instructables
Casting Aluminium With Lost PLA Investment Mold
by Tailortech
I made a home made CNC with a spindle with
external Ø=65mm (Ebay link), and at that time I had
available a plastic bracket that I used to hold the
spindle on the machine. Right now I need more
rigidity, so I decided to make two brackets and mill
them to the spec.
So just to clarify, I could make the part directly on the
CNC (But, where is the fun of it?), so I decided to
make it by casting.
Precedents on aluminium casting:
Casting Aluminium With Lost PLA Investment Mold: Page 1
rel="nofollow">First plaster mold aluminium casting
video
First Lost PLA in plaster mold aluminium casting
video
This videos show the learning curve and the
improvements that I made on my process, and the
actual project will add even more improvements, I will
try to show you all the information that is relevant to
you don´t make the same mistakes that I had already
made.
Casting Aluminium With Lost PLA Investment Mold: Page 2
Step 1: Fusion 360 3D CAD Modeling

Since we have to begin somewhere, I decided to start So I made some sketch on paper to have an idea
with CAD modeling! what I will model, make sure you get your
dimensions, restrictions and ideas clear before start!
I started to use Fusion 360 as a hobbyist and I enjoy
it, they made lot of improvements last years. For the CAD model I made the sketch, extrude and
add the features that I need to connect to the

machine and to hold the spindle. After that I modeled
the sprue, runner and gates for the casting process.
Exported the 3D models to STL files to be able to use
them on Sli3r(or other Gcode generator). Just be
careful about export STL file quality, if your definitions
on are very rough the file will have a very low
definition.

Casting Aluminium With Lost PLA Investment Mold: Page 3

Step 2: 3D Printing

My printer was made in 2013, i used Slic3r since Bottom/Top/Vertical shells layers: 2
then, you may use your preferred G code generator.
Infill: 8% rectilinear
So at this point I used the follow setup to print PLA
(Ebay PLA link): Support material: Yes

Layer thickness: 0.25mm Extruder Temperature: 205ºC (use your best

temperature setting for PLA) Here you can see the Step 1 & 2 video:

Bed temperature: 60ºC (use your best temperature

setting for PLA)

https://www.youtube.com/embed/C3L2OKaxrOU
I printed two spindle brackets and one sprue&gating,
after that had join them together with some glue.(you
can other methods for joining, like hot glue, heating
both parts, ect.)

***Don´t forget to increase part size between 3-5%

due casting shrinkage.

Casting Aluminium With Lost PLA Investment Mold: Page 4

Casting Aluminium With Lost PLA Investment Mold: Page 5
Step 3: Plaster Mold Preparation

The preparation of plaster mold is the most critical Sand: 3kg

part of the process, mixing the components, drying
the plaster, burning the PLA, you can easily put your
work on the garbage. You should prepare you work
before start with plaster mixing.
For the plaster (Ebay example) I used more or less
1:1 water/plaster ratio and I added 2/3 of plaster
weight in sand to improve mechanical resistance after 1-2min to wet it with water.
drying the mold. If you use cold water the plaster
setting time will increase, I just cooled the 5L bottle You should mix the slurry during 2-3min slowly to
on the freezer until 5-8ºC.
You should calculate the total volume of plaster that
you need, in my case it was a box of
20*12*20cm=4800cm^3, you could use USG plaster
calculator to calculate how much plaster you need.
I used:
Water: 5L (cold water 8ºC)
Always put the water in first place, never the other
way, or you will get lot's of plaster agglomerates. You
could add the sand alone or pre-mixed with plaster, I
prefer to do it separate, so I add the sand to the water
and after that I add the plaster slowly to avoid
formation of agglomerates. After add the plaster wait
avoid air entrance, this is very important for your
casting details.
After that is time to pour the plaster slurry, just do it
slowly to avoid air bubbles. ***Tip: Fix your PLA part
somehow, the part will have lots of buoyancy (see the
video)
Let the plaster set for 20-30min, and here you have
the plaster mold!

