Kai Parthy MOLDLAY Filament - 1.75mm (0.75 kg)

Please email your request to sales@matterhackers.com and we can definitely guide you in the right direction!

Figure about 1.2 grams per cubic centimeter.

I have to agree with Devwolf. Exotic materials require you to use your brain. Any material that is NOT pla or abs CANNOT be exactly ran like pla or abs. You might have to deal with things that come up that you do not see when running these materials. You might have to fine tune your process. You might have to modify your extruder if you have issues running softer materials. Just because it isn't plug and play is not a fault of the filament manufacturer. If you are working with these materials, you at a bare minimum should be able to figure out HOW to run it. That is like being mad at a tpe filament not running properly in your Bowden extruder with a 10' long, oversized feed tube.

If it doesn't run correctly, figure out WHY or have someone hold your hand and do it for you. If ALL parameters are exhausted and a physical defect is noted in the material, THEN it is the fault of the manufacturer. If you want plug and play, sell your printer and take up something different like coloring books.

Why should the consumer be at fault, if the filament can not easily be replaced or used then that can’t be the fault of the consumer. If a product is inconvenient to use or makes printing more difficult then that’s something that needs to be brought to the attention of the producer. Try helping people instead of berating people for trying to use a product.

Well said sir

Devwolf and "Guest that is not a Doofus” are one and the same person.

Mold releases do help a lot in not sticking. Typically we have used Smooth-On Mann Ease Release 200 for urethanes.

Please use a filament drying system such as a PrintDry to dry your filament after it has been exposed to moisture in the air.

Are you suggesting that moisture is making the filament brittle or just generally suggesting that drying can't hurt?
I "annealed" the filament at 170 deg F for about 15 minutes, and that did seem to significantly help the embrittlement.

For sure take the advice and dry it. While I'm sure 15 minutes helped, 1-6 hours is what you should be aiming for. Most printer filament will absorb moisture and spoil the desired printing properties.

I bought this filament and it was brittle straight out of the sealed packet. I have dried & annealed it and still no difference. Its now been in a dry bag at 10%RH for months and is still brittle. The only way I reckon Im going to be able to print with it will be to preheat it somehow so it is pliable enough.

If attempting to melt it back out of the mold, 270 degrees Celsius = 518 Fahrenheit. The extruder temp of 180 Celsius is itself hotter than 270 Fahrenheit. Try setting your oven to 520 to 540 Fahrenheit to remove the plastic from the mold.

Hi @Guest!

270C should do the trick

Are you certain you don't mean 270* F?

Perhaps I misunderstood, the Mold needs to be treated at the 270C but can be printed at 170-180 C according to the manufacturer.

Hi @Printhead!

Yup!

I think you're asking if it can be used in a lost "foam" sand casting. No! It CAN be used in a lost WAX casting method with a plaster mold, after burnout in an oven/kiln.

Hi @Guest!

Yup!

Not exactly. It is close to PLA, but has a lower printing temperature. Settings at 180C on the hotend and a bed temperature at 40C should suffice. Also, not all PLAs are good molding materials.

Moldlay doesn't burn as easily, so it leaves very little ash. Also, it is thinner when melted. This means it will run out better and leave very little residue.

It is A LOT easier to sand and process before casting. You can print a part and smooth it out with some sanding much easier than PLA. I've had good success smoothing prints out by wet sanding with acetone. The positives aren't perfect, but this is preferable to sanding after casting - metal is, after all, harder to file and sand than the soft Moldlay material.
The foundry I use can autoclave and burn out PLA and Moldlay. It fits into their normal workflow fairly easily. They have also processed materials that required 'burning out' - the casting materials from SLA prints. The SLA prints are of a very high resolution, but the burnout process is time consuming and prone to some errors ( cracked shells need repair) so the surface quality has not been as high as the prints. Fundamentaly you need to find somebody who knows how to process the parts you give them or have them develop a process for you.

@Guest In order to answer your question in detail, please submit your question via support@matterhackers.com.

@Richard Eagles Yes.

270C should do the trick for investment casting.

Under-extrusion, probably to do with speed and temperature. Suggest bumping up the temp and/or slowing down the speed.

It might be possible to pour the molten metal directly in as you describe, but we haven't specifically tried. Melting it out works for sure.

You don't want to pour molten metal on wax or any other flameable material in a mold. The wax will vaporize creating pressure that will throw the molten metal back out of the mold causing serious injury to you and those around you.
In lost wax casting all of the wax is burned out of the ceramic (investment)mold before metal is poured in. Sand casting is different proce

Sand casing is a different process in which the foundry sand is packed around a positive model of the part you want cast in metal. Usually in two half's. The model is then removed from the sand mold before the metal part is cast. Just about any rigid material will work to build the pattern for sand casting.

We like using BJB silicone since they're a local company, but there are many other silicone companies out there. The other most common would be Smooth-On products.

As with any filament, the capabilities of the printer must be able to match the requirements for printing the filament. In this case, MOLDLAY prints at 170-180C, so as long as the printer can get that hot, you will be able to print it with that printer.

We don't have any general advice to offer for making molds, unfortunately, but if you have specific questions, you can email support@matterhackers.com and we'll do our best to assist.

Besides sanding, I am not aware of anything at this time.

Take a look at Rio Grande Jewelry catalog. If mold lay is primarily was, they offer a chemical that smooths out lines in was.

Moldlay filament is used only once for each mold. MatterHackers sells and ships to Australia.

To receive an MSDS, make a request through support@matterhackers.com and the MSDS will be provided. It is recommended that during burn out that you keep the room ventilated and stay clear of the kiln once it heats over 500C.

It should perform well with a Bowden extruder configuration if you use a slower print speed. Also make sure to load the filament at a slow rate so that it does not catch along the Bowden and PTFE tubing.

In order to calculate length, the density of the material is required, but unfortunately that data hasn't been made available by the manufacturer. We will reach out to Kai again and see if we can get this information.

I don't see any reason why not.

Agreed. I have been working and running bronze casting foundries for two decades. Cement as a mold material for casting is never a good idea.

Agreed. I have been working and running bronze casting foundries for two decades. Cement as a mold material for casting is never a good idea.

We haven't tried it with dual extruder support material, but PVA would likely have the best chance of success.