PLA vs Poly Cast: Which is better for casting metal. 

Thank you for that advice. And you have a good eye, you’re right I didn’t de gas the investment before pouring it. That may be a good for me to add though.

That’s good to know thanks!

Yeah, you might be right, I think I need a resin printer. I’m just not excited about dealing with the resin. Seems like a mess.

The two coolest DIY metal casters on RU-vid -NICE! I think maybe VogMan uses resin and gets very good Smaller castings. Years ago, I always sprayed my patterns with auto body primer, then sanded, sprayed, repeat, until I got a mirror finish but most of my patterns were simpler, easier to sand. Lately I have not been able to find a primer that sands as nicely as they once did? Though sanding takes time it is definitely worth it if you want a pattern that will yield many castings, such as an Abe Lincoln master pattern. Very informative and interesting review of Poly Cast that I'm sure will yield many more masterpieces - well done!@@lundgrenbronzestudios

@@lundgrenbronzestudios I likewise suggest jumping to resin printers but... Only print in regular resins.. Make teh models as a shell mould. That way you can pour in your wax, then split the mould to get a pretty clean wax to cast that can be chased pre investment ;) Or regular resin, then make a multipart silicone or gelcoat resin shell from that. But no real reson to be so advanced unless it's a mega complex piece that just printing a thin shell to pour the wax into won't work just fine for :) I use castable resins, namely Siraya Cast Purple, Siraya Cast True Blue and Bluecast X-One. But typically for one offs and stuff that's too complex to even want to think about moulding for mass production. Otherwise, I'll print a master then make a mould from it, sometimes print the shell. For me I prefer silicone and gelcoat/resins etc to make a mould from a master print, but that's just cos I like making mess and wasting money when I don't need too lol Bad habits for the win! xD

The stuff left from the PLA is pigment. Use clear/natural PLA and it will burn completely.

That sounds like a good idea. I don’t know a whole lot about patinas.

I was amazed how many patina are available. I wish they showed you what each one looked like before you make the purchase.

I’ve been thinking of getting a resin printer and trying castable resin.

You’ve got the lost PLA casting down to a science. I don’t find it as easy to print with either. So I think I’ll only use it for some projects.

Yeah that’s might be a good option to try. I never thought about using a vacuum.

I’m not sure what you’re going for but it is about as strong as PLA from what I can tell. It feels the same to me.

@@lundgrenbronzestudiosThank you I was hoping that this stuff would be strong enough to hold its shape but easy enough to break apart and extract out of a molded object

Lancaster foundry in Pennsylvania.

I get my ingots from Lancaster foundry

Yes I did both of them at the same temperature. The kiln holds at about 1,100-1,200°F and that’s where I hold it for about 10ish hours. However I don’t hold to a strict schedule on my burn outs and maybe I should.

@@lundgrenbronzestudios You would think that 10 hours at 1200F would do it. I know that much higher than that for standard investment is a problem. The specs I came across for PC say 1650F/900C which is fine for shells, as that is the temp I vitrify my shells at. My typical burnout is to get it to 1650 quickly then hold for 20-30 min. Your video reminds me that I need to finish up my Polycast experiments and do a video.

Yep. I just use the silicone calk each time.

Why don't you 3d print a gasket with tpu? @@lundgrenbronzestudios

It’s about 1,100°F for 10 hours.

Be worth some experimenting.

I just got a resin printer and have some videos in the works.

Works with ABS, not with PLA I'm told.

Or it’s time to go to a resin printer.

The Yoda isn’t the only example. And it’s not the only metal I’ve used. It works better to blow out the mold.

I had the same thing happen.

I don’t think regular people print with metal filament. Those are incredibly expensive specialist type machines.

@@lundgrenbronzestudios Are you kidding? There are a few makers of Metal filled filament mixed with PLA. one maker is protopasta , another is Bronze Filamet™ You don't need any specialized 3D Printer, but it does require filawarmer to help get the filament to and pass through the extruder. Virtual Foundry has helpful instructions.

@@GameArtsCafe oh ok. that’s still plastic filament. It just has metal in it. I thought you were talking about metal 3D printing which is a whole other thing. No I have never tried using this type of filament.

@@lundgrenbronzestudios with the metal filament method, you sinter it to burn off the plastic to get 100% metal end product. I suspect you'd have to pack it in sand, maybe with pressure to maintain shape. I'm working towards setting this all up. Just got a kiln, and a k1 max printer but i need a few more supplies/tools. I thought you might have tried this and I wanted to know what you'd prefer between the methods.

@@GameArtsCafe interesting. You should send me a picture of how it works for you. I’d be interested in seeing the end results.

😆 I think I’m just going to get a resin printer come Black Friday.

Hmmm. Interesting method. Hope it works out.

It worked. I’ll post a community post or what ever they’re called.

So what’s your initial opinion of it? You think you will like using it?

@@lundgrenbronzestudiosNot sure yet… Im going to try some more prints tonight with your 205 deg suggestion wish me luck!

Because not everyone has a resin printer.

By washing up liquid, do you mean dish soap? Like dawn dish soap?

yes liguid most shops well do and when u por in to your ivestment por it like your drinking a can of soder you get les bubbels think your temp is rong i do 4 hours at 170 then over 3 hours to 750 for 4 hours .but saying that i did a fast bern out and didt have as meny lines in the cast but still getting blisters may be doing a cast with a big opening to see in side as to why its doing it @@lundgrenbronzestudios

Ok.

Do they make a resin for metal casting?

I use Siraya Tech Cast 3D Printer Resin purple. The purple was made for beginners not sure what that means, it’s easy to add wax to the prints but you can’t melt away stuff. It sands an files great. The True Blue I think acts more like wax and it’s what most jewelry guys use. The RU-vidr VOG man has a bunch of reviews and how twos. BTW I got the Lincoln bust yesterday and I LOVE IT, thanks!

You apparently haven’t watch many videos of creators saying “hey this company sent me this stuff but trust me anyway”.

​@@lundgrenbronzestudiosI haven't seen any of your other videos, so I'm with the original comment

Guess I can at least trust this video lmao

😆

No. Not at all what that means. I used the word “brutally honest” not “totally honest”, I said nothing that would indicate I would be anything other completely honest, but whatever. Please do not subscribe.

Pretty sure the very first thing you said was “I emailed Polycast to see if they wanted to sponsor this video, they didn’t respond, so this is going to be a brutally honest review” that’s exactly what that sounds like.

@@avgjoeshow4208 yes and maybe English is not your first language but you should look up the meaning of brutal. It does not have anything to do with honesty or not. I would never be anything but honest and I only said that to highlight the honesty of my review. But again, please do not subscribe to my channel.

It’s called a joke