Plaster: 4.5kg

Casting Aluminium With Lost PLA Investment Mold: Page 6

Step 4: PLA Burnout
This is the most important part of the process, fails
that you should expect that will ruin your casting:
-Cracks on the mold
-Broken mold
-PLA not fully burned
-Particles inside of the mold
How to avoid cracks and keep good mechanical
resistance on the mold:
Every plaster/water ratio will change this a little bit,
but you can see on the image above how I normally
do the mold drying and PLA burn out.
You should dry the water from the mold during 2-3h at
a temperature between 100-120ºC, this should be
Casting Aluminium With Lost PLA Investment Mold: Page 7
done slowly, if you increase the temperature too
much the water will be retained inside of the mold due
wall calcination.
After that the mold still contain residual water, this
water SHOULD BE REMOVED before casting or it
may lead in mold EXPLOSION during casting!!! So
to avoid that you should dry the mold during 2-3h at
200-240ºC
To burn the PLA from the mold you should heat the
PLA more than 400ºC, remember that plaster has a
very low thermal conductivity, so this process will
take a long time and is always better to let the mold
more hours in this step to assure that all the PLA was
burned out. I maintained the temperature at 500ºC
during 6h with forced air in to the mold, this worked
out form me.
Step 5: Aluminium Casting

This step I think that don´t need too many details, -When you start the pour, don't stop until the mold is
there are lot's of information about how you can melt filled.
the aluminium.

Just tree tips:

https://www.youtube.com/embed/TYHwJguXLYY
-Always use protection!

-Always melt more aluminium that what you need,

you don't want to ruin all the work on the last process!

Step 6: The Casting Result

I would say that the result was very good, the detail on the parts exceeded my expectation!

Anyway, there are a lack of feeding on the top of the parts, next time is good idea to implement some feeder.

You could see on the last image that the initial slug has been retained on the runner, this was done on purpose to
avoid the initial slug to get on the parts.

Casting Aluminium With Lost PLA Investment Mold: Page 8

Step 7: Bracket Milling With Fusion 360 & GRBL

The last spep was to mill the part to the spec, I didn't You can see the video here:
detailed the CAM process too much beacause this
was the first part that I milled in a CNC.

I used mainly a 6mm carbide tool (6mm Carbide from

https://www.youtube.com/embed/QxhSPz0AKqM
Ebay)

And used GRBLPanel to run the G-code

Casting Aluminium With Lost PLA Investment Mold: Page 9

Casting Aluminium With Lost PLA Investment Mold: Page 10
Step 8: Support TailorTech

I know this is the most inconvenient part, but I'm rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/user/laranja

trying to get my Youtube monetization back. s3

Don't worry, this will not make me rich but will get me What you could expect for next projects:
more motivated for new projects.
-Lithium battery tester
Target 1000 subscribers.
-DIY electric motorcycle with VFD (working on it ;) )
Please Subscribe to my Chanel to help me get the
next level! Youtube chanel: Thank you guys.

Fantastic! I'm very interested in replicating your oven. Can you give us more details about your fan
assisted burner ? (links to buy the same 30-40€ pieces would be great). It seems to be different
setups at 4:35 and 4:44.
Thank you.
Hello, I will try to create a simple Instructables about the Oven during next week!

Yes! Thanks again.

loved your airation holes! If you make this more a box mould with cover and give two inch height
above plaster and fit a nossle connector to a VERY -WEAK, vacumn cleaner, this should drawout
any air bubbles inside the plaster mould that would disrupt your perfect shape. (Circa- silicon
moulding techniques).
Regards Stephen Fitton.
Thank you for the tip!
I already made some research about it, In near future I will try to apply that technic!
Hello guys,
Just to update the status, I was milling the parts to finish the Instructable, but this come on my way.
So I will finish next week.

//www.youtube.com/embed/HhIX-PMxbrE

Is there some reason as to why you did a riser sprue instead of just a cupped sprue?

The gating system was inspired on casting books, if you feed the metal from the bottom to the top,
with controlled speed, the casting will have less chance of get bubbles inside or defects on
surface.
Ah, okay. Makes sense. We use a different process here at the university i’m Attending, but it
appears to yeild the same results. Superb instructable.

