3D print to METAL (easier than you think)

Did you know its actually easy to make detailed solid metal parts from a 3D printed part at home? Sand cast 3D printed parts out of pewter using delft clay and a hand held electric heater.

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Products used in this video:
(aff. links)

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Happy printing!
-Steven
3D Printer Academy

[rsz]

To all of the professionals that have entered chat, please note that he made this video to show you how you could replicate a plastic part to a metal copy. I have an old clipper that has a failing plastic gear, that I will be turning into brass for durability. This video is awesome.

[nrd]

to remove the part from the mold easier, you could embed a magnet inside the 3d print

[GrubboGoblin]

I used to work for a company that 3d printed stuff in metal using metal dust printers, gotta say while not exactly as fine and precise as the machines could do, this is still a really cool way, which also doesn't look that bad compared to what we did

[joshwells]

To remove the part just use some really strong double-sided tape on the end of all couple wood dowels.

[andreasmuller]

You can easily make a silicon mold (use high temperature silicone!) for this. I did it several times without any problems. The problem is: pewter is way too soft to be useful.

[joseparedesalbuja]

Very cool, then you can switch to a hotter alloy and even try hardening. The possibilities are unlimited.

[JosiahLane-dd]

Next: make a nozzle that gets hot enough to actually 3d print metal

[londonalicante]

Pewter is really soft, melting around 200C. This is nice for decorative but to make a decent gear you need to go to aluminium minimum (660C) bypassing zinc alloy (420C). Steel is quite a bit hotter than that. Also you can do lost plastic casting to avoid having to get the original part out of the mould.

[timmontano]

I found it more convenient to simply 3D resin print my mini-lathe gears using some of the Siraya Tech Blue resin. It worked out great.
That particular resin is more than tough enough to the round and round stresses imparted to my resin printed gears.

[frikkiesmit]

The 1st sand you throw onto part do it through a restrainer so the sand is fine. After the part is well covered with the sifted sand then add rest kf sand normally and compress etc. Then you get better detail in sand also.

[ADVtheMISSIONARY]

the plastic 3D print, pre make two "holes" to put screws(the screws go in when removing the "pattern") into to make it easier to lift out of the cope.

[bacon.cheesecake]

Pewter has a pretty similar melting point to play, you might be able to print with it on a standard printer

[frikkiesmit]

Also make the gate wider so metal can flow quicker to fill the mould. Cause metal can cool down faster than we think and solidify and cast fail. I had that happen many times

[goblin_wars]

Plaster is pretty common too for the mold and sand around it just for safety. Welcome to metal casting. 😆

[Stealthsilent]

That's a soft metal, that won't last too long.

[SachinJames]

Resin printer with casting resin would result in more accurate parts, you can even make smaller precision gears...

[scoopy]

Why not lost PLA casting? It would save you the trouble of removing the PLA gear and disturbing the mold.

[hey_how_are_ya]

We are slowly building up to a fully metal gear set to build towards the biggest project on the channel (future guessing)

[EZ_shop]

Very cool. Can your setup also melt aluminum? Ciao, Marco.

[Monkeyby]

I wonder how fast you can spin it before it friction welds to the dowel. :)
Also, I need to start saving my aluminum cans... :D