to get rid of the inevitable carbon deposits when heated? It is also important the level of toxicity.

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    Posted · Ultimaker for casting jewelry

    Well true but it can do resolutions higher than FDM printers. It depends on how much the user is willing to spend for it. It's cheaper than Shapeways!

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    Posted · Ultimaker for casting jewelry

    yes, try one of your designs to print it with 3dHubs, look on their map if there is someone in the neighborhood.

    this is an old picture, before retraction was a setting, but you see that the printhead goes from left to right. Also to let a ring stay on its small footprint was a pain and the end result is never a smooth curved bottom.

    Personally I think that delicate details as gem support are too difficult. But try that in a test print. For your needs a sla printer would be better (liquid resin instead of melted wire)

    no-retraction.thumb.jpg.cac3363747beea37381b7ffac48d2896.jpg

     

    Thank you for the nice photo. Is this PLA?! If not, do you think you would get the same results with PLA too?! Indeed so far, we used to have our designs printed with 3d printers that use liquid resin, however, in some jewelry tools websites, I frequently see PLA filaments being sold.

    Thanks,

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    Posted · Ultimaker for casting jewelry

    this is pla, but like I said, it is an old picture, from 2012, when the retraction setting didn't exist... If I would print this now the strings would be gone. But what would still be there are the irregularities in the lowest curve, close to the bed. And there will always be a flat side underneath, because it would not stay.

    But each design needs its specific approach, some easy, some more difficult.

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    Posted · Ultimaker for casting jewelry

    I would really like to see what happens if you try different filaments and tweak some settings the newer Cura offers.

    With the ColorFabb bronzefill and others, I wonder what you could do with those?

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    Posted (edited) · Ultimaker for casting jewelry

    bronzefill and copperfill print really nice, less layers visible because of the added fillers.

    And the extra weight is very nice too! Looks not like 'a plastic' any more but more serious..

    Could be suitable for bolder jewelry models.

    5a33118988514_2015-09-2116_46_19.thumb.jpg.f2a3405d555ae37f6f78871b34108a9e.jpg

    trofee2.thumb.jpg.db494d272c1bfbf6d047a981029144bf.jpg

    5a33118988514_2015-09-2116_46_19.thumb.jpg.f2a3405d555ae37f6f78871b34108a9e.jpg

    trofee2.thumb.jpg.db494d272c1bfbf6d047a981029144bf.jpg

    Edited by Guest
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    Posted · Ultimaker for casting jewelry

    bronzefill and copperfill print really nice, less layers visible because of the added fillers.

    And the extra weight is very nice too! Looks not like 'a plastic' any more but more serious..

    Could be suitable for bolder jewelry models.

    5a33118988514_2015-09-2116_46_19.thumb.jpg.f2a3405d555ae37f6f78871b34108a9e.jpg

    trofee2.thumb.jpg.db494d272c1bfbf6d047a981029144bf.jpg

     

    Looks really awesome!

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