Delta is a cool system for high speed pick and place on conveyor belts, but its a poor choice for 3 axis CNC machine. A linear XYZ give much better accuracy especially when real world objects benefit from having straight lines, and better still when those straight lines correspond directly with an XYZ axis.

Thats what I was thinking also, with that much speed, you would have to heat up the plastic pretty fast for the extruder to keep up with the motion, but then it could take time to cool down, and could cause warping, etc....

I think to simplify things, I will just make an extruder attachment for my CNC PCB mill/Drill, and see if I can do some Plastic 3D printing with it.... the Z axis travels up to 6" high and the bed is 12"(X)16"(Y), so I should not have any issue doing big pieces..... just need to make a new bed for it to "warm" the print to keep it from cooling too fast and warping, and an extruder to print with... (I am currently working on a Laser head for it for doing laser engraving and etching .)

 

I don't think that would describe plastic. Actually, you need something that melts neatly and pours out of the way.

Why I thought you made the wax mold from whatever means. Then you coated the wax in sand and some other silica. Then when you cured the mold the wax melted out of it, so when your actually pouring the metal its into a hollow mold with air holes.

 

wow, did not even think about this !! Can you believe what they are 3D printing nowadays>>> http://www.eetimes.com/electronics-...web/4394165/Today-s-special--3D-printed-meat-

 

Willy Wonka's gum seems more and more believable every day.

At least this stuff won't turn you into a blueberry! XD

 

wow, did not even think about this !! Can you believe what they are 3D printing nowadays>>> http://www.eetimes.com/electronics-...web/4394165/Today-s-special--3D-printed-meat-

Thats just dumb, I did see eatible stickers that their putting on hamburgers at stadiums now.

 

Food printing is definitely going to be part of the food industry, even if just for decorative things like sugar frosting on snacks etc. A lot of our foods are already extruded as paste.

 

Why I thought you made the wax mold from whatever means. Then you coated the wax in sand and some other silica. Then when you cured the mold the wax melted out of it, so when your actually pouring the metal its into a hollow mold with air holes.

During my apprenticeship, the company I worked for made modes for jet engine blades, for TRW. The molds were for a special wax, know as casting wax. The molds were made from aluminum, and the wax was injected into them much like a plastic injection machine.

The wax "model" needs to be oversize by a certain amount. The oversize allows for shrinkage of both the wax and the metal that replaces it in the final casting process.

Lost wax casting is used when precise dimensions are needed in the final part. The is another "loss" casting method, used for parts that get machined afterward. The cast iron engine castings for car engines is done by lost foam methods. A foam plastic is used instead of wax, but the foam "model" is also made in a mold. The model is the rammed into a sand mold, and the foam is melted out when the iron is poured into the sand mold. Unlike lost wax, which is removed before the metal is poured. The plastic vaporizes and is vented out during the casting.

 

Food printing is definitely going to be part of the food industry, even if just for decorative things like sugar frosting on snacks etc. A lot of our foods are already extruded as paste.

Just look now. You can already print cake frostings with photo's. And thats in almost every grocery store.

 

During my apprenticeship, the company I worked for made modes for jet engine blades, for TRW. The molds were for a special wax, know as casting wax. The molds were made from aluminum, and the wax was injected into them much like a plastic injection machine.

The wax "model" needs to be oversize by a certain amount. The oversize allows for shrinkage of both the wax and the metal that replaces it in the final casting process.

Lost wax casting is used when precise dimensions are needed in the final part. The is another "loss" casting method, used for parts that get machined afterward. The cast iron engine castings for car engines is done by lost foam methods. A foam plastic is used instead of wax, but the foam "model" is also made in a mold. The model is the rammed into a sand mold, and the foam is melted out when the iron is poured into the sand mold. Unlike lost wax, which is removed before the metal is poured. The plastic vaporizes and is vented out during the casting.

Yah cause of shrinkage of the metal coming down to temp. I'm not sure about alum. but I know lots of metals you just pour in from crusible. I imagine high grade mnf would have pressurized metals to pump into molds to produce faster. I'm just looking to do little prototype parts for RC scale stuff.

 

I'm just looking to do little prototype parts for RC scale stuff.

Depending on how big those parts are, you may want to consider centrifugal parts casting....

 

Hello,

Here are a couple of 3D links, software, machines and services:
https://tinkercad.com/
http://reprap.org/wiki/Main_Page
http://www.bitsfrombytes.com/
http://ultimaker.com/
http://www.3dsystems.com/
http://cubify.com/
http://www.shapeways.com/
http://i.materialise.com/
http://www.sculpteo.com/en/

Bertus

 

Thats what I was thinking also, with that much speed, you would have to heat up the plastic pretty fast for the extruder to keep up with the motion, but then it could take time to cool down, and could cause warping, etc....

I think to simplify things, I will just make an extruder attachment for my CNC PCB mill/Drill, and see if I can do some Plastic 3D printing with it.... the Z axis travels up to 6" high and the bed is 12"(X)16"(Y), so I should not have any issue doing big pieces..... just need to make a new bed for it to "warm" the print to keep it from cooling too fast and warping, and an extruder to print with... (I am currently working on a Laser head for it for doing laser engraving and etching .)

A guy on CNCZone.com is doing that. Building an extrusion head for his cnc mill.