3D Printed 22 Caliber Pellet Mold

[HollowPoint]

I finished up my preliminary attempts at designing a simple platform for testing how well a 3D printed mold will hold up to extreme heat levels. This is being done on the heels of a recent experiment in which I used some 3D printed fishing lure molds into which I poured molten lead just to see if or how they held up. The results were reassuring.

Molten Lead will be used as the casting medium. The lead will be poured at a temperature of approximately 750 to 800 degrees Fahrenheit.
Information gathered from previous torture tests on existing, previously printed open-pour and injections molds showed that 3D printed molds of this type can indeed hold up to this kind of torture;

IF the molds are printed to a good thickness and IF the volume of molten lead being poured into them is small enough to solidify quickly thus mitigating the damaging effect of the extreme heat that the molten Lead would otherwise impart.

The weight of the Pellets I used to model this Mold is approximately 14 to 15 grains.

The thickness of the cavity walls at their thinnest points is about 5/16". However, there are four very small thinner sections of this mold design that may or may not succumb to the extreme heat.

These thinner cured resin sections are located on the Sprue-Cutter- Lid of the mold where they taper down to form the funnel which directs the flow of the molten Lead into the cavities.

And another section of possible overly thin cured resin is directly below where the Sprue-Cutter-Lid-Funnel forms the top of the pellets.

Overall dimensions of this small pellet mold are 1.125" tall. Main body of the mold is 1.5" in diameter. The Sprue-Cutter-Lid is 1.75" in diameter.

Only after initial testing will I know for sure if this is an area that needs further tweaking in order to get it to work safely and with repeat reliability.

Please be aware that this is Just a test platform. Changes will inevitably have to be made. This is just the initial step.

I'll be using my home made "Savage-Barrel-Nut-Wrench" to hold this little pellet mold while casting. The outside diameter of the mold corresponds to the inside diameter of my Barrel-Nut-Wrench.

Let me know what you think. I'll be interested to hear your views. This doesn't necessarily mean I'll change MY views but you never know. There are some pretty sharp minds in this group. I'm open to some 3D print wisdom.


HollowPoint

[Mr_Sheesh]

Nice! It will be interesting seeing how this works for you. Gives me another reason to plan to buy a resin printer later :)

[HollowPoint]

Nice! It will be interesting seeing how this works for you. Gives me another reason to plan to buy a resin printer later :)

Right now the makers of the specific resin I plan to use are out of stock. It's awaiting game till they get more of it on the shelves. The resin in question has some of the highest heat resistance available.

There are just a couple of other resin makers that make High-Heat-Resistant resins but their resins are more of a proprietary blend sold in proprietary containers that fit their particular 3d printers.

In the mean time while I wait I've taken the liberty of tweaking my original model to reflect suggestions made by other 3D print nerds that actually pretty good suggestions.

I've incorporated those tweaks into my third iteration of this pellet mold idea. I'll upload the computer renderings once I have them made up.

HollowPoint

[HollowPoint]

I could easily drive myself nuts over-thinking this project. My main goal was to make it as simple as possible in order to use it as a sort of proof-of-concept.

I was 99.9 percent sure it would work even before I started making changes to my original design but while I've been waiting for the resin to come back in stock I've had the chance to make some tweaks to that original design that I initially uploaded.

The resin came back in stock a couple of days ago so I ordered some. Now I await delivery of said resin.

The slight changes I made to the design seen in my initial CAD rendering were a result of suggestions made by some of the other 3D print people over on the FaceBook groups site where I'm a member of.

My resin should be here before next weekend so I'm real anxious to get to printing and testing to see how well they hold up.

I'm pretty sure I'll eventually get them to print out very well but all of that means nothing if I can't get them to cast some accurate pellets.

I'll just have to wait and see what kind of pellets I can get out of these little molds. I don't think I'd be to far of base to state that if I can get these tiny pellet molds to work then that would man that a single cavity bullet mold might also work.

Back when I first started hearing about 3D printing technology, I recall it being referred to as a, "Disruptive Technology." I see now why they called it, "Disruptive." Many of the things that a whole lot of us have been paying others to make for us can now be printed in the comfort of our own homes.

