6 ms·

Metamolds: Creating ideal 3D printed silicone molds faster and cheaper

71 points by ceoloide 8y ago

cannedslime 8y ago
Where can I get this?
- juliendorra 8y ago
  It’s a research paper so most probably there won’t be any software delivered. Sadly it’s not the norm for researchers to release the code or an user-fronting application when doing computing research (or any research). Open source exist but is even rarer. There’s dozens of very useful and advanced creation tools created in labs that never turned into usable application. In some domains big players pick up on the research and include it as a feature, but many advances just stay in labs for ever. The rare one that are released as usable applications by the authors are most of the time not supported and end up abandoned—quite similar from many non-research software in that respect, but a little more sad as they are often more unique, like for example the free-form plush creation tool from a Japanese lab I remember from several years back. The most irritating is when tax-money funded labs don’t incentivize their researchers to open source their code, and we end up with a innovative software tool, closed source and with proprietary licenses, that is effectively only the research playground of one researcher, mimicking a product but never really turning into a product.
  - mcphage 8y ago
    > It’s a research paper so most probably there won’t be any software delivered. Sadly it’s not the norm for researchers to release the code or an user-fronting application when doing computing research (or any research). Open source exist but is even rarer. > There’s dozens of very useful and advanced creation tools created in labs that never turned into usable application. In some domains big players pick up on the research and include it as a feature, but many advances just stay in labs for ever. I call papers like that "Show & Tell"—it's not science, it's just "hey look at this cool thing I did". Which, yeah, it's cool, but as a paper it's completely useless.
bochoh 8y ago
I'd be concerned about layer lines ending up in my final molds. If you look closely they'll end up in your final cast repeatedly. Perhaps this would be best accomplished with a resin type 3d printer to minimize the issue.
- froindt 8y ago
  Post printing a very small amount of time with sandpaper (or acetone for certain materials) would smooth things out. It wouldn't work well for small details though.
- mdorazio 8y ago
  You've got several options here, none of them great. 1) Use a resin printer and print the meta-molds at very high resolution, then lightly sand with high-grit paper or use a gap filling primer paint. 2) Use ABS, HIPS, or another acetone smoothable plastic and vapor bathe the meta-molds (would probably slightly mess up the split lines though). 3) Use a paint-on epoxy to manually smooth out the meta-mold interiors. 4) Manually sand as best as you can. The normal process for this would be to print the 3D model you want and then do a bunch of post-printing cleanup and treatment to get it to mold-ready quality, then cast a silicone mold of that. It's not super fun, but you can get good results without years of practice.
  - birdman3131 8y ago
    5)Have one of the $40k clip printers that don't leave the lines.
    - mdorazio 8y ago
      Heh, true. But if you've got a $40k printer you're probably sending out for professional molds already.
  - virtualritz 8y ago
    Re.: 1) The latest generation of 'cheap' DLP printers can do 25 micron (e.g. the Phrozen Shuffle). After curing, dipping in resin again or priming and then coating with 2-3 layers with an airbrush results in a perfect surface finish. No sanding required.
candiodari 8y ago
But 3d printing is not food safe, so using this method for chocolate molds seems unwise.
- opencl 8y ago
  It can be food safe. You can even print invisalign-style braces. https://formlabs.com/store/us/form-2/materials/dental-lt-clear-resin/ https://formlabs.com/store/us/form-2/materials/dental-lt-cle...
- lurquer 8y ago
  The molds are not 3D printed. Rather, the molds for the mold are. The actual molds used in production are silicon, obtained after pouring silicon into the 3D mold-of-the-mold.
  - jcims 8y ago
    FWIW mold for a mold is usually called a pattern
    - yetihehe 8y ago
      Pattern is the object you want to have produced. Metamold is a mold which gives you mold which then can produce your pattern.
      - jcims 8y ago
        Ah! My mistake. Thank you.
- MBCook 8y ago
  The 3-D printed molds are used to make silicone molds. It doesn’t really matter how bad the 3-D printed molds are as long as they don’t ‘infect’ the silicone molds while you’re making them. The video shows it being used to make fancy ice cubes.
- ddingus 8y ago
0x17A 8y ago
Can you make silicone sex dolls with that?
- shaftway 8y ago
  http://makerlove.com/ http://makerlove.com/
syntaxing 8y ago
It would be great to try the algorithm out if they ever release the code. I've made molds through "traditional" CAD software like Solidworks and the process takes about 30 min. It works pretty well for the typical stuff but I have not tried it with something with a lot of organics shapes like a figurine. The biggest downside about silicone casting though is that its super messy. The costs adds up too since you either need a small vacuum chamber for the silicone or you have to buy the more expensive variant with platinum in it. Side note: If any one is looking for a lowcost (~$500) "SLA" (it's really UV DLP) printer, you can go for the Anycubic Photon[1]. It should be good enough to make a master pattern without the visible layer lines. A caveat though, the resin based prints are super messy and is a pain to use. [1] https://all3dp.com/1/anycubic-photon-3d-printer-review/ https://all3dp.com/1/anycubic-photon-3d-printer-review/

