FUD wax removal.

Be careful of house hold detergents, many have lanolin in them* which can cause problems with paint adhesion.

* to keep hands soft.........

Thanks for the heads-up Bill. I just checked the ingredients for the products I'm using and luckily none of them mention lanolin... the replacement ultrasonic cleaner with the baby shampoo is working a treat on getting FUD cleaned up (so far), but I will have to test paints on the models to make sure the shampoo is good for the job.

So far, the ultrasonic cleaner is not doing much at all to the little cubes, and I don't expect them to get freed up, so redesign time for them

I'm not painting my part so I've not checked if no residue is left. i just needed to free the details which were covered and that worked. The wax is still warm when I take the part from the oven so any wax on the model can be wiped off.

I don't know if it helps, but the poor man's putty oven is the traditional lightbulb. Those become fairly warm and can be used as an oven (my first portable oven was actually made using six lightbulbs from my bicycle and four AA batteries). So if you have a desklight you can put a part near the bulb to warm it. Be careful though since they become very warm. I'd not use more than 25 Watt.

Also, if you want me to test how well the oven works on one of your rubic cubes, contact me and we'll see if we can get that arranged.

How do you control the temperature? You mention 55C, but then say it's a DIY putty oven. Wild guess? Extra circuits to control the light? Periodical manual checks?

I'm guessing that for a DIY incadesant light oven all that's needed is a thermometer & a drill... test the temperature & drill a hole in the case if it's too hot, repeat as necessary.

@mimimaker - the little rubiks cubes have had plenty of heat & the smallest of internal cavities become wax free, but there seems to be an issue with two of the center squares fusing to the central spindle on all of them - must be a print orientation thing.

To avoid misunderstandings. The oven I'm using now has a heat element, not a light bulb: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v490/minimaker/Mini%20scul pting-Tools/Hotplate_putty_oven/oven1.jpg I set the temperature but choosing the right voltage. And since I'm still using the prototype it does have a hole for a thermometer. That's how I can check the temperature. :laughing:

The older version of this did have a lightbulb ( http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v490/minimaker/Mini%20scul pting-Tools/?action=view&current=ef93.jpg). But the temperature of this is far less easy to regulate. It was like Stop4stuff saus: touch the metal, too hot, turn off, turn on again after 5 minutes. Hehe, I'm so happy with the new design.

Note, these ovens were not made for wax removal but for curing epoxy putty. Wax is just another thing it seems to be useful for.

i use a convection toaster oven for curing apoxy. not sure if mine will go down to 55C though but I will have to check.

The drill trick is interesting, but ignores enviroment temperature, air humidity, etc will vary along the year, so internal temperature will vary.

Thanks for the info... with current lamp market, probably better to buy some ceramic resistors, maybe even a sensor so it is just a matter of calibrating a scale on a pot.

Yeah, for my purpose some variation in the temperature is allowed. If you do need it you can add a temperature regulator circuit.

I got about 98% of the wax out of this piece by setting it on top of the gas fireplace where the heated air comes out. The parts is setting on a paper towel which rests on an 8" drywall knife (any metal plate would do).

I kept turning the part periodically for about 3 hours; the part got hot to the touch but not painfully hot. I'll follow up with a wash in acetone before painting.

Gas, fire, wax, and paper.

I am glad you are still alive and that your house didn't burn down.

That sounds like a very NOT safe way to extract the wax which I am assuming is probably flammable.

Lincoln

You forgot the wooden handle on the drywall knife!

It runs on natural gas (so we still have heat when the electricity goes out) - there's no danger of fire. The combustion chamber is sealed off from the house air; cold house air comes in the bottom, gets warmed up around the chamber and rises out the top. You can hold your hand on the top and not get burned.

It's like setting the part in the sun on your car dashboard on a hot day with the windows closed. A toaster oven is more dangerous than a gas fireplace re: fire.

Has anyone experimented with a pressure cooker? I know a lot of people use it when casting to remove air bubbles. It sort of would be the opposite process but I wonder if it would help force the melted wax out.

I've had luck recently cleaning off wax just by running the print under hot water for a few minutes, Probably works well since the hot water will melt the wax a bit and then wash it out. Best part is it won't damage the print and works for delicate parts.

I do a LOT with FUD, so needed a better way. 90% isopropyl alchohol in a $30 harbor freight ultrasonic cleaner does a great job of cleaning my prints quickly. I was using alchohol and a soft bristle toothbrush.

Hey everyone...
1st Happy New Year to all..


I just got a large order of FUD parts for the battleship. And of course they are full of wax.
So I was thinking what would cut oil/grease and is water soluble.
Then I remembered the oil spills and the animal rescue groups washing the birds and seals with Dawn dish washing liquid. So off to the store on New Years eve to get some.

Mixed a 50/50 solution Dawn and really hot water, filled the ultrasonic cleaner I got from Harbor Freight and ran them through the 3 minute cycle 7 or 8 times.

NO WAX left on the parts. And it did not turn the parts white like when I used Simple Green and water to clean the batch of parts.

Maybe I an on to something. Ok Back into the lab to continue the cleaning...( the kitchen table in my apartment. )

Still messing with the rock tumbler to polish up the parts but I need to get some more grit and experiment with that idea..


Bob

Did you use the ultrasonic cleaner with Simple Green also? Maybe the trick is the machine, maybe the soap used, maybe both things.

Yup tried the ultrasonic with the Simple Green and water mix. It turned the parts to white. Simple Green is is a degreaser. It can be used to clean grime and gunk from auto parts if used straight from the bottle.
With that in mind I wanted something a little less aggressive so I tried the Dawn.
I put in really hot water in the ultrasonic cleaner with the Dawn and let it do it thing for about 25 minutes. The ultrasonic cleaner heats the liquid up to a really hot temp after that long a time in the bath.
Rinsed the parts under hot water and let dry. So far things a looking wax free but I will have to have a good look tomorrow.

Hello
Here are pics of the dawn/water ultrasonic cleaner test from last night. Interesting results. Maybe there is a printing problem with the equipment or process. You can see the difference on the right parts group in the pic. There is a definite separation line half way up the side. Above the line I have a rough frost finish. Below the line is a translucent.
The parts on the left in the photo came out perfect. Translucent, no frosting what so ever.

So what is the variable that is causing this? Most of my other parts have the rough frost look which is going to have to be sanded somehow ( rock tumbler maybe ). Needless to say there seems to be a bug in the printing process that is causing this.

Pics to follow.

Bob

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