If you're interested in any of the tools or equipment I use and you want to help support the channel then don't forget to check out some of the affiliate links in the video description. Thank you for the support!
I used to do some lost foam castings. I would use joint compound thinned with water to about like milk. and spray on several coats letting them dry between coats. Then I would pour a base layer of sand into my bucket place my part in and pour plat sand around the part. After that I would tap the bucket with a mallet to pack the sand once it was packed down pour my metal. Worked great. I made tons of parts and no water glass.
I have tried a couple different types, but the powder that you mix with water that contains plaster of Paris is the best. A lot of the pre mixed varieties have polymers in the mix (usually some sort of vinyl) and they don't work as well. I'm not sure if it's the vinyl, or some other ingredient, but the pre mixed stuff had tiny pits and dimples in the surface finish.
I really appreciate you showing and telling what materials you use for people like me unwilling to bite the bullet on suspend a slurry... thank u, and awesome content
Absolutely amazing how much detail you captured. Even the 3D printed layer lines and the filament Wiggly's on the overhang under the chin. Excellent work. Thanks for sharing.
5:40 You lost a lot of metal off the side of the bucket, there. A small funnel of sand around the entry point would help direct the metal back into the mold.
4:31 The difference between cans and wheels is that wheeled aluminum has a higher silicon content, which lowers the melting point of the alloy and improves the fluidity of the molten metal.
A few years ago, Grant Thompson from TKOR made a video where he did this, but with styrofoam models. I've always juggled around the idea of doing that, but with 3D prints, and it looks like your did it first and perfected the idea with the layer of plaster to get all the intricate details. Excellent work! It looks great!!!!
Great work! I like this molding method, I will have to try it. One note: don't load your crucible cold like that. The aluminum expands as it heats and it's a great way to crack your crucible. Throw a little in the bottom and let the rest preheat on the furnace vent, add once you get a molten heel on the bottom.
Very impressive. Another version of this is being used with powdered steels. The print gets placed in a steel tube (cannister). The outside gets filled with 1085 and the inside with 15n20 or 1085 with 5% nickel. Its heated to forging temperature and compressed in a hydraulic press. The pla is organic and burns off as carbon. Some very detailed mosaic patterns for knife blades etc are being created. Its very new and likely the next big thing in mosaic pattern welded steel (damascus). Thought it might interest you.
These have such a "How it's Made" vibe to them, it's great. My guess is you were a fan of that show growing up (as I was) and you took some mental notes and made use of them for your videos. Great videos. : )
In the foundry I worked at, we used pour basins over top of the sprue so that a constant flow of metal goes into the mold without any air. It also reduces spillage.
Dry wall sealer I believe. Concrete sealer is an entirely different product, an epoxy or some other 2 part resin I believe, which if used here will produce very bad results and also probably some fumes you don't want to be breathing.
@@pedroperenne The sand is regular sand. It's the sodium silicate that makes the sand harden up, with exposure to CO2. Google 'sodium silicate casting'. It's amazing stuff. SV Seeker has some cool videos using SS. th-cam.com/video/qPnSb3yzytE/w-d-xo.html
You do some impressive work and your techniques are great. Just one thing your wearing lace up shoes without shields surprises me with all the safety you practice. Keep up the good work and making your videos.
Using the angle iron to protect from vent splatter is genius. I have done something similar, but I'll be damned, the angle iron is easy and does a GREAT job. Thanks a bunch!
Mechanical engineer from forge foundry background yes you can reuse most metal sand etc in the industry we reuse it after filtering and grinding again to ensure no big parts and magnets to remove from ferrous metals etc good luck if it feels and looks good enough to use it probably is not hard 🤞✌️
You can print most things with a couple extra walls and no infill don’t know how it would do with the metal but you said the least amt of infill so just trying to help or expand the ideas in your arsenal :) great video though gonna have to try it !!
