Filament for Cast Molding and Precise Prototyping

[redonion 0]

Hello

I am visiting US and I want to pick up and 2 Extended+ while I am here. I also want to buy some filament while I am here but I don't have a clue which filament to order.

I want to;

Print precise prototypes with smooth surfaces

Print mold halfs to cast Stainless Steel and Aluminium, so surface needs to be smooth and precise

I am pretty sure these were discussed million of times in this forums but I need to place my order today or tomorrow latest.

Thank you !

[CharlotteH 0]

Hi redonion,

I'm guessing that you want to print the part and produce a plaster or sand cast around it to pour the molten metal into, as it wouldn't be possible to print a plastic mold that would withstand the temperatures for metal casting. In that case, the precision and surface quality is as much determined by the print (slicer) settings as the filament. Something easy to print such as standard PLA or ABS with slicer settings of < 0.15 mm layer thickness, optimum print temp to give a clean extrusion with no stringing, and a good quality filament with high tolerance on diameter and ovality should be fine. You could even do some post processing of the print to get really smooth surfaces (though this can involve some nasty chemicals).

apologies if the answer came too late to help!

Charlotte.