Have you ever played with Rose’s metal? It is a fusible alloy of bismuth, lead and tin with a low melting point of about 100°C. Traditionally, it was used as a solder for cast iron railings and the like, and as a malleable pipe filler to prevent shrinkage while a pipe is being bent.
[Ben Healey] has played with Rose’s metal and some PETG printed molds, creating everything from Star Wars Imperial credits to chess pieces to leather stamping tools. In the video after the break, [Ben] takes us through the process, starting with making molds from STLs – something he picked up from another YouTuber.
He recommends adding registration marks to multi-part molds to keep everything aligned, and adding a small cutout in the seam for easy separation with a flat head screwdriver. Until now, however, the molds have sustained several castings [Ben] printed them rather thickly and is glad he did.
As for making liquid metal, [Ben] used a cast iron pot with a handy pour spout and a blowtorch. He added graphite powder to the molds in an effort to make it easier to dispose of the goods. To finish the pieces, [Ben] cut the flashing with tin scissors and used sandpaper and a Dremel to smooth the edges. Didn’t sell, but [Ben] is going to give it another try because he thinks he messed up something in the process. He’s also going to try printing with TPU, which we just wanted to recommend for its flexibility.
There are many ways to cast metal at (relatively) cheap. Have you considered kinetic sand?
This post 3D Printed Molds for Casting Rose’s Metal
was original published at “https://hackaday.com/2022/03/17/3d-printed-molds-for-casting-roses-metal/”