This seems so much easier than other lost PLA methods with molds that need to be set in a kiln. What are the drawbacks? Why doesn't everyone use this all the time?
i've been coating my foams in watered down drywall mud but that joint compund looks perfect. i'll be trying that for sure. cheers. If you put a tin can around your sprue, you save yourself from making a giant mess lol. but the video just wouldnt be as exciting haha
Super cool! I'd love to see you do this with a resin printer which would get you even better detail. There are a lot of resins out there specifically for doing lost wax style casting
Noticed under the chin, it captured the detail of the overhang, that could have been cleaned up a little before casting, but an overall very impressive outcome.
I'm impressed that burning out the PLA core before pouring wasn't required. Do you think that any other "support" filaments like the water soluble PVA would burn out even cleaner? Or was PLA just perfectly suited to the application?
It was very helpful! I don't know if the same materials are available in Japan, but I would like to try my hand at making complex products using this method.😀
For anyone who cares. "MOST" Cast aluminum is a high silicon based aluminum alloy, which lower the melting point and helps make it flow much easier. This is what makes it ideal for casting. You can buy silicon from eBay, crush it, and add to your molten aluminum to make your own allow that flows easy
@@Sludgepump No. SILICON, like I said... NOT SILICONE which is CAULK!!! Learn to spell! My windows seals are fine, because of the SILICONE I've used on them. ;} SILICON is the element Si with the atomic number of 14....
Awesome result, I'm impressed at how much detail there is! I think you're using a different grinding wheel there but please don't use regular (steel) grinding wheels on aluminium. Especially cutoff wheels. Aluminium has a very low melting point and melts into the disc. It can jam and the aluminium can damage/destroy the dics and they can fly apart.
... Can I ask... Is there a reason you seem to have abandoned this method to pursue standard lost PLA with a burn-out kiln? I am very curious to use this method because I don't have a burn out kiln, and for that reason have had many failures.
Yea I have been trying too and can't get good results. I have a feeling it's to do with venting. But I am also trying to cast much smaller things. Or it's my sand.
Very nice. Thank you for this interesting video. There is something wrong with the sodium silicate sand because it should have been much harder to break than that
great video by the way. I have 2 questions 1: what happens to the used sand ? Can u reuse it ? 2: can you use PetR filament? or do you use a special type of PLA?
Awesome!!! But may I make a suggestion, turn supports on but click touching build plate only. It'll help with the lower messy overhangs like under the chin at 8:18. And that will allow you to get a smoother finish of joint compound which should in theory help with those little blobs Edit: on 2nd viewing I see you did that, try reducing the distance between the support material and the overhang. Or try rubbing it with soft wax that should fill in those gaps but still melt out easy
Nice video. By the way - you can even make sodium silicate by yourself. Mix sodium hydroxide (drain opener) with silica gel (kitty litter) under heat. There are tutorials on youtube. As always: be careful with chemicals.
you could use the supports for the 3d printing, this way you could have a better termination on the final piece. The supports must be remove before casting off course.
Very cool! Can you thin or do multiple coats of the joint compound to thicken the shell? Maybe joint compound, sprinkle with sand, dry, repeat 2-3x times and build up a really thick shell?
@@superchroma yeah I would never ever cast a barrel unless I was casting a bronze barrel for like a 22 and I’d make it super thick but other than that you can basically fully print every piece of any firearms so you could legitimately make a ak quite easy you’d just have to cast almost every piece thick asf because no steel
Doesn't casting the barrel out of metal negate the only "positive" of a 3d printed gun? A large part of why people were freaking out about that idea was that the small firing pin was too little to be picked up on most metal detectors
@@implausibleimpossiblehypot4006 Welp I live in America where finding a firearm is less than a problem than finding a part for my 20 year old truck! But yes good guns cost a lot, but I'll put my 30.06 against almost any gun with a 3d printed part... if I can pick the range (distance) that is
I wonder how many bubbles / voids are in the casting itself. The finish detail is great though. Anything that does this level of detail without needing a burnout oven is a good method.
