Need Help With This Part Of A Chapter- 3D Printing And Investment Casting

I spend a lot of time on the internet searching for new technology or posting comments on my groups on linkedIn.  I am writing a book about using 3D technology in both fine art and craft. I’m putting some of my questions and thoughts below. Please feel free to add to them with things you have discovered, correct my errors in the technological processes, and when possible cite your comments or background. Please let me know if I may quote you if that applies. Also, I’m looking for examples with incredible art.  I’m not into showing the creation of oil valves or common items, though that may be what some of these processes are made for.  If you have samples of artists or art using these processes, please contact them and see if they would like to be featured in the book and then let me know.  I would love to hear about their processes.  If you are interested in having an artist try your products to be featured in the book, contact me and I’ll either use my own work, or if I am busy writing, pass it on to another artist that I want to feature, and whose work is top notch.

Investment casting and 3d printing.
Today my search leads me to the topic of 3d printing and investment casting.  I’m going to summarize some of my questions in this post and then send this around and hope that some professionals in the industry  will be able to help me. It is also my hit list of professionals and companies that I am trying to reach. (Not an easy job as I am presently writing from New Mexico instead of my home base in Houston, Texas, and I do not have my hit list here. This NM trip is another story all together.)

Many things can be burned out of an investment casting.  The  things I’m noting when discussing these processes of burning out are; detail, a clean burn, temperature, cost, toxicity and build envelope. The few things I am covering in this section of this chapter are listed below. If there are some I have forgotten please feel free to let me know.

ABS and PLA-

Of these I know that PLA is preferred because of the toxicity of ABS.  I also have the extrude temperature of ABS as 225 and of PLA 180-200  I suppose this will also depend on the supplier of both materials, but in general is this correct?  If this is the extrude temperature what would be the burn out temperature for investment casting?

ABS
* Detail—
* Clean burn?—
* Temperature—
* Cost—
* Toxicity—
* Build envelope–
* Machines and stats and service bureaus and stats–

PLA

* Detail—
* Clean burn?—
* Temperature—
* Cost—
* Toxicity—
* Build envelope–
* Machines and stats and service bureaus and stats–

PAPER AND CERAMIC

In a podcast interview with fellow artist Paul Effinger we talked about burn out quite a bit. But this interview and the accompanying book that I wrote, “Digital Sculpting With Mudbox: Essential Tools and Techniques for Aritst “ with Mike de la Flor showed his work.  I believe that his piece “Artifices” was 3d printed with a ceramic powder and dipped in a resin binder.   The piece, that we featured on page 187 of the Mudbox book, was apparently printed on a ZCorp510. OK 3Dsystems. So, any updates on systems doing this and details.

The Mudbox book was written in 2009 and printed in 2010 and was one of the first books to feature a chapter on 3D technology in the art.  I’m curious how the technology has advanced.  What machines and service bureaus are printing paper or ceramic for burn out. How do they compare with the detail, a clean burn, temperature, cost, toxicity and build envelope?

I know that mcor technologies is doing some great printing with paper. I’d like to feature them in another part of the book because I love the color work, but I’d also love to talk to them about investment casting and 3D printing of paper.

With these products it appears that many are dipped into a solution. If your product is dipped please clarify what it is dipped in and why. Also, as an artist I am concerned if a piece is dipped in anything as I know that the dip will really affect the texture on a piece.  I love texture on my artwork and this would be very difficult for me.

Also, with all 3d printing texture is more than just what I put into it, but what the material that is being burned out can affect the look of a piece .  I have created molds from wet clay, dry clay, and oil base clay and the same figure will look totally different depending on the item being molded.  I’m interested in investigating this more with the 3d printing.

WAX
I’m pretty impressed with what I have seen with the wax 3d printing. This piece was sent to me from 3D SYSTEMS a few years ago.  I love the detail and take it with me on all my lectures to show as an example.  Going to have to dig in my contact list when I get back to the office to find out who sent this to me, and what machine it was printed on.  This definitely is an example of the quality/detail that I am trying to show in this book. So what machines are printing wax for investment casting?  How do they compare?

I also loved what I saw at envision tech and would love to find someone from this company to talk to.

* Detail—
* Clean burn?—
* Temperature—
* Cost—
* Toxicity—
* Build envelope–
* Machines and stats and service bureaus and stats–PAPER AND CERAMIC

.MGX by Materialize.

I know that .MGX by Materialize has been working on a large build envelope and investment casting. I won’t describe it here, but when I interviewed Joris Debois back in  2010 , we talked about it. We were in contact about 2 weeks ago. I look forward to hearing from.MGX by Materialize. Their process will be a major section in this chapter.

* Detail—
* Clean burn?—
* Temperature—
* Cost—
* Toxicity—
* Build envelope–
* Machines and stats and service bureaus and stats–PAPER AND CERAMIC

Thank you for everyones help. Please feel free to respond here or on linked in, or contact me and let me and we can set up a time to chat if necessary.  Thanks in advance,

Bridgette Mongeon

Also note: This section is just about burn out. I am also interested in other parts of 3D technology that are entering or may influence the traditional process of fine art bronze casting, such as what is mentioned in the American Article that I wrote for Sculpture Review in 2007. I’m going to hit up exone and Bob Wood again about printing the investment instead of the piece for investment. I’m wondering how that has changed over the last few years. The 3D printing in metal is discussed in another section.