I've paid a fair amount for single cavity rifle bullet molds in the past. The cost of the small amount of resin needed to print one of these pellet molds is approximately two-dollars and forty-eight cents according to the slicer software I use to set up my prints. A single cavity bullet mold wouldn't take much more resin than this; just a bit of imagination and it seems like the sky's the limit.

HollowPoint

[HollowPoint]

I printed up my second set of these 3D resin printed pellet and bullet molds a couple of days ago. They printed out extremely close to the modeled dimensions.

On my first attempt at printing these molds I had placed them on my build plate in an orientation that would print them out the fastest for me. I'm always in to much of a hurry to finish my projects. It's this hurry that caused me to loose more time than if I'd just taken my time and set the models on my build plate vertically instead.

Anyway, that first attempt yielded printed molds with cavities that were Out-Of-Round. The cavities were not symmetrical.

The second set of molds came out to very close tolerances. The 9mm single cavity molds (modeled at .358") was off by .004" but the cavities were nice and symmetrical. The pellet mold cavities were also symmetrical but they off by .0023". That's well within the usable range if I can get the pellets and the bullets to cast as I hope they will. I can size them down from there.

I had planned on doing a "Live" stream of my initial casting session with these 3D printed molds but being that I'm a "Tech-Retard" I wasn't able to figure out how to do that or when the best time to do it; so, I decided to use the first two molds (the non-symmetrical cavity molds) to do a sort of torture test/dry run first. Being that they were defective molds anyway I had no problem using them as guinea pig molds.

The pellet mold showed alot of promise but the 9mm bullet molds clearly needs some work to get it to cast decent bullets. I'll be focusing on getting the pellet mold to work the way I want it to before dedicating alot more attention to the bullet mold.

Even though neither mold gave me pristine projectiles, they both confirmed my belief that I can get them to work for me; and not just for one or two casting session. After this initial casting session neither mold showed signs of deterioration other than the negative effects of using mold release on them. I think that the mold release I used may have had some sort of chemical reaction with this particular 3d print resin cause I got the formation of orangish-residue on the cavity walls that would transfer onto the surface of the cast bullets.

The 9mm mold is a work in progress. The pellet mold is almost there.

HollowPoint

[Scrounge]

I printed up my second set of these 3D resin printed pellet and bullet molds a couple of days ago. They printed out extremely close to the modeled dimensions.

On my first attempt at printing these molds I had placed them on my build plate in an orientation that would print them out the fastest for me. I'm always in to much of a hurry to finish my projects. It's this hurry that caused me to loose more time than if I'd just taken my time and set the models on my build plate vertically instead.

Anyway, that first attempt yielded printed molds with cavities that were Out-Of-Round. The cavities were not symmetrical.

The second set of molds came out to very close tolerances. The 9mm single cavity molds (modeled at .358") was off by .004" but the cavities were nice and symmetrical. The pellet mold cavities were also symmetrical but they off by .0023". That's well within the usable range if I can get the pellets and the bullets to cast as I hope they will. I can size them down from there.

I had planned on doing a "Live" stream of my initial casting session with these 3D printed molds but being that I'm a "Tech-Retard" I wasn't able to figure out how to do that or when the best time to do it; so, I decided to use the first two molds (the non-symmetrical cavity molds) to do a sort of torture test/dry run first. Being that they were defective molds anyway I had no problem using them as guinea pig molds.

The pellet mold showed alot of promise but the 9mm bullet molds clearly needs some work to get it to cast decent bullets. I'll be focusing on getting the pellet mold to work the way I want it to before dedicating alot more attention to the bullet mold.

Even though neither mold gave me pristine projectiles, they both confirmed my belief that I can get them to work for me; and not just for one or two casting session. After this initial casting session neither mold showed signs of deterioration other than the negative effects of using mold release on them. I think that the mold release I used may have had some sort of chemical reaction with this particular 3d print resin cause I got the formation of orangish-residue on the cavity walls that would transfer onto the surface of the cast bullets.

