WAX

Creating metal parts from wax-alike filaments provides an economically interesting alternative to the manufacturing of metal parts with 3D printing. It can be used to drastically reduce the time and cost of small series manufacturing of cast parts or to provide a proof of concept before manufacturing expensive casting tool molds. It enables to the creation of complex metal parts with complex geometry that wouldn't be possible to manufacture without 3D printing and without the need to buy or invest in an expensive metal 3D printer.

Wax (wax-alike) filaments are filaments designed to be used as models for lost wax casting (or investment casting). Wax filaments like PolyCast have a much cleaner burnout when used for lost wax casting compared to plastic filaments. Wax filaments have generally better postprocessing properties, meaning that it is also easier to polish, machine, and carve, making them much more appropriate for lost wax casting with regular plastic filaments.

It is important to remember that although those filaments are in the wax category, there are not necessarily made from natural or synthetic wax.

Please keep in mind that the result will by 95% rely on your foundry partner. Each foundry uses its own technological process which may vary across foundries. Some foundries use standard natural wax, other synthetic wax, and some even some other wax-alike materials. One of the most crucial parts of the process of manufacturing cast parts with the lost-wax method is the burnout phase. Depending on the commonly used wax by your foundry, the burnout process may vary thus leading to different results across foundries using the same wax-alike filament. 

The main purpose of wax-alike filaments is to ensure the cleanest and purest possible burnout of the printed model leaving as less ash and impurities as possible in the mold.

Our experience

As mentioned before, our experience may vary from yours, mostly dependent on the burnout method used by your foundry.

We have personally tried two types of wax-like filament and also regular PLA for lost wax casting: PolyCast and Moldlay. 

• With regular PLA, the ash remaining after burning out the PLA caused impurities in the mold and thus an uneven and imperfect metal part.
• With Moldlay we, unfortunately, didn't manage to obtain satisfying results at all. That doesn't necessarily mean that this is a bad filament, and we do not want in any case to harm the brand of Moldlay. 
• We obtained the best results with the PolyCast filament. Apart from a very clean burnout, PolyCast has the ability to be very easily smoothed with isopropyl alcohol after printing thus giving the mold and the final metal part a layer-free finish.

Browse all wax filaments in stock in our warehouse in Senec, Slovakia. For comparison, see also PLA and PVB.