Nice! I did some diy lost 'wax' casting with polycast, but the burnout makes it kind of time consuming and complicated. So I was wondering if this would work, and you had my answer! Perhaps a small nozzle for 3d printing will help minimize the wall thickness so there is less pla that is burning away. Anyway, cool idea ;)
1. Instead of sand you could use plaster 2. instead of aluminium you can use pewter or zamac which melts way cooler and captures details the most This way you can burn out the plastic over a fire before you pour anything and everyone can do that at home without the kiln and all that stuff. Not saying you did wrong or anything just want to show that it can be done even easier and cheaper.
Very COOL man! I'm very impressed with this process. I'm a fellow caster myself and always thought I needed a kiln for casting PLA objects. I am definitely giving this a shot. I do have a question, is the sand reusable after you cast? Or is that sand mixture a one and done situation?
I just came across this video and was getting ready to ask the same question. As the sand could get expensive in these and the sand casting ones he does if you can't reuse any of the sand
How'd it work out for you not melting out the pla in a kiln? I'm looking to do the same but can't believe it could just vaporize out of the way like that. Also pretty sure the sand would have to be ground back down if it's even possible, interesting though.
If you're interested in any of the tools or equipment I use and you want to help support the channel then don't forget to check out some of the affiliate links in the video description. Thank you for the support!
I used to do some lost foam castings. I would use joint compound thinned with water to about like milk. and spray on several coats letting them dry between
coats. Then I would pour a base layer of sand into my bucket place my part in and pour plat sand around the part. After that I would tap the bucket with a mallet to pack the sand once it was packed down pour my metal. Worked great. I made tons of parts and no water glass.
joint compound to act at the fine-detail-saver is such an excellent trick
I never would have thought of it on my own.
Is there a spray on version?
Idk but what is joint compound exactly?😅
@@theofficialvalvychannel5689 I also like to know.
I have tried a couple different types, but the powder that you mix with water that contains plaster of Paris is the best. A lot of the pre mixed varieties have polymers in the mix (usually some sort of vinyl) and they don't work as well. I'm not sure if it's the vinyl, or some other ingredient, but the pre mixed stuff had tiny pits and dimples in the surface finish.
I really appreciate you showing and telling what materials you use for people like me unwilling to bite the bullet on suspend a slurry... thank u, and awesome content
Absolutely amazing how much detail you captured. Even the 3D printed layer lines and the filament Wiggly's on the overhang under the chin. Excellent work. Thanks for sharing.
5:40 You lost a lot of metal off the side of the bucket, there. A small funnel of sand around the entry point would help direct the metal back into the mold.
th-cam.com/video/WCnIJu69aV0/w-d-xo.html
Unreal... I've been looking into methods for doing this and this is by far the most effective I've seen yet! Hope it works for jewelry casting
From what I've seen on other youtube videos, most jewelry casters use resin 3d printers and plaster molds for high quality pieces.
I was into painting Warhammer miniatures around 30 years ago. Watching this gave me an overwhelming urge to paint it. Nice
4:31 The difference between cans and wheels is that wheeled aluminum has a higher silicon content, which lowers the melting point of the alloy and improves the fluidity of the molten metal.
That’s right. Big difference between the two. I love “Wheelium”.
@@robinson-foundry Oh, wheely?
Is there some method to determine if a wheel is aluminum, magnesium or some kind of alloy?
@@nitcat1 Wheels are usually casted.
@@robinson-foundry Wheeluminum?
A few years ago, Grant Thompson from TKOR made a video where he did this, but with styrofoam models. I've always juggled around the idea of doing that, but with 3D prints, and it looks like your did it first and perfected the idea with the layer of plaster to get all the intricate details.
Excellent work! It looks great!!!!
Nice to see you have all the correct safety gear and proper tools to safely handle molten metal.
Congrats this project is much easier than previus projects
3d print needed support under chin or massive cooling. That cast is awesome.
Thanks, yes it is. Something a little different also.
Great work! I like this molding method, I will have to try it. One note: don't load your crucible cold like that. The aluminum expands as it heats and it's a great way to crack your crucible. Throw a little in the bottom and let the rest preheat on the furnace vent, add once you get a molten heel on the bottom.
Great to know it works without needing a lengthy burn out to remove the PLA.
