You'd use a very low fill density, no fill if the pattern can be done that way. Better slicers now have a variable density fill capability along with variable layer height.Another benefit of 3D printing PLA for single use casting patterns is they can be much closer to net shape, which will reduce machining time a lot. An extra nifty thing with the process is the same 3D model can be used for plaster coated lost wax process, where the PLA is burned out the same way, and for one part sand mold casting, same as the lost foam process that buries molded pieces of styrofoam in the sand.
On Monday, April 3, 2017, 9:28:43 PM MDT, andy pugh <[email protected]> wrote:On 4 April 2017 at 07:51, Gregg Eshelman <[email protected]> wrote: > I wonder if they've heard about lost PLA casting? This is a 13kg casting in iron, that would be 2kg of PLA, about £40. Though i guess you would use a low fill density, so it wouldn't be quite that much. But it would be many hours of extrusion time. There again, I had about 20 hours of machine time to make the solid pattern: https://goo.gl/photos/64p9cNWnEamwxUzz5 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Check out the vibrant tech community on one of the world's most engaging tech sites, Slashdot.org! http://sdm.link/slashdot _______________________________________________ Emc-users mailing list [email protected] https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users
