ravenlures Posted March 30, 2016 Report Share Posted March 30, 2016 Has anyone tried to make a mold made of aluminum on a 3D printer for pouring resin into it. A 2 piece mold would be nice. I was just looking at printers and the prices are down, can't say if they can do the job, that's why I am asking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vodkaman Posted March 30, 2016 Report Share Posted March 30, 2016 I was looking at a vid of a 3D printed aluminium project only yesterday. The surface finish was very rough. This would make casting a hard product like resin a definite NO, due to demolding problems. Casting soft plastics would be fine, except for the surface finish. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ravenlures Posted March 31, 2016 Author Report Share Posted March 31, 2016 That answers that...........THANKS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark poulson Posted March 31, 2016 Report Share Posted March 31, 2016 Could you coat the rough mold with the same engine enamel as Skimpy used to smooth his Essential molds? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slimy Salamander Posted March 31, 2016 Report Share Posted March 31, 2016 (edited) Has anyone tried to make a mold made of aluminum on a 3D printer for pouring resin into it. A 2 piece mold would be nice. I was just looking at printers and the prices are down, can't say if they can do the job, that's why I am asking. Actually in the process of doing this. I'm going to 3D print the lure master and make a silicone mould from that. I'll be using a professional printing company to do a print using stereolithography so that it's highly detailed and smooth. I will not print the actual mould, becuase it will be large, so expensive. It's best to do a master lure and make sillicone moulds for production. Edited March 31, 2016 by Slimy Salamander Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vodkaman Posted March 31, 2016 Report Share Posted March 31, 2016 (edited) Bob - yes you could. SLimy - That is similar to the way I do mine, I make a negative of the entire mold, and use that to pour the silicone. Dave Edited March 31, 2016 by Vodkaman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slimy Salamander Posted April 19, 2016 Report Share Posted April 19, 2016 (edited) Just some feedback. I had an aluminium mould made as well as 3D printed masters from the same lure designs. There are two sizes of the same lure design, small and large. The aluminium mould is far superior, it's cheaper, it's smooth, highly detailed and ready for production. The mould is for 2x small and 2x large lures. For the 3D printed masters I went with PolyJet resin, because it's one of the 3D printing technologies with the most amount of details and best smoothness, but very expensive. The 3D printed masters (1x small + 1x large only) were more expensive, not smooth at all as claimed and I still have to make rubber moulds from them, so it's not production ready upon arrival. I also waited longer for the 3D printed masters. Conclusion, don't bother with 3D printing it's not not that great and I highly recommend getting an aluminium mould machined from your 3D design. Edited April 19, 2016 by Slimy Salamander 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