Lools amazing. I can't believe the detail. Love to see the method with other metals and alloys like bronze, brass and iron
Very impressive. Another version of this is being used with powdered steels. The print gets placed in a steel tube (cannister). The outside gets filled with 1085 and the inside with 15n20 or 1085 with 5% nickel. Its heated to forging temperature and compressed in a hydraulic press. The pla is organic and burns off as carbon. Some very detailed mosaic patterns for knife blades etc are being created. Its very new and likely the next big thing in mosaic pattern welded steel (damascus). Thought it might interest you.
excellent to see ancient "lost wax" method brought to the 3D printer era
this shares nothing with lost wax casting, it's not even close to correct
These have such a "How it's Made" vibe to them, it's great.
My guess is you were a fan of that show growing up (as I was) and you took some mental notes and made use of them for your videos.
Great videos. : )
Nicely done. I'm impressed. I think this was the simplest approach I've seen....since 3DTopo showed his lost PLA process eight years ago.
In the foundry I worked at, we used pour basins over top of the sprue so that a constant flow of metal goes into the mold without any air. It also reduces spillage.
Thanks for the tip on the concrete sealer and joint compound!!
Dry wall sealer I believe. Concrete sealer is an entirely different product, an epoxy or some other 2 part resin I believe, which if used here will produce very bad results and also probably some fumes you don't want to be breathing.
Excellent job. Who would have thought that you don’t need to melt out the PLA first.
Thanks for sharing, I literally just bought the materials to try this!
That’s awesome! I hope it works out for you.
You should post a video of your first go at it!
did it work?
@@robinson-foundry it is "normal" sand? not special for casting? the sand in the home improvement stores?
@@pedroperenne The sand is regular sand. It's the sodium silicate that makes the sand harden up, with exposure to CO2. Google 'sodium silicate casting'. It's amazing stuff. SV Seeker has some cool videos using SS. th-cam.com/video/qPnSb3yzytE/w-d-xo.html
The best & easiest way to make 3d metal products 👏🏼👍🏼
this is the most effective lost wax casting video I have ever seen.
"Hey, Seth. You know what happened to my car rims?"
"... No?"
Wheels*
Hands down this is authoritatively the best tutorial I’ve been able to find on this
The best method I've seen.
You do some impressive work and your techniques are great. Just one thing your wearing lace up shoes without shields surprises me with all the safety you practice. Keep up the good work and making your videos.
Using the angle iron to protect from vent splatter is genius. I have done something similar, but I'll be damned, the angle iron is easy and does a GREAT job. Thanks a bunch!
Mechanical engineer from forge foundry background yes you can reuse most metal sand etc in the industry we reuse it after filtering and grinding again to ensure no big parts and magnets to remove from ferrous metals etc good luck if it feels and looks good enough to use it probably is not hard 🤞✌️
I can't believe it even retained the overhang stringy thingies, hahaha
Excellent video
You rlly make an before an after in the 3D metal casting method with this. You're my heroe
Wow, the detail on the bottom of the chin is very impressive. Very cool!!!
At lasttttt a video without burn out oven great job
A fine addition to your collection
Thanks!
Good to see that pie case replaced with something a little more sturdy!
Whatan extreme intresting way to cast. I have to give this a try myself
Good job. The finished piece has lots of detail. I would like one in cast iron plated with nickel.
8:18 I like houw the process captures the detail of the drooping filament in the overhanging chin.
Thought the PLA would blow up .... but didn't .... Awesome!!! Thank You
As long as it’s vented sufficiently it works!
You can print most things with a couple extra walls and no infill don’t know how it would do with the metal but you said the least amt of infill so just trying to help or expand the ideas in your arsenal :) great video though gonna have to try it !!
This seems so much easier than other lost PLA methods with molds that need to be set in a kiln. What are the drawbacks? Why doesn't everyone use this all the time?
i've been coating my foams in watered down drywall mud but that joint compund looks perfect. i'll be trying that for sure. cheers. If you put a tin can around your sprue, you save yourself from making a giant mess lol. but the video just wouldnt be as exciting haha
Joint compound IS watered down drywall mud..
