All attempts to build this stupid thing by hand have been thwarted, so I had to ask Steve to grow one for me from the original Pod file that he did in CAD. This part was done on a ThermoJet 3D Wax Printer and is twice the size of my original kit.
Before this can be used, a mold has to be made from the wax part. The wax isn't very strong and would make a lousy material for a tooling pattern, anyway!
These parts are created by building up very thin cross-sections a layer at a time, one on top of the other. Since this part is a section of a spherical object, Steve created the file so that the inside of the window area would be in contact with the growing platform, as well as the outside corners. Because you can't float wax in the air, any area that ISN'T the part, like the space under it, has to be prepared for the part to be built up when that layer is created. Confusing? NAH.
Once all the 'hair' is cleaned off, as you can see here, all that is left is the part. The hair is what supports the part when there is nothing under it!
The wax is soluable in lacquer thinner. The surface can be smoothed by brushing thinner over it and rubbing it gently with a finger-- or a brush in smaller areas. I just did it here to show how well it works. We aren't going to be concerned with this side of the part!
Here you can see the 'grow pattern' very well. Even though this part was grown at a high resolution, you can't get away from this pattern. Fortunately, the size of this part makes it easy to blend the pattern out, as you can see on the left side, where I brushed the lacquer thinner over it. While you can still see the pattern, it is actually under a thin layer of wax-- the wax is translucent!
Before this can be used, a mold has to be made from the wax part. The wax isn't very strong and would make a lousy material for a tooling pattern, anyway!
These parts are created by building up very thin cross-sections a layer at a time, one on top of the other. Since this part is a section of a spherical object, Steve created the file so that the inside of the window area would be in contact with the growing platform, as well as the outside corners. Because you can't float wax in the air, any area that ISN'T the part, like the space under it, has to be prepared for the part to be built up when that layer is created. Confusing? NAH.
Once all the 'hair' is cleaned off, as you can see here, all that is left is the part. The hair is what supports the part when there is nothing under it!
The wax is soluable in lacquer thinner. The surface can be smoothed by brushing thinner over it and rubbing it gently with a finger-- or a brush in smaller areas. I just did it here to show how well it works. We aren't going to be concerned with this side of the part!
Here you can see the 'grow pattern' very well. Even though this part was grown at a high resolution, you can't get away from this pattern. Fortunately, the size of this part makes it easy to blend the pattern out, as you can see on the left side, where I brushed the lacquer thinner over it. While you can still see the pattern, it is actually under a thin layer of wax-- the wax is translucent!