The 9mm mold is a work in progress. The pellet mold is almost there.

HollowPoint

I have cast more boolits than aluminum castings, but I have done casting in aluminum with greensand molds. You might want to consider using lost plastic casting, similar to lost wax casting, to make metal molds. There is shrinkage in the metal casting process, so an oversized mold could be printed that would be at least close to the correct size once cast in metal. Might (read that as probably) still need some machining to finish, but that's necessary in sandcast parts, too. Search "lost plastic metal casting" for folks doing this. I know a guy IRL who has a similar process for making miniature train parts cast in several metals. He sends his stuff out for investment casting in stainless steel, among other metals.

Bill

[HollowPoint]

HI Bill:

This has been suggested before by folks over on the 3D resin Printing group among other forums. I'm afraid that something has been lost in my attempts to explain my reasons for printing and casting with High-Heat-Resistant resins.

The main reason was to see if it could be done at all. I believe now that the answer to that question is, YES. Another reason for 3D printing and casting with this particular type of resin was to find out; IF casting lead bullets or pellets with this 3D print resin can be done, how long will these molds last before they are rendered no longer usable by repeated subjection to high heat?

This wasn't a project I woke to one day thinking I'd just try it and see. This project was started many months ago when I printed and used some soft-plastic fishing lure injection molds. Those fishing lure molds worked like gang busters. With those same already-printed soft-plastic fishing lure molds I decided to take my dermel tool to them thinking I could improve on the swimming action of those lures by dremeling away a bit of material off here and there.

I'm afraid I went dremel-crazy and I took off to much material. I ended up totally ruining the swimming action of those soft-plastic baits so it was those ruined injection and open pour molds that became the first of my torture testing with molten lead.

I found that by pouring molten lead into those molds that some of them held up better than others. The ones that held up the best were those that were injected with the smallest amounts of lead. I used three different variants of this same High-Heat-Resistant 3D print resin. The resin I'm using for these pellet and bullet molds showed the best results overall. In addition to that, it seemed that the smaller the volume of molten lead being poured into the molds, the more able the molds were to withstanding repeated castings.

The volumes of molten lead I was pouring into those soft-plastic fishing lure molds was up to ten times the amount of the 9mm bullet molds I'm working with now. The pellet molds are only getting tiny amounts of molten lead poured into them compared to my initial torture tests. This is what leads me to believe I'm on the right track with being able to print my own pellet and bullet molds and use them to good effect for more than just one or two casting sessions.

I have to mention here, not to brag but merely to state for the record; I own a CNC mill. I can just as easily make these pellet and bullet molds out of aluminum if I wanted to BUT, making these molds out of metal is not the focus of this project. I want to see if I can print these molds at my leisure and then get them to produce good usable, accurate pellets or bullets.

HollowPoint

[HollowPoint]

All my stars aligned and I finally got around to doing test cast number two with my 3D printed pellet molds.

Always being in to much of a hurry I managed to go about this casting session all wrong. What I mean by this it that I didn't apply lessons learned from casting sessions one .

Although both the 3D printed pellet mold and the 9mm bullet molds actually did yield usable pellets and bullets, it was short lived due to my failure to monitor my lead temperatures, failure to extract my cast projectiles as soon as they solidified and trying to take to many shortcuts.

I uploaded the videos recordings I took of this fiasco casting session onto my Facebook account. Here too there was were technical errors with the audio of all my uploaded video clips. I don't know what caused this audio glitch.

When I initially edited and played back all of my video clips the audio was not the greatest but still, I could hear what was being said. I figured that viewers could simply raise the volume on their browsers. Well, for some reason there was no audio to raise the volume on in any of the four video clips. Sorry about that. I'm a tech-retard when it comes to stuff like this.

There is enough visual information to extract the gist of this project though. It's four video clips followed by closeup photos of the effects of applying searing heat directly onto the 3D printed molds themselves.

I've run out of my allotted space for uploading new images here on the cast boolits site. I thought by just including this link to the videos and photos in question it would spare this forum of more clutter. Take a look if you're interested.

https://www.facebook.com/1525077442/videos/156681923071324/

HollowPoint

[Rcmaveric]

I am inpressed it worked... Plastic melts at a quarter if what i cast at.

