Best material for printing letters

#1

Hello,

I am looking to 3D print small sentences with extruded fonts held together by a little plate. Text size should be something like 4 our 5 millimetres height, width and depth, depending on the letter.

These letters are to be cast in silicone after, so I can replicate the sentences in other materials, such as resin or wax. For casting efficiency, I am choosing a font that has no serifs.

Thus I was wondering about with material could be the most cost efficient for achieving a good precision with this type of work.

Thank you for your attention :slight_smile:

Looking forward to read your answers!

#2

Hello,

The material best suited for making a mold strongly depends on the type of mold you want to make. Because of their heat-sensitivity, our resins are not suited to make molds themselves. A common approach is to use 3D printing to create a master (positive shape) first and turn that, for instance, into a mold (negative shape). Due to their smooth surface, resins give the best result. I would advise you to use Gray Resin for more precision, however Polyamide SLS can be an option. Following the link you can find an example of using polyamide: https://i.materialise.com/blog/en/tired-of-boring-birth-cards-use-3d-printing

Best regards,
Tetiana

#3

Thank you very much for your answer!

Yes, indeed I was planning to make a mother mould before casting anything hot. As the forms are to be letters, I guess I’d prefer to opt for a more precise, smoother material such as grey resin. Polyamide seems a bit to downy for my purpose, and I can’t polish it since I’m wanting the best accuracy.

Anyway, I’m going to make a few tests this month so I’ll keep the post updated so everyone can see the results.

Have a lovely day!