Apple and Autodesk Patent Color 3D Printing (Apple patents liquid metal casting also)

OMG NOOOOO ... Apple files a patent for a 3d printer that prints colored objects with color being applied by separate nozzle. Maybe it's a tipe of defensive patenting or some corporate IP strategy. I hope they develop it and make it cool, but after Apple Pen fiasco I'm not getting my hopes up ...

Patent page:

LINK

PS: I am really not an Apple fan ...

Update (21.2.2016.)

Autodesk has patented color 3d printing also. Maybe it is the beginning of color patent wars.

http://3dprint.com/74984/autodesk-patent-multi-color/

Update (19.3.2016.):

Apple has filed for a new patent connected to 3d printing and molding technologies:

Apple’s patent application covers a method for 3D printing investment molds to be filled with molten amorphous alloy. These alloys are configured to form a bulk metallic glass (BMG) on cooling. BMGs, (also known as Bulk Amporhous Alloys) are a new class of metallic alloys that are extremely strong, with superior elastic strain limits and resistance under shock impact. They are therefore ideal for the manufacturing of electronic device housings and cases.

Here is a patent page: LINK

Looks like Apple is going into transformable and liquid metals!!! Remember Terminator ...

Source and ore info:

http://www.3ders.org/articles/20160310-apple-files-patent-application-for-3d-printing-investment-molds.html

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MOLDLAY filament for DIY lost wax casting with 3d printed objects

Kai Parthy, well known filament material developer, has a new product named MOLDLAY which is a thermoplastic filament with properties similar to wax. It can be used for two casting techniques: lost mold (lost wax casting) or permanent mold casting.
Lost PLA casting is well known method and you can  use microwave oven lost PLA casting, but MOLDLAY can be melted in a common baking oven due to its low melting point and wax like properties.

Here are the key features and technical data:

• superior dimensional stability
• tiff, rigid at room temperature
• near zero warp
• printable without heated bed
• print at 170 – 180° C,
• heated bed max. 40°C,
• melting temperature ~ 270°C 
• the molten wax flows freely out the mold, similar to liquid paraffin
• price: unknown
• contact for dealers: kp@cc-products.de

Here is a video showing the entire process of lost wax casting with MOLDLAY:

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Using home microwave for lost PLA 3d printed aluminum parts

Lost PLA is method used to produce cement molds for metal casting and it is used mostly with molten aluminum. Desired object is 3d printed in PLA, cast is made around it and the PLA is melted away. The mold is then used for metal casting. Entire process is usually done with a propane gas powered kiln or smelter, and this project used home microwave oven.

The process is simple but you will need to take safety seriously. Object 3d printed in PLA is coated with susceptor that transforms microwaves into heat. Susceptor is made from mixture of silicon carbide, sugar, water, and alcohol. The part is then placed in a mold made of plaster of paris with perlite and heated in an unmodified household microwave to burn out the PLA.
A second microwave with a top emitter is used to melt aluminum, which is then poured into the prepared mold. When the metal cools down, the mold is broken to take out the metal part for post-processing

From project description:

Our system uses consumer microwave units to perform burn-out of PLA from molds, and a second microwave to liquify aluminium, to be poured into the mold. 3d printer inspired mechanics will move the aluminium from the microwave, into the target mold under human control across the network, so that there is no risk to the person operating the machine.

What is working and what we're working towards:

What works now is that we are able to successfully melt aluminum inside a microwave and supply our molds to get fine quality crafted aluminium parts.
The vision is to automate the process and build machines so that the system can be remotely run by a human being safely from their terminal.
Automation will be as simple as two to three machines powered by arduino with minimum axes.

One machine will be a forklift to pickup the item and deposit it safely onto a pair of fire bricks. One is a crane to pickup the top from the kiln, and one is a combination of forklift and a x,y table. This will pickup the cup, place over target, and pour through a heated steel funnel into the mold.

Ideally, we see an operator walking to the machine, starting the microwave on the mold & aluminium. When notified the machine is done, the operator can use gloves to pickup and bury the mold in sand, then walk back to their workstation, and pour the aluminum remotely. This will reduce the risk of injury to an operator to near 0, and not require any dangerous gasses to perform the melt.
All of the software will be released under the GNU GPL V3 as the project advances, with the hardware designs released under the TAPR OHL.

Detailed project page and build log on hackaday.io:

http://hackaday.io/project/2434-microwave-aluminium-printing

Project homepage:

http://fosscar.faikvm.com/trac/wiki/LostPLA


UPDATE:

Here is very detailed video presentation by Julia Longtin on Chaos Computer Club 31th Chaos Communication Congress. It is a great how-to guide on casting high quality 6040 aluminum pieces using a 3D printer and commercially available consumer microwaves



Here is a more detailed guide on how to make and use microwave oven DIY smelter for silver or tin solder:

http://www.instructables.com/id/microwave-smelter/?ALLSTEPS





Here is a different approach to melting aluminum in a microwave oven:

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More bronze objects made with lost PLA casting method

More lost PLA casting technique pictures. Seems like  people are using it more and more to make unique metal pieces. Results in bronze seem to be very good.




I found it on Reddit published by use milkshakeconspiracy

http://www.reddit.com/r/3Dprinting/comments/27m4mn/random_lostpla_castings_i_have_been_working_on/

his previous work with build log can be found here:

http://diy3dprinting.blogspot.com/2014/04/photo-buildlog-on-how-to-cast-metal.html

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DIY electric coffee maker and cold brew machine made with help of 3d printing

Here is a cool DIY project that guides you step-by-step in making your own fully functional electric coffee maker. I LOVE COFFEE!

It uses 3d printed parts as external structure and for lost PLA casting of aluminum parts. Hey, no one said it will be easy: if you want to do it yourself you will need to melt and cast aluminum. Stay safe kids.

Detailed instructions how to put it together are at:

http://www.instructables.com/id/Electric-Coffee-Maker/?ALLSTEPS

All the files can be found at:

http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:348199


To learn more about lost PLA aluminum casting take a look at:

http://diy3dprinting.blogspot.com/2014/04/photo-buildlog-on-how-to-cast-metal.html

Detailed video guide: http://diy3dprinting.blogspot.com/2013/05/3d-printing-and-metal-casting-tutorial.html


You can also make a much simpler non.electric drip cold brew setup developed by Jonathan Odom:

Here is the guide for DIY cold brew coffee maker:

http://makezine.com/2015/07/27/3d-print-elegant-cold-brew-coffee-maker/

http://www.instructables.com/id/Coffee-Cold-Brewer/?ALLSTEPS

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Photo buildlog on how to cast metal with lost-PLA method

Here is detailed step-by-step buildlog or photo guide of how to cast metal (bronze) jewelry into mold produced with lost-PLA casting method. It goes from design to final product stage. Object is 3d printed and used in mold making by melting away the plastic with high temperature.

Finished bronze pendant 

Source: http://imgur.com/a/7K870

Reddit thread by its creator about it with more details:

http://www.reddit.com/r/3Dprinting/comments/22osqr/my_first_lostpla_casting_with_lots_of_pictures/


Here is very detailed video tutorial about same casting method for larger objects in aluminum:

http://diy3dprinting.blogspot.com/2013/05/3d-printing-and-metal-casting-tutorial.html

Update:

You can see more objects made by same maker here:  http://diy3dprinting.blogspot.com/2014/06/more-bronze-objects-made-with-lost-pla.html

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