Sent from my SM-N970U using Tapatalk

[HollowPoint]

I am inpressed it worked... Plastic melts at a quarter if what i cast at.

Sent from my SM-N970U using Tapatalk

The resin I'm printing with is made to withstand 420-460 degrees. Common sense would have us believe that even at this temperature resistance it would still have an adverse effect on this resin.
This particular 3D print resin has porcelain as part of it's chemical make up. It's the porcelain additive that allows it to endure this amount of heat. The only caveat is that I must remove the cast pellets as quickly as possible.

I've found that if I pour the lead into the mold with the lead temperature at or around 750 and I extract the pellets from the mold as quickly as possible after pouring I can cast for more than just a couple of times. It's the quick extraction, the temperature control and the fact that at a poured volume of only 14 or so grains that tiny amount of molten lead cools rather quickly so the resin that the molds are printed out of doesn't have to endure the peak amount of heat that the lead imparts.

I just finished printing a couple more pellet molds and I hope with this latest couple of molds I will be able to nail down the optimum work flow to allow me to cast more than just two or three dozen pellets.

The 9mm bullet molds will need a bit more work and planning. I'll be using some powdered graphite as my mold release agent this time around. It will be a very thin coat of this graphite but I'm hoping that even this thin coat will impart a tiny bit more insulation between the molten lead and the cavity walls in the short time it takes to cool.

HollowPoint

[HollowPoint]

Does anyone know where I can get the schematics for one of the newer slug-type of .22 caliber projectiles? Once I get this present Pellet Mold design working the way I want it too I'd like to try to print another .22 caliber mold with the smooth sided slug-type of projectile.

Preferably one on the lighter weight side of this type of Pellet/slug.

HollowPoint.

[Handloader109]

I would suggest getting one of the on line companies that specialize in 3d printing to do you a metal 3d print and get it sintered. Full long term usable mold.

[HollowPoint]

I would suggest getting one of the on line companies that specialize in 3d printing to do you a metal 3d print and get it sintered. Full long term usable mold.

A logical suggestion but, this is a budget project and I'm afraid my budget is not big enough to pay someone to 3D printed and sinter such a mold; although that would most likely bring about a very durable mold. My focus has been to model and print a resin printed mold that anyone with a resin 3D printer can make and use in the comfort of their own home.

I'm not sure what the price would be to have someone print me out a metal pellet mold of the designs I've come up with. I am sure that it would cost more than the dollar and eighty-four cents that printing two molds at a time on my resin printer costs.

The resin manufacture is giving me a break on resin costs as I work on these DIY 3D printed molds so that dollar and eighty-four cents is more like just eighty-four cents for two of them. I'll just keep plucking away with what I got to work with. I already know they'll work. Now it's just a matter of nailing down the optimum work flow.

What I mean by this is that I have to figure out how fast I can pour and then extract the pellet so as to prolong the life of each pellet mold.

You are in good company with your suggestion. Several other smart folks have suggested the same thing but, again, I'm trying to make a mold that you don't have to pay someone else to make it for you. There are many good vendors that already sell molds already made. Just buying one of those would be even easier.

HollowPoint

[HollowPoint]

I did it! After three previous failed attempts at casting my own Airgun Pellets with my 3D printed Pellet molds I finally figured it out.

I'm posting this preemptive teaser post to let those who have been following this project know that I'll be uploading some short video clips of this success shortly.

My antiquated computers and my lack of computer know how will not allow me to post my video compilation in just one post so, I'll be uploading five separate video clips to either my Facebook account or my YouTube account, one after another just like the last time. I also have a couple of close up still photos that I'll be uploading last of all.

My previous video uploads went through OK but I found afterward that the audio had been lost on all of those previous uploaded videos. Hopefully the audio for each of my new video clips will upload along with the videos this time otherwise they may not make any sense.

If I'm able to successfully upload to my Facebook account, each successive upload will be posted as a reply to the initial upload. This means it may require some scrolling down the list of replies to view them.

