Lost PLA Casting from 3D Prints

3D Printing & Imaging

Eric Weinhoffer

Eric is a Mechanical Engineer with interests in machining, mass manufacturing, product design and kinetic art. While not building things, he enjoys skiing, cycling, and juggling.

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Jeshua Lacock recounted his experience of casting metal parts directly from 3D Printed PLA in a fantastic photo-filled writeup. He prints the parts with his Ultimaker (at 103% scale, to account for shrinkage in the mold) and pours mold material around it before letting it set. After the mold hardens, it’s placed in his homemade furnace to melt away the PLA, leaving a beautiful female mold behind. Although the original post has been around for months, Jeshua recently released a video (and Thingiverse page) for documenting the process as he casts a part for his CNC Mill in Aluminum:

The longer, more comprehensive version of this video can be found here.

And here’s a slideshow of a few key-points in the process, as he creates a mount for the focusing lens on his custom CO2 laser cutter. Well done, Jeshua!