71 points by ceoloide 8y ago

cannedslime 8y ago

Where can I get this?

juliendorra 8y ago
It’s a research paper so most probably there won’t be any software delivered. Sadly it’s not the norm for researchers to release the code or an user-fronting application when doing computing research (or any research). Open source exist but is even rarer. There’s dozens of very useful and advanced creation tools created in labs that never turned into usable application. In some domains big players pick up on the research and include it as a feature, but many advances just stay in labs for ever. The rare one that are released as usable applications by the authors are most of the time not supported and end up abandoned—quite similar from many non-research software in that respect, but a little more sad as they are often more unique, like for example the free-form plush creation tool from a Japanese lab I remember from several years back. The most irritating is when tax-money funded labs don’t incentivize their researchers to open source their code, and we end up with a innovative software tool, closed source and with proprietary licenses, that is effectively only the research playground of one researcher, mimicking a product but never really turning into a product.
- mcphage 8y ago
  > It’s a research paper so most probably there won’t be any software delivered. Sadly it’s not the norm for researchers to release the code or an user-fronting application when doing computing research (or any research). Open source exist but is even rarer. > There’s dozens of very useful and advanced creation tools created in labs that never turned into usable application. In some domains big players pick up on the research and include it as a feature, but many advances just stay in labs for ever. I call papers like that "Show & Tell"—it's not science, it's just "hey look at this cool thing I did". Which, yeah, it's cool, but as a paper it's completely useless.

bochoh 8y ago

I'd be concerned about layer lines ending up in my final molds. If you look closely they'll end up in your final cast repeatedly. Perhaps this would be best accomplished with a resin type 3d printer to minimize the issue.

froindt 8y ago
Post printing a very small amount of time with sandpaper (or acetone for certain materials) would smooth things out. It wouldn't work well for small details though.
mdorazio 8y ago
You've got several options here, none of them great. 1) Use a resin printer and print the meta-molds at very high resolution, then lightly sand with high-grit paper or use a gap filling primer paint. 2) Use ABS, HIPS, or another acetone smoothable plastic and vapor bathe the meta-molds (would probably slightly mess up the split lines though). 3) Use a paint-on epoxy to manually smooth out the meta-mold interiors. 4) Manually sand as best as you can. The normal process for this would be to print the 3D model you want and then do a bunch of post-printing cleanup and treatment to get it to mold-ready quality, then cast a silicone mold of that. It's not super fun, but you can get good results without years of practice.
- birdman3131 8y ago
  5)Have one of the $40k clip printers that don't leave the lines.
  - mdorazio 8y ago
    Heh, true. But if you've got a $40k printer you're probably sending out for professional molds already.
- virtualritz 8y ago
  Re.: 1) The latest generation of 'cheap' DLP printers can do 25 micron (e.g. the Phrozen Shuffle). After curing, dipping in resin again or priming and then coating with 2-3 layers with an airbrush results in a perfect surface finish. No sanding required.

candiodari 8y ago

But 3d printing is not food safe, so using this method for chocolate molds seems unwise.

opencl 8y ago
It can be food safe. You can even print invisalign-style braces. https://formlabs.com/store/us/form-2/materials/dental-lt-clear-resin/ https://formlabs.com/store/us/form-2/materials/dental-lt-cle...
lurquer 8y ago
The molds are not 3D printed. Rather, the molds for the mold are. The actual molds used in production are silicon, obtained after pouring silicon into the 3D mold-of-the-mold.
- jcims 8y ago
  FWIW mold for a mold is usually called a pattern
  - yetihehe 8y ago
    Pattern is the object you want to have produced. Metamold is a mold which gives you mold which then can produce your pattern.
    - jcims 8y ago
      Ah! My mistake. Thank you.
MBCook 8y ago
The 3-D printed molds are used to make silicone molds. It doesn’t really matter how bad the 3-D printed molds are as long as they don’t ‘infect’ the silicone molds while you’re making them. The video shows it being used to make fancy ice cubes.
ddingus 8y ago

0x17A 8y ago

Can you make silicone sex dolls with that?

shaftway 8y ago
http://makerlove.com/ http://makerlove.com/

syntaxing 8y ago

It would be great to try the algorithm out if they ever release the code. I've made molds through "traditional" CAD software like Solidworks and the process takes about 30 min. It works pretty well for the typical stuff but I have not tried it with something with a lot of organics shapes like a figurine. The biggest downside about silicone casting though is that its super messy. The costs adds up too since you either need a small vacuum chamber for the silicone or you have to buy the more expensive variant with platinum in it. Side note: If any one is looking for a lowcost (~$500) "SLA" (it's really UV DLP) printer, you can go for the Anycubic Photon[1]. It should be good enough to make a master pattern without the visible layer lines. A caveat though, the resin based prints are super messy and is a pain to use. [1] https://all3dp.com/1/anycubic-photon-3d-printer-review/ https://all3dp.com/1/anycubic-photon-3d-printer-review/