Casting Aluminium With Lost PLA Investment Mold: Page 11

What are you using for an oven? 500C is obviously too high for a standard kitchen oven! Seems
like the oven might be expensive, although a useful tool for a hobbyist to have. Appreciate any
advice you have on what oven to get, best place to buy one, how much I should plan on spending.
Thanks in advance!
Hello, this was an homemade hoven.
I used a old dishwasher, removed all the plastic parts, add some insulation to the walls and add a
fan assisted burner.
So I would say I spender 30-40€.
Now I'm trying to control it automatically with an Arduino.
Sounds like that would make an interesting instructable! Hint, hint ... :)
All right, I will keep that in mind! ;)

A small electric kiln (use for firing pottery) will work. I have one that accommodates about 7 by 8 by
8 inches that goes up to 2000 F, that I have used for mold burnout. (It can also be used for melting
aluminum.) It also has programable heat ramps and hold times which is very handy as per the
steps above. But it is small and I think it cost about $500. You would need something larger, and
they make them larger, but more expensive too.
A friend worked with a sculptor in carving and casting "Waiting for the Interurban" in Seattle; it was
carved in Styrofoam and cast in aluminum (you can see the styro bead-form when you look close).
I assume it was pretty much the same process

For lost foam process you may not use burnout,. You could cast directly over foam, but it will affect
mechanical strength and surface quality.
You can buy plaster made especially for foundry work. it incorporates glass fibers and such. It may
have slightly different composition as well. Adding sand may work nearly as well. But most DIY
pottery stores sell silica at differnt mesh sizes that would work better as it will adhere to the plater
better.
Thank you, I will make some research about it!

Darn, I got sidetracked on my previous post; I cast in glass and have been thinking about getting a
3d printer - I think this convinced me to invest in one.
Have you thought about using jewelry investment compound instead of plaster? It has the quartz
already added...try visiting riogrande.com. Did the PLA burn out completely?I would suggest a
process similar to jewelry making. Cast obect in silicone mold; fill mold with wax; cast wax in
plaster, etc.
Hi, I prefer to use plaster because for the detail I'm looking has a good cost/benefit ratio. I like to
keep the hobby low budget! ;)
Yes PLA burned out completely, at article below you can see that for temperature higher than
450ºC with proper air flow you can promote PLA combustion. That's why I used 500ºC.
https://www.researchgate.net/figure/45492906_fig2_...
LOL!! I wish i could keep mine cheap!Seems to act like some polyamides? they sublime.\ Thanks
for the idea...I did locate a wax print jewelry printer, but didn't look at price...
I have never cast anything but I have been interested in it for a long time. Would it not be better to

Casting Aluminium With Lost PLA Investment Mold: Page 12

cast your spindle supports in one piece that could be separated on a band saw possibly after some
or all of the machining is completed? You would cut out half of the setup time in the machine shop
and even make the casting big enough to cut three supports in case one was damaged or messed
up during machining.
That's a clever idea, that would help for the final assembly tolerances for sure!
In my case I will mill the part with the actual CNC, so I'm not able to mill very deep, that's the
reason why I did separated.
What the heck is PLA ?

PLA is a polymer that is widely used as 3d printer filament.

In future I pretend to try wax filament instead of PLA filament.
Why do you think wax is preferable over PLA?

Wax will melt at a much lower temperature and be more likely to clear out of the mold.
Exactly, with PLA the process of burnout will take much longer than wax.

PolyLactic Acid. It is a very common 3D printing material. It is biodegradable and has a relatively
low melting point. This makes it perfect for lost casting methods, for it melts quickly and does not
cause any environmental issues. As stated below, wax will work very well, as it melts at very low
temperatures, creating very good casts. Great question! I didn't know it was biodegradable, but
once you asked that question, it helped me to remember and learn more! Thanks!
Auntie Wikipedia has your answer: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polylactic_acid

What type of plaster are you using? We've tried to do this but even with a heating profile like the
one you suggest we usually get cracks.
thanks!
Hello, this is commercial plaster of paris. For my experience the cracks will come from the first
drying (around 100ºC), so if you are having problems try to dry the mold during 2-3h @lower
temperature like 80ºC.
One important thing about plaster drying is to have forced air around the mold. You could add
some holes on the mold (like I did) to improve venting.
Why can't you have this sintered?

Awesome! I have always thought that 3D printing would be great for investment casting but I never
had the equipment to try it out.
Thank you, I think the process may be even more optimized! Since we can print the part, feeder,
ect we can do parts that may be impossible to do with CNC milling!

Casting Aluminium With Lost PLA Investment Mold: Page 13