3d-printed water-soluble molds for direct casting of low-melting point alloy
I've been experimenting with directly printing water-soluble molds for casting metal pieces, with some success. The mold is printed from PVA or other water-soluble filament, the molten metal is poured into the printed mold, and then the mold is dissolved away in hot water. This allows very complex shapes to be cast. I have uploaded some models for printing molds to my 3d printed molds for metal casting collection at printables.com, and there's some information on designing, printing, and pouring here.
It may seem surprising that you can make a metal casting using a plastic mold, but the metal used is a low-melting point alloy of tin and bismuth (essentially, a relative of pewter) that can be melted on a stove top or hot plate, and the metal cools quickly on contact with the mold before it has a chance to deform.
I'm interested to know whether anyone else has tried this. Also looking for suggestions for interesting models to cast this way.
Here's a picture of some things I've made this way. These models are variously unfinished, polished, copper-plated, nickel-plated, anodized, or chemically patinated.
