Metal Melter

[Kram]

Just noticed on a web search that there is a wax filament for 3D printers. Tricky to use apparently. Not something I've noticed before.

3D Printing with Wax: The Process of Lost Wax Casting

We know all about additive manufacturing by 3D printing. A filament is molten by a hot extruder and deposited on a print bed, and layers are built one by one until the design has been

3dinsider.com

The idea that printers must use perfectly processed filament is silly to me. Liquid wax is easily extruded. Premelt and maintain temp just at the melting point. Heated metal syringe with a stepper pushing it out. Easy part to make and would appear the same to machine.

Same would work for most plastics and allow direct recyling instead of buying filament.

 

[prepman]

The idea that printers must use perfectly processed filament is silly to me. Liquid wax is easily extruded. Premelt and maintain temp just at the melting point. Heated metal syringe with a stepper pushing it out. Easy part to make and would appear the same to machine.

Same would work for most plastics and allow direct recyling instead of buying filament.

So they're readily available? I think volume is where limitations start to make the whole filament spool a logically progression. I did injection moulding 50 yrs ago with manual feed unit using nylon pellets (still have the burn scars). At the time I was employed as an Electronics Production Manager for basically 'Dell Trotter International'. We did everything. A really cottage industry aimed a hospitals and universities. Back to.....Syringe...for tiny one-offs sure. But a larger item means the melt chamber has to be larger, then inertia comes into it. Unless it's small and fed with say a 1kg spool?

 

[Kram]

Wax will flow in a hose no problem, hot cylinder could be stationary.
Nylon you would pause and add more pellets.

 

[prepman]

I

Wax will flow in a hose no problem, hot cylinder could be stationary.
Nylon you would pause and add more pellets.

A heated hose? Or would it just end up as another filament? I have also worked at (stinky) Fat fractionation plant where everything was heat traced because of wax freezing. Again plenty of burns from that. During the 'Miner's Strike' one entrepreneur was making candles for the black market and emptied a vat.

 

[Onoff]

@Kram 2L pressure cooker, £7. Any good?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hawkins-HC20-Contura-Pressure-Aluminum/dp/B00NRTIP30/ref=asc_df_B00NRTIP30/?

 

[Kram]

Nah, dont like the idea and the lids are a pain.
Thinking about one of these

VEVOR 3CFM 1/3HP Refrigerant Rotary Vane Vacuum Pump A/C Vacuum Evacuation Pump UK | VEVOR UK

Discover 3CFM 1/3HP Refrigerant Rotary Vane Vacuum Pump A/C Vacuum Evacuation Pump UK, High-quality Vacuum Pump and Oil No-Flow Back Design at lowest price, 2days delivery, 30days returns.

m.vevor.co.uk

Or one of these smaller ones. Need to be a bit cheaper tho..

DC Mini Vacuum Pump, 12V 5L/min 120kpa Mini Vacuum Low Noise Pump No Maintenance No Oil Negative Pressure Suction Pumping for Gas Analysis Sampling Instrument : Amazon.co.uk: Business, Industry & Science

Buy DC Mini Vacuum Pump, 12V 5L/min 120kpa Mini Vacuum Low Noise Pump No Maintenance No Oil Negative Pressure Suction Pumping for Gas Analysis Sampling Instrument at Amazon UK. Free delivery on eligible orders.

www.amazon.co.uk

 

[prepman]

Nah, dont like the idea and the lids are a pain.
Thinking about one of these

VEVOR 3CFM 1/3HP Refrigerant Rotary Vane Vacuum Pump A/C Vacuum Evacuation Pump UK | VEVOR UK

Discover 3CFM 1/3HP Refrigerant Rotary Vane Vacuum Pump A/C Vacuum Evacuation Pump UK, High-quality Vacuum Pump and Oil No-Flow Back Design at lowest price, 2days delivery, 30days returns.

m.vevor.co.uk

Or one of these smaller ones. Need to be a bit cheaper tho..

DC Mini Vacuum Pump, 12V 5L/min 120kpa Mini Vacuum Low Noise Pump No Maintenance No Oil Negative Pressure Suction Pumping for Gas Analysis Sampling Instrument : Amazon.co.uk: Business, Industry & Science

Buy DC Mini Vacuum Pump, 12V 5L/min 120kpa Mini Vacuum Low Noise Pump No Maintenance No Oil Negative Pressure Suction Pumping for Gas Analysis Sampling Instrument at Amazon UK. Free delivery on eligible orders.

www.amazon.co.uk

To remove trapped air bubbles from the mix a vacuum cleaner might be an inexpensive trial?
Nothing ventured......My Edwards oil free went kapput.

 

[Kram]

Nah I think our dyson was £300 and the motors are cooled by the exhaust air. Keep it blocked off for 3 minutes and it will melt. Lots of flow but its not going to pull much vacuum.

 

[Onoff]

Lots of cheap vacuum pumps on AliExpress.

Clearly not all designed for casting...

 

[Kram]

Filled in the pinholes with wax, digging out the text with a drill bit shank. Quick test with a bottle and this design needs a little bump above the I to grip a bottle cap, so I'll add that in wax. The bigger ones will work as is
About to try plaster.

 

[Onoff]

Like I said earlier, we used a vacuum pump that ran off the tap at school. Watch this guy do the same thing with his casting plaster:

FWIW my home water pressure is 8'bar 'ish coming in from the street.

 

[Onoff]

View attachment 346874
Filled in the pinholes with wax, digging out the text with a drill bit shank. Quick test with a bottle and this design needs a little bump above the I to grip a bottle cap, so I'll add that in wax. The bigger ones will work as is
About to try plaster.

Ah yes a sacrificial early one there. I see you filled in those big side holes I found problematic.

 

[prepman]

Tried making brass today....so practically guaranteed metal fume fever again tomorrow. Dissolving copper into brass is tedious. Wonder why brass is still used? Historically there was a reason due availability. Machinibility is the only that comes to mind?
AB1 & 2 are easy to smelt.

 

[Kram]

Ah yes a sacrificial early one there. I see you filled in those big side holes I found problematic.

Was going to carve out the wax but squares were coming loose, so I will cast it plain and open out after.
I know this design wasnt intended to be a bottle opener but as its the first test Im interested to see how well wax and pla work together.

 

[prepman]

Nah I think our dyson was £300 and the motors are cooled by the exhaust air. Keep it blocked off for 3 minutes and it will melt. Lots of flow but its not going to pull much vacuum.

True. Our Dyson's in the workshop. Bought a Shark instead.

 

[Onoff]

Called faucet aspirator vacuum pumps I think, the ones we had at school:

faucet aspirator vacuum pump uk - Google Shopping

www.google.com

Plenty of other cheap types about it would appear.

 

[Anguz]

Eductor is another name for them

 

[Kram]

A bit off topic but I did melt some wax..

one of these pots for tomorrow, 4 quid voucher makes it £16. Wonder if the wax beads are any good for nose hair?

Just tried it with the supplied hair removal wax. I can not believe how much hair came out of my nostrils on each pull, like a wax model of a short millipede. With longer legs.

 

[Anguz]

Any progress on this ? The casting not the hair removal

 

[Onoff]

Any progress on this ? The casting not the hair removal

See here

Vacuum chamber and plastic for lid?

I will be trying to build one this week. For the lid, Chinese vac chambers seem to be 12mm acrylic, like this but much smaller. https://www.amazon.co.uk/VEVOR-Degassing-Stainless-Silicones-Extraction/dp/B09GVVRYK4 Theres a plastic shop near me that has small offcuts of 12-20mm thick acrylic...

www.mig-welding.co.uk