Thanks to all of you who have been following this project. You've been a real encouragement. Now I can turn my attention to the 9mm bullet mold that I also intend to complete. It's just a matter of buying some more Siraya Tech Ultra White Resin. I used up all I had left.

I'll be back in a day or two to post those final 3D printed Airgun Pellet Mold photos and videos. I just have to finish up the editing on the video clips.

HollowPoint

[Mr_Sheesh]

Sounds very interesting :)

[Rcmaveric]

You know what... treat yourself. It time for a computer upgrade. You deserve it.

Sent from my SM-N970U using Tapatalk

[Mr_Sheesh]

HollowPoint - I'm about to upgrade my computer, if all goes well today I'll be ordering it tonight. It'll be NICE! So consider me an enabler on you upgrading :)

Enjoy figuring it all out :)

[HollowPoint]

I know I stated in my "Teaser-Post" that I'd save my still photographs till last but, at the suggestion of one of our other members I ended up just uploading all my short video clips to my YouTube account to avoid that loss of the audio I experienced last time I tried to post my videos to the Facebook site.


Viewing these close up photos will help you to better make sense of what I'm rambling about in the videos.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSJuFvnwko0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZETzE1lQsw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xld1kvAd_BQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rT7QvGZEOWk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSNYuddk6zQ

[HollowPoint]

I finally got a chance to conduct some informal accuracy tests firing the pellets from the two separate batches of pellets I recently cast using my 3D printed 22 caliber pellet molds. The tests went as one might expect from home made airgun pellets.

I got hints that certain of these pellets really had potential while others had no business flying through the air.

HollowPoint

https://youtu.be/zHq_At1LSBU

https://youtu.be/LNWJizze1D8

https://youtu.be/zXt-E3ec8Ng

[HollowPoint]

Having successfully completed my 3D printed Airgun Pellet molds, I've moved on to my 9mm bullet mold.

I already have the models drawn up and my models have been converted to STL 3D print files but the correct resin for this application is out of stock again. I'm just waiting for that resin to come back in stock.

If previous tests are any indication, it looks like I'll have to do some experimenting with the resin itself to get it to a slightly higher heat resistance. It appears that even the small mass of a nine millimeter bullet may be the upper limit of the heat resistance that this particular resin can withstand.

Since this resin has Porcelain as it's main heat resistant components, I plan on sacrificing a portion of my resin to experiment by incrementally mixing in small additional amounts of Porcelain powder. I can purchase a small amount of Porcelain Glaze powder at a relatively inexpensive price. I'm hoping that by adding in a bit more Porcelain my 3D printed bullet molds will be more able to withstand the heat of the molten lead I'll be pouring into them.

If it doesn't work out then I'll have to conclude that a 22 to 25 caliber bullet or pellet may be the upper most limit that my 3D printed bullets or pellet molds can successfully cast good usable projectiles. At this point I'm not really sure. I've never heard of anyone else doing specific bullet casting experiments like this so it could be that a caliber as large as a lighter weight 6.5 mm bullet may be doable.

I don't want to get ahead of myself though. First things first; and that is to get my 9mm bullet molds worked out and move on from there.

HollowPoint

[Rcmaveric]

Keep up the good work. I am curious where this goes.

On a side note. With 3D printers. You can 3D Print a CNC. I wonder if its possible to cnc ones ones own bullet mold. Since all bullet makers post their cad sketches it would be easy to copy the sketch into a CAD program and revolver the sketch to make a bullet. Then send it to the CNC to mill out.

Sent from my SM-G991U using Tapatalk

[HollowPoint]

Yes; this is possible. I've done that before on my own CNC mill. I did this to make a set of swaging dies for some Airgun pellets. This was about eight or nine years ago. Way before we started seeing the plethora of slug-type air gun ammo hit the market. At the time I was only shooting break barrel air guns so my heavy-for-caliber air gun ammo only few well out to about twenty yards or so, then the accuracy took a nose dive.

