Print of the day: Split Patterns for casting valve bodies

What we printed today! Split form patterns for casting a 90lb steel safety valve. We firmly believe that casting is one of the right applications for large format filament printing! 

  • 1mm Nozzle
  • ABS Material
  • 1.8kg
  • 10" x 12" x 6" 
  • 13hr print time
  • 4,400 mm/min
  • 75C chamber temperature

 

Note the steaming popping in this part. It's due to the ABS picking up moisture during the printing process. We're working on a heated vacuum spool cart to help prevent this problem. It's a tough one!

After one application of Evercoat Featherfill. Never again apply bondo by hand! Take about 10 minutes to spray and 20 minutes to sand. There is a time/resolution tradeoff that is always present with printing. For larger prints, it's often times better to choose a larger layer thickness to save 12+ hours in printing, and perform a half hour of post processing to achieve the final desired surface finish. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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