# 3D Printed Patterns



## Mike N (Mar 10, 2019)

I have played around with printing sand casting patterns.  I use Fusion 360 to draw the 3D models.  I have a Lulzbot Mini 2 printer.  I am waiting for warmer weather to fire up the foundry & pour some wheels.


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## canadianhorsepower (Mar 10, 2019)

Mike N said:


> I have played around with printing sand casting patterns.  I use Fusion 360 to draw the 3D models.  I have a Lulzbot Mini 2 printer.  I am waiting for warmer weather to fire up the foundry & pour some wheels.View attachment 107964
> View attachment 107966


will the wheels be heavy enough ??


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## bmac2 (Mar 10, 2019)

Mike those patterns look good. Being able to print patterns is one of the things that got me started towards my printer build. I wouldn’t worry about the weight of the casting you can always add plugs or a steel rim or a lead rim like myfordboy.


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## Mike N (Mar 10, 2019)

I do shrink fit steel rims to my wheels.   I found some schedule 80 pipe.  The wheels in my post are only 3 1/2" dia. I plan to use them on my engine cart for a Perkins engine under construction.  I like the cart wheels to match the engine flywheels.


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## Mike N (Mar 30, 2019)

Mike N said:


> I have played around with printing sand casting patterns.  I use Fusion 360 to draw the 3D models.  I have a Lulzbot Mini 2 printer.  I am waiting for warmer weather to fire up the foundry & pour some wheels.View attachment 107964
> View attachment 107966


Finally got around to pouring my wheels today.


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## Mike N (Mar 30, 2019)

Mike N said:


> Finally got around to pouring my wheels today.View attachment 108450
> View attachment 108451


Cleaned up nice.


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## Ozwes007 (Jul 28, 2019)

Very nice. Did you allow for shrinkage? If so was it the standard 2%? I’m asking as I’m thinking of using 3d printed wax to cast some aluminium parts, and would like to know if the standard seems to work and is reasonably accurate to dimensions.


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## stragenmitsuko (Jul 28, 2019)

Very good result ! Impressive 

What source of ali did you use ? 
I'm getting very good results with scuba tanks or co2 fire extinguishers as a source . 
Alloy wheels also seem to pour very wel 

I'm still using wooden patterns . Wish I could work with (con)fusion 360.


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## Shopgeezer (Jul 28, 2019)

I hoped to give Fusion 360 a go and watched the intro videos. It wasn’t too long before I decided I wasn’t young enough to tackle learning it. I’m used to Sketchup and  Fusion 360 seems to use an unnecessarily complicated way of creating sketches and building the model. Much easier in Sketchup. One thing I like is the free version of Fusion for hobbyists. Very decent of them. Sketchup used to be free but when Trimble bought them that went away. They don’t support the free version now. I’ll be using my copy of 2017 Make forever. It works great for 3D printing.


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## stragenmitsuko (Jul 28, 2019)

I've been an autocad r12-dos , yes dos  user for 20 years or until I couldn't get it to run anymore on an I5 computer . 
So I learned draftsight . Easy and much ressemblance to R12 and free for hobby users . 
But draftsight will turn into is randsomware by the end of the year , so who knows I just migt give fusion 360 a go . 
Sorry for the OT


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## Ironmanaz (Jul 28, 2019)

I started on r12 dos!  I've been on r 2000  since,running in Linux Wine.  I'm looking into 360, but I haven't found the hardware requirements on the
website yet.   Nice casting!


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## Mike N (Jul 28, 2019)

I also use AutoCad alot.  I sometimes draw my complex parts in AutoCad then import a dxf file  into Fusion 360 & then just extrude things to get a 3d model.  Although I am getting a lot better now with Fusion 360 starting from scratch.


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## Mike N (Jul 28, 2019)

More photos


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## RM-MN (Jul 29, 2019)

stragenmitsuko said:


> I've been an autocad r12-dos , yes dos  user for 20 years or until I couldn't get it to run anymore on an I5 computer .
> So I learned draftsight . Easy and much ressemblance to R12 and free for hobby users .
> But draftsight will turn into is randsomware by the end of the year , so who knows I just migt give fusion 360 a go .
> Sorry for the OT



I've been using Fusion 360 but it required a 64 bit OS which meant Windows 10 for me.  I hate Windows 10.  Then I saw a Youtube on Designspark and it will work on a 32 bit OS which would let me go back to Window 7 that I have installed as a 32 bit.  The video makes it look good.  

https://www.rs-online.com/designspark/mechanical-download-and-installation


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## ddmckee54 (Jul 30, 2019)

I've been using DesignSpark for a few years.  It's OK, but there are times when it leaves a lot to be desired.  If it were me - I'd stick with the Fusion 360, it's got a lot of more powerful tools built into it than DesignSpark does.  You can do things elegantly in Fusion, where you need to use brute force in DesignSpark.   There are also a lot more tutorials available for learning Fusion than there are for DesignSpark.

I'm with you on your dislike for Windows 10, it just seems like it "phones home" to Microsoft way too much to suit me.  If it helps any, I've got Fusion 360 running on Windows 8.1.

DesignSpark is still my "go to" 3D CAD package, I just haven't been able to devote the time to get proficient in Fusion.  I can get around in it, and do really simple stuff, but going beyond that is still out of my reach.

Don


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## Mike N (Sep 30, 2019)

Mike N said:


> More photosView attachment 110460
> View attachment 110461
> View attachment 110462
> View attachment 110463
> View attachment 110464


After fighting with my new larger 3d printer I finally made a large set of patterns for a 8" flywheel.  A light sanding & install the alignment pins & I'm ready to pour some red brass.  My new printer is a Zortrax M200 8" X 8" X 8.5" build volume.


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## Shopgeezer (Oct 1, 2019)

Very nice. What nozzle size and line height did you use?  How are going to melt out the plastic? Or are you sand casting?


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## Mike N (Oct 1, 2019)

I am sand casting.
The nozzle size is .4mm
Line height, I don't know.
Added a gate & runner.





Shopgeezer said:


> Very nice. What nozzle size and line height did you use?  How are going to melt out the plastic? Or are you sand casting?


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## tjwal (Oct 2, 2019)

Mike N said:


> After fighting with my new larger 3d printer I finally made a large set of patterns for a 8" flywheel.  A light sanding & install the alignment pins & I'm ready to pour some red brass.  My new printer is a Zortrax M200 8" X 8" X 8.5" build volume.  View attachment 111449
> View attachment 111450


Very nice!  I made a similar wood pattern and it took a LOT of work and is far from perfect.  I’m planning on doing a 3D printed one.  I will have to do it in segments due to the size of my printer.
Any tips on smoothing the print so it pulls from the sand?
Thanks John


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## steveastrouk (Oct 3, 2019)

In the back yard, some way from anything inflammable, put a glass tank on a hot(warm) plate, and pour 1/4" of acetone in. Heat VERY gently for a couple of minutes. The acetone vapour will displace the air, and you will have a saturated solvent vapour in the tank. Lower your part into the warm vapours for 15 seconds at a time, and observe the effect on the part. Eventually (and I assume you're using ABS, not nylon) the surface will melt back slightly, and the part will become polished.


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## awake (Oct 3, 2019)

If you are doing ABS, the acetone vapor smoothing works well. Unfortunately, it won't do a thing for PLA - for that you'll have to use sanding (or a filling primer plus sanding) to get a smooth surface. Myfordboy has demonstrated a number of successful PLA patterns in some of his casting videos.


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## steveastrouk (Oct 3, 2019)

You could also try Dichloromethane - paint stripper - but absolutely you must use appropriate PPE.


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