With this 3D print project I wanted to come up with a way that anyone with a 3D resin printer could simply print their own bullet and pellet molds. Using the correct resin type, we could print and then cast our own bullets and pellets.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BgERi9dBRpb/

https://www.instagram.com/p/BgCy--Lh74z/


HollowPoint

[HollowPoint]

I'm still waiting on that High Heat Resistant 3D print resin to get back on the store shelves. I was told by the folks over at Siraya Tech resins that it would be back in stock about the middle of August.

That date has come and gone so now they're telling me they'll contact me when they do have it on the shelves. I hate all of this waiting but I really can't complain when they graciously give me some generous discounts because they're just as interested to see if I can get my 9mm bullet molds to work as well as those Airgun pellet molds did.

While I've been waiting I've been using the time to finish up some more injection molds for injection molding a slightly different design of Soft-Plastic paddle tail swim baits. That project is moving right along.

HollowPoint

[HollowPoint]

I finally got another bottle of that high heat resistant 3D printing resin I've been waiting to come back in stock. It took about a month to happen. Now I'm waiting on some porcelain powder to arrive in order to begin my experiments to try to increase the heat resistance of this same resin by just a bit more.

I'll have to sacrifice a small amount of my newly purchased 3D print resin in order to hopefully arrive at just the right recipe to get me where I want to be in terms of being able to 3D print a few more 9mm cast bullet molds. That will be followed by trying to actually cast some good usable bullets without destroying my mold in the process.

This time around I'll be attempting to use my ladle to pour the molten lead. I'm thinking that doing it this way will allow me to pour the lead at closer to the 621/625 degree lead melting point rather than the 700 to 750 degree temperatures I was pouring initially. The reason for pouring at those 700 degree temperatures was that the pour spout of my melting pot would plug up if the temperature of the lead was less than 700 degrees.

I was in so much of a hurry before and so excited to test my 3D printed airgun pellet and 9mm bullet molds that it didn't even occur to me to use my ladle to pour the lead the first time around.

While I've been waiting for that resin to materialize I've made some further tweaks to my CAD models. These tweaks were in the form of increasing the diameter of the mold cavity of my mold to compensate for dimensional difference that adding more porcelain to the resin might induce. Also, I did away with the 3D printed hollow pointing stem that I was using before as well as shortening the mold just a bit. With the hollow pointing stem removed the mold no longer needed to be as tall as it was.

That hollow pointing stem was used not only to hollow point my bullet but it also acted as an alignment pin of sorts. I found from my previous attempts at casting with the original 9mm mold I printed that, the part of the hollow pointing stem that actually made contact with the molten lead -although it worked as designed- turned out to be overkill for a prototype 3D printed mold.

It's best to keep it simple till I work out all the bugs. I'm still confident this will work just like the airgun pellet mold worked. It will just take me a bit more time with my trial and error testing. (mostly error) If I were an actual engineer I might have already solved all or most of these problems before I ever printed them. On the other hand, if I were a trained engineer I might not even have attempted this at all. What's the fun in that?

I'll be back when I get farther along.

HollowPoint

[BBMF1]

G'day from Downunder[smilie=s:

G'day Hollow Point , please check your messages and email as I have sent you several messages and emails in regard to printing problems of the 1911 case catcher project .
thanking you in advance for your reply

Regards Paul . :smile:

[HollowPoint]

The experimenting has begun. Today I printed my control mold prototype. It's printed using the factory formulation of their Siraya Tech Ultra White high heat resistant "Engineering Resin."

Some of you may already be familiar with this resin but just for clarification, it's main heat resisting component is porcelain. The experiments I've alluded to will be in the form of incrementally adding more porcelain powder with each successive print.

Each 9mm bullet mold requires approximately 2 ounces of resin to print. Each print includes both halves of this 3D printed single cavity mold along with the rotating sprue cutting lid. The factory formulation printed very accurately for me. The increase in diameter I mentioned previously to the bullet mold cavity turned out to be a good choice. The diagram of the 9mm bullet I'm using had the diameter set at .358".

