I've been designing and printing 'enameled' pins on my 3d printer for a bit and recently picked up the stuff to actually cast them out of metal. So far I've casted one, and it actually turned out, so I'll probably be making some more this week!

[–] m0darn@lemmy.ca 2 points 3 months ago (1 children)

What sort of metal did you use? I have some pins I need duplicated, and have toyed with the idea of doing it myself

[–] Ahardyfellow@lemmynsfw.com 2 points 3 months ago (1 children)

I've been using bismuth because of the low melting point (no need for a furnace) . I just picked up some used kitchenware so I could melt it on the stove top.

Pewter apparently has a pretty low melting point too, so that could be an option as well.

[–] m0darn@lemmy.ca 1 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Was the picture an open mold that you printed?

[–] Ahardyfellow@lemmynsfw.com 1 points 3 months ago (1 children)

The picture is of the 'finished' pin, I'd still like to refine the process a bit.

The general process I follow is:

print the pin
use a casting sand like petrobond and fill a metal container
talcum power the printed pin
press the pin into the casting sand to make the void for casting
heat up the bismuth until it is liquid
heat up the actual pin (looks like a thumbtack)
pour the molten bismuth into the void, and quickly put the actual pin piece in the molten bismuth, if it's not hot enough the bismuth will cool and the pin won't sink in
wait for it to cool (about a minute) then pull the pin out with some pliers (it's still hot so you don't want to touch it at that point)
take a dremel to any flashing that occurred
paint as required (I'm just using nail polish right now since it's pretty durable)

Hopefully that helps! If you have any other questions I'd be happy to answer them :)

[–] m0darn@lemmy.ca 1 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Great description. I'm thinking I'll use some of that expensive castable silicone to make a reusable mold for pewter... or outsource the work to a professional.

It's a hat badge for the marching band I play in.

[–] Ahardyfellow@lemmynsfw.com 1 points 3 months ago

That's sounds rad! You should post some pics on here if you do end up doing it! Totally understandable if you didn't want the trouble tho!

[–] Servais@discuss.tchncs.de 2 points 3 months ago

Neat!