Casting Bronze From a Makerbot Print
Did you ever print something on your MakerBot and love it so much that you wanted to cast it in bronze?
That’s exactly what Livejournal user and designer jarkman did recently.
Lost-wax casting is a 5,000 year-old process. Back in the day, it was used used to turn hand-made sculptures into permanent bronze or brass pieces. It gets its name from the part of the process where a hollow wax cast is burned out from a fire-proof mold, or “lost” during the casting.
In this case, jarkman printed his design with the standard MakerBot ABS plastic, instead of shaping it from wax. The plastic seemed to burn out just fine. Check out this step-by-step picture gallery to see how to transform your latest MakerBot print into metal!
What would you cast in bronze from your MakerBot? Tell us in the comments below!
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5 Comments so far
Andreas (drayde)
Hey, this looks like it is my propeller thing (http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3678)!
Now in bronze! Awesome!
MauiMaker
Awesome to see someone do what has been talked about a LOT. Almost every time I demo my bot I get a question about investment casting, lost plastic, jewelry making, etc.
A bit of time on surface finishing of the 3d part might make the final a lot easier to finish too.
MM
Vik Olliver
So far I’ve cast a ring and a goblet. I’ve been using PLA though as it’s easier to melt out and has less noxious fumes.
Vik :v)
Mike Thomson
Hi Andreas. Yes, it’s a scaled-down version of your propeller. I printed it for Richard and he cast it reasonably successfully in his mini-kiln.
Luis Rodriguez
Can we see what the mini kiln looks like?!