I found that my previous prints of this same model yielded mold cavities that measured .356" to .357". I increased the diameter of the mold cavity to .360" in my model and so now with today's print I got a bullet cavity diameter that measured .358"; right on the money. In my, mind that's darn good resolution for a 3D printer. I have yet to see if my printer and resin combination will continue to give me this kind of accuracy with the following prints.

Now with the addition of more porcelain in the mix I may have to increase the diameter of the mold cavities a bit more. I'll have to wait and see what kind of accuracy the next mold prints at after adding that first/additional table-spoon of porcelain powder.

If I can get them to print just was well after adding more porcelain as they print using the factory formulation, I intend to increase the amount of porcelain by an additional table-spoon till I have four separate 9mm molds printed, providing of course that they print at all with the additional porcelain mixed in.

I don't want to get ahead of myself but if I can get them to print out as well as the first 9mm bullet mold I can then move on to casting with each mold side by side to see if this experimenting was worth the trouble or if it was just an exercise in futility.

The reason for mixing in more porcelain is to try to increase the heat resistance of the mold enough to be able to cast a 9mm bullet without ruining the mold after just one casting attempt.

I'll be back with some photos as I get farther along.

HollowPoint

[HollowPoint]

The second 9mm bullet mold print is now complete. This second print was done after adding an additional table spoon of porcelain powder to the resin I'm working with. It printed out with the same very good surface finish as the first print.

You may recall that my first print was done using two ounces of the factory formulation of the Siraya Tech Ultra White High Heat Resistant resin.

If I remember correctly, in it's factory formulation, this resin is said to be able to withstand something like 360 degree Fahrenheit using their factory testing protocols.

As a bullet caster my testing protocols are a bit more extreme.

Also, as I suspected might be the case, the prints came out very well but the dimensions of the bullet cavities shrunk by .003" to .006" depending on where I put my digital calibers.

With the factory formulation the shrinkage was an average of .002" to .003". This too depended on where I placed my digital calipers.

On that initial prototype 9mm bullet mold print the dimension from side to side at the seam line was spot on at the .380" I was looking for with the factory formulation. This was due to my increasing the overall diameter of my mold cavities from .358" to .360".

With the addition of that table spoon of powdered porcelain the measurement from front to back on the mold cavities was an average diameter ranging from .357" to .354," which gave me an oblong shape to the overall diameter.

I still plan on casting with these mold prototypes regardless of the cavity shapes. I want to first determine how much additional porcelain I can add to increase the heat resistance a bit more while still being able to get good print quality.

From there I want to be able to print and then successfully cast with these 3D printed molds. After that I can then go back into my CAD software and adjust the dimensions and geometry of the mold cavities to compensate for the variations in the print out dimensions.

In theory, this should allow my finished prints to print out concentrically round and to the correct dimensions as they should be.

For now, I'm interested more on printing a mold that will cast more than just one bullet before it's no longer usable.

I did take a photo of my newly printed second prototype 9mm bullet mold but right now the file size of that photo is to massive to be able to upload it here. I'll shrink it down to a few KBs within the next few days just so you all can see that I'm not just blowing smoke.

FYI; the photo of this second mold print looks almost exactly like the computer rendering I uploaded in my previous post. The only difference is that it's porcelain-white in color rather than the blue computer rendering color.

HollowPoint

[HollowPoint]

It just occurred to me that rather than going through the trouble of editing down my second recently 3D printed 9mm bullet mold prototype I could just post a link to the Facebook web address where I'm able to load the full size file containing the photo I alluded to.

HollowPoint

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10220129507737674&set=p.10220129507737674&type=3

[Traffer]

This video is now a few years old. I know this stuff is still pretty cost prohibitive BUT...
You may enjoy it anyway:

https://youtu.be/nyYcomX7Lus

[HollowPoint]

This video is now a few years old. I know this stuff is still pretty cost prohibitive BUT...
You may enjoy it anyway:

https://youtu.be/nyYcomX7Lus

I think I watched this and many other videos on the subject of 3D printing in general back when I was dreaming of buying my first 3D printer. It's the kind of stuff I could only have access to if I won the lottery or if I had an extremely wealthy long lost relative pass away and leave me a boat load of funds.

