We have written several times about using 3D printing for investment casting, but we also see an increased use of our filaments for sand casting. It is a metal casting process where sand is being used as the mold material. With around 60% of all metal castings being made with sand casting, it is a very interesting technology for 3D printing.

Design by Slogaholik (Grabcad link)

The sand casting process employs techniques that produces shaped parts of nearly any design, including very large parts and those with internal passageways. The process is referred to as sand casting because the mold that contains the cavity into which metal is poured is made of compressed or compacted sand. The mold cavities and gate system are created by compacting the sand around models called patterns, by carving directly into the sand, or by 3D printing.

We have printed one halve of a pattern for the sand casting process, here using PLA Economy Silver on the Stacker S4 XL. The pattern is used to form the cavity in sand in which metal can be poured afterwards.

The total printing time was 4 days and we used 3.1kg of material for this print, using a 0.8mm nozzle, 0.16mm layer height and 13% infill every 2 layers.

ABOUT THE FILAMENT

PLA Economy offers a great value for your money. One spool consists of 2.2kg of filament for a dirt cheap price of a little over € 35 (ex VAT and shipping). It is a different grade than our range of PLA/PHA, but we guarantee the same colorFabb quality. Our filaments are readily available from our webshop. You can use the standard PLA settings if your printer has these pre-defined and these should work fine.

You can also opt for the PLA Economy Value Pack: order four spools as a value pack which lowers the costs per spool immediately.

Buy PLA Economy  Buy PLA Economy Value Pack

PLA Economy is very well suited for the maker who needs quality at an affordable price. It is a perfect filament for large volume and small series production, made with the guaranteed colorFabb quality that we are known for. It has been one of colorFabb’s most popular filaments ever since launching 3 years ago.

 

ABOUT STACKER 3D PRINTERS

The Stacker 3D printers are industrial grade FFF 3D printers. Recently the even larger Stacker S4 XL was added to the portfolio. Multiple print heads and a large build volume make them versatile printers. Small series production or large scale prototyping are no problem for the Stacker printers! This US based printer is very reliable and is a perfect match for any professional looking for serious 3D printing. You can find the full product specifications on our dedicated Stacker page.

For Stacker the term “industrial grade” is not a hollow marketing term. It means their printers are designed for extra long service life, extremely low maintenance and that the printer will maintain its positional accuracy throughout its life cycle. This printer has been designed to be used in a professional environment, be it for large prototypes or small series production.

The Stacker printers on display in our print lab

As many of you know, we are the distributor of Stacker 3D printers in Europe. We have been working with Stacker ever since their first prototype and now have several in our print lab. In the past 6 years we have seen 3D printing emerging from a hobby market to more professional uses. A lot of our users are using 3D printing to make a living or at least support their business in one way or another.

Interested? Get a quote or contact us!