Last time I showed four steps and managed to cast the mould. Now I will continue and hopefully finalize the signs if my castings are successful. Just to recap, the first steps were:
Step 1. Cast design
Step 2. Printing the pattern
Step 3. Making the cast inlets and channels
Step 4. Making and casting the moulds
Now, let's see some results.
The mould is now chilled but it’s still quite hot even after 12 hours. The chilled mould, which is presented in picture 1, should be taken outside and be broken as in picture 2. I have to let it cool a little bit more after removing the mould. The sand is a good insulator and that’s why cooling is a slow process.
Picture 1: cooled cast
Picture 2: Breaking the mold
I have to clean the casting a little more before cutting the plates away from the channels. That way, the cutting step is not so dusty. The cleaned casting is presented in picture 3.
I was quite relieved when I saw the castings for the first time and I knew that I am going to get at least three different plates to the next steps.
Picture 3: Casting
Cutting the plate was physically the most difficult part of the work. The steel was relatively hard and it took almost one hour to use the cutting machine with the rotating blade until the plates were cut free. After removing the plates, I used a grinding machine to grind the top surfaces of the text. I wanted to do pre-grinding to prevent mess in later steps. Removed plates and grinded surfaces are shown in pictures 4 and 5.
Picture 4: Plates removed
Picture 5: Ground surfaces
The next step would be the final step to do. Basically, I just have to paint the signs and do the final polishing. I chose to use a matt black paint spray because the shiny surfaces contrast well and looks great on it.
After the paint is dry, I’m using a very fine sandpaper to do our final polishing. Now, I don’t have to grind surfaces so much because I made the pre-grinding earlier. In picture 6 the signs are just painted and in picture 7 the paint is dry.
Picture 6: Painting
Picture 7: Drying
In the final two pictures, we can see the 3D-printing and the final cast product and of course, them sitting on the shelf at home. It has been a long process that has taken time but, I am happy with the results. Normally, I spend more time designing but, it was a lot of fun to get my hands dirty for this one.
Picture 8: Ground surfaces
Picture 9: Ground surfaces
Hopefully, this job was interesting to see and even though the printing step was actually a relatively small part of the whole work. Whenever I have time I will keep introducing different things about how 3D printing could be utilized for practical purposes. 3D printing is a fun and extremely cool technology and has opened up some new possibilities for cast designs, costs and speed of delivery.
-markos86
