SLS wax printer
This page is a under construction. I will be transplanting content from www.andreasbastian.com/3dp/3dp.html to this wiki over the next week or so. I built a SLS 3D printer that prints objects in a wax and carbon mixture that can be used as positive models for the lost wax casting process.
Release status: Experimental
| Description | This is a prototype SLS system that prints in a wax and carbon mixture for use in lost-wax casting.
|
| License | GPL
|
| Author | |
| Contributors | |
| Based-on | |
| Categories | Toolheads, Powder Printers, Wax printing, Laser Printing
|
| CAD Models | |
| External Link |
Contents
Introduction
The Reprap and other FDM printers that fabricate in PLA and ABS are restricted both by the limitations inherent in these materials and by the limitations of the FDM process. Though these printers are entirely capable of self-replication and of producing parts for a variety of light-duty applications, they cannot produce pieces that can replace the cast aluminum parts found in power machinery, CNC equipment, or in numerous other high-strength applications. To address the problem of rapid fabrication in metal, I sidestepped plasma jets, electric arcs, and high-power lasers by opting instead to employ the lost-wax casting technique coupled with a relatively low-power laser sintering system.
A complete report on the project with more technical details can be found here.
Process Overview
The SLS process can be described with the following graphic:
(a) An object (dark gray) is being printed and is ready for the next layer.
(b) The print piston descends an incremental amount and new powder is deposited in a thin layer over the solid object.
(c) A laser is translated over the freshly spread powder layer and melts the powder to the object beneath.
(d) The layer is finished and the process is ready to repeat until the object is completed.
Hardware
XY Translator
Laser Shutter Mechanism
Powder Distribution Mechanism
Software
Electronics
Lost Wax Casting
Videos
<videoflash type="vimeo">29566951</videoflash> <videoflash type="vimeo">29564093</videoflash> <videoflash type="vimeo">29560030</videoflash> <videoflash type="vimeo">34234394</videoflash>