Should take that to the antique road show. Maybe get half a million bucks
Definitely given me H.R. Giger vibes👌🏾🔥🔥🔥🔥 sick job, love it!!
Super cool! I'd love to see you do this with a resin printer which would get you even better detail. There are a lot of resins out there specifically for doing lost wax style casting
theres also wax filament for fdm 3d printers.
never used it myself because i heard its a PITA to work with though.
Noticed under the chin, it captured the detail of the overhang, that could have been cleaned up a little before casting, but an overall very impressive outcome.
I'm impressed that burning out the PLA core before pouring wasn't required. Do you think that any other "support" filaments like the water soluble PVA would burn out even cleaner? Or was PLA just perfectly suited to the application?
you asked to tell what we thinking... freaking amazing, good job
Nice. And using Vase mode in the slicer, good idea!!
Have you ever measured the sand to concrete sealer ratio?
It was very helpful!
I don't know if the same materials are available in Japan, but
I would like to try my hand at making complex products using this method.😀
Really digging the mayan/Aztec prints
Best casting video to date!
Excellent, thank you for sharing. time for me to buy a foundry and make some cool stuff.
Thanks! You definitely should. It’s lots of fun.
For anyone who cares. "MOST" Cast aluminum is a high silicon based aluminum alloy, which lower the melting point and helps make it flow much easier. This is what makes it ideal for casting. You can buy silicon from eBay, crush it, and add to your molten aluminum to make your own allow that flows easy
silica, not silicon. You put silicon in your molten aluminum, it ain't gonna be pretty. Keep it for the window seals. ;)
@@Sludgepump No. SILICON, like I said... NOT SILICONE which is CAULK!!! Learn to spell! My windows seals are fine, because of the SILICONE I've used on them. ;} SILICON is the element Si with the atomic number of 14....
MUY BUENO E INSTRUCTIVO SALUDOS DESDE ARGENTINA.
wow incredible detail in the result. excellent work
I cant wait to some day try something like this
As if I didn't already have enough of an addiction printing in PLA... :P
This was super awesome man, thanks for sharing!!!
You’re welcome, it’s a fun hobby! Thanks!
Absolutely stunning....that was glorious
Awesome result, I'm impressed at how much detail there is!
I think you're using a different grinding wheel there but please don't use regular (steel) grinding wheels on aluminium. Especially cutoff wheels.
Aluminium has a very low melting point and melts into the disc. It can jam and the aluminium can damage/destroy the dics and they can fly apart.
Fantastic results well done. Must try this myself. Cheers J
... Can I ask... Is there a reason you seem to have abandoned this method to pursue standard lost PLA with a burn-out kiln? I am very curious to use this method because I don't have a burn out kiln, and for that reason have had many failures.
Yea I have been trying too and can't get good results. I have a feeling it's to do with venting. But I am also trying to cast much smaller things. Or it's my sand.
Very nice. Thank you for this interesting video. There is something wrong with the sodium silicate sand because it should have been much harder to break than that
A great informative tutorial. Well done - as usual.
Thank you very much!
great video by the way.
I have 2 questions
1: what happens to the used sand ? Can u reuse it ?
2: can you use PetR filament? or do you use a special type of PLA?
Amazing Craftsmanship 👍🏻👍👍🏽
Awesome!!! But may I make a suggestion, turn supports on but click touching build plate only. It'll help with the lower messy overhangs like under the chin at 8:18. And that will allow you to get a smoother finish of joint compound which should in theory help with those little blobs
Edit: on 2nd viewing I see you did that, try reducing the distance between the support material and the overhang. Or try rubbing it with soft wax that should fill in those gaps but still melt out easy
Thanks for the tip. I had the z distance set to .2mm. The print is so fragile that I didn’t want there to be any problems removing the supports.
Pretty sweet looking bong 👌🏼
Used to apply dry wall tape joint and fill the join in the plasterboard
Man good job this thing lools great. Really getting into this stuff. Wanting to make a wood and epoxy bed with some cast skulls on either post.
Very nice technique, thanks for sharing
Thanks, I will try this 0 infill method, looks Easter than melting plaster mold pla in furnace.
That pink 3M filter you use is a regular dust filter and isn't meant for chemical vapors. You may want to order a different set.
Thank you, I will.
Very detailed and interesting now im going to try this, thanks for the video
Do you think the sodium silicate is required or would it work just as well with dry sand?
Interesting method. The result is great!
Nice video. By the way - you can even make sodium silicate by yourself. Mix sodium hydroxide (drain opener) with silica gel (kitty litter) under heat. There are tutorials on youtube. As always: be careful with chemicals.
Great piece. Very fun pours.
you could use the supports for the 3d printing, this way you could have a better termination on the final piece. The supports must be remove before casting off course.
Some say screwdriver others say chisel, to each their own. Great work!
Some of us use a flat bladed screwdriver filed down to a chisel edge. Like a teeny tiny cold chisel.
Incredible detail!
If you thin out the joint compound and take super fine sand you dip and sand dip and sand then set it
Very cool! Can you thin or do multiple coats of the joint compound to thicken the shell? Maybe joint compound, sprinkle with sand, dry, repeat 2-3x times and build up a really thick shell?
And the 3D gun printing community greatly thanks you for this knowledge
I'm not sure this can be an effective substitute for rifling at the end of the day.
@@superchroma yeah I would never ever cast a barrel unless I was casting a bronze barrel for like a 22 and I’d make it super thick but other than that you can basically fully print every piece of any firearms so you could legitimately make a ak quite easy you’d just have to cast almost every piece thick asf because no steel
Doesn't casting the barrel out of metal negate the only "positive" of a 3d printed gun? A large part of why people were freaking out about that idea was that the small firing pin was too little to be picked up on most metal detectors
@@ku8721 cost is also a factor and the frequency you can find guns
@@implausibleimpossiblehypot4006 Welp I live in America where finding a firearm is less than a problem than finding a part for my 20 year old truck! But yes good guns cost a lot, but I'll put my 30.06 against almost any gun with a 3d printed part... if I can pick the range (distance) that is
LOL even the near-spaghettified print part under the chin was captured perfectly!
You should try galvanizing it for a rainbow finish
I wonder how many bubbles / voids are in the casting itself. The finish detail is great though. Anything that does this level of detail without needing a burnout oven is a good method.
found out about your channel today and i cant stop watching! amazing work
U made that look easy nice 👍 👍👍
Nice! I did some diy lost 'wax' casting with polycast, but the burnout makes it kind of time consuming and complicated. So I was wondering if this would work, and you had my answer! Perhaps a small nozzle for 3d printing will help minimize the wall thickness so there is less pla that is burning away. Anyway, cool idea ;)
Use wax based pla
thats amazing, is it possible to cast a metal on existing metal ?
Great process
I have picked up alot of old aluminum water pumps and other engine parts, I wonder since those are cast how well they would work..
1. Instead of sand you could use plaster
2. instead of aluminium you can use pewter or zamac which melts way cooler and captures details the most
This way you can burn out the plastic over a fire before you pour anything and everyone can do that at home without the kiln and all that stuff.
Not saying you did wrong or anything just want to show that it can be done even easier and cheaper.
Very COOL man! I'm very impressed with this process. I'm a fellow caster myself and always thought I needed a kiln for casting PLA objects. I am definitely giving this a shot. I do have a question, is the sand reusable after you cast? Or is that sand mixture a one and done situation?
I just came across this video and was getting ready to ask the same question. As the sand could get expensive in these and the sand casting ones he does if you can't reuse any of the sand
How'd it work out for you not melting out the pla in a kiln? I'm looking to do the same but can't believe it could just vaporize out of the way like that. Also pretty sure the sand would have to be ground back down if it's even possible, interesting though.
Absolutely yes, spent sand can be reused after breaking larger chunks. Just add fresh sodium silicate (water glass).
That looks awesome!
This is so awesome, great work, thank you for sharing!