Still, it would be nice to have access to this kind of technology. Thanks for posting.

HollowPoint

[HollowPoint]

The third print of this same model is being printed as I write this update.

From that first control print using the factory Siraya Tech Ultra White resin in it's factory formulation to this present print, I've been tweaking my model as I go so as to minimize any fitment issues between all the components.

Each printed mold will have slight changes to there outside geometry; changes like chamfering the bottom inside face/edge to mitigate that, "Elephant-Foot" thing that takes place when your model is placed directly on the build plate.

Also; I've decreased the diameters in the areas where the Sprue-Cutting-Lid interfaces with the tops of the mold to lock them together.

I found that I had to do some judicious filing and sanding to get that first print to fit together as it should. I even broke out my dremel tool, which was a bit of overkill but it worked out in the end; even though the lid fits a bit more loose than I'd like.

The mold components of my second print (the one with 1-TBS of added porcelain powder) fit together with only some very minor filing or sanding.

If I did my CAD model dimension tweaking correctly this means that this third print (the one with 2-TBSs of added Porcelain powder should fit together right out of the printer.

One last embarrassing update:

In my initial post I rattled off all of the measured dimensions I was getting after printing with the factory formulation of the Siraya Tech Ultra White resin as well as the dimensions I was getting after adding that first table spoon of porcelain powder.

As I was tweaking the dimension I mentioned above in my CAD software I realized that I was measuring incorrectly. I had increased the diameter of my bullet cavity to compensate for the .002 to .003 shrinkage I'd gotten before but, I had not taken into account the chamfer at the base of my bullet.

With my digital calipers I as able to take either mold half and measure from edge to edge at the widest points of the mold cavity. This gave me the desired measurement of .358" in the side to side direction of the seam line.

However, to measure from front to back I had to but both mold halves together and measure the front to back diameter at the top of the mold blocks.

Because of the chamfer modeled into the base of the bullet, that chamfer was transferred onto the upper most edge at the mouth of the mold cavity. This meant that the tiny little chamfer would not allow my calipers to measure the widest points of the mold cavity like I as able to do when measuring from side to side on the seam line.

At the mouth of the bullet mold cavity, that chamfer would only allow my digital calipers to the edge of the chamfer. This is what made me think that I was getting some oblong or out of round bullet cavities.

It was a rookie mistake on my part. You've no doubt heard the saying, "Measure Twice, Cut Once;" or something like that. Well I could have measured countless times and if I was measuring incorrectly each time it would still give me incorrect measurements.

All of that to say; because I had not accounted for that small chamfer on the tail end of my bullet model, I was measuring incorrectly and assuming that my prints were giving me out-of-round bullet mold cavities.

Imagine what a "Cluster" I would have created for myself if I had gone in like I said I was going to do and tweaked the dimensions and geometry of my bullet mold cavities to compensate for a problem that was never really there to begin with.

I WAS and STILL AM getting a measurable shrinkage but, that shrinkage was taken care of when I increased the overall diameter of my bullet cavities.

I think I just averted a major catastrophe; even though I may have looked like an idiot in doing so. I'll try to post another photo of my latest print as soon as it's done.

I'm hoping that it prints out as well the previous two molds. I'm reluctant to pause the print for fear of putting the whammy on it.

Each 9mm bullet mold print takes just under three hours. I'd rather risk waiting the three hours and hoping that it comes out OK than taking the chance of pausing the print to check and somehow introducing some kind of destructive variable; especially since adding two additional table spoons of porcelain powder may in itself be the destructive variable.

I'll be back with updates as I get far enough along.

[HollowPoint]

I finished printing the last of the four prototype molds I'd planned on printing today. I got four usable bullet molds for my efforts.

I'm happy to report that even with the addition of more porcelain powder I still was getting some decent prints. I did have to adjust my print settings to compensate of the increase in viscosity from adding in more porcelain but overall I'm pleasantly surprised that they printed at all.

I did encounter some printer problems along the way so there are some small areas in each print that did not print flawlessly. This was due to the surface of my printer's build plate not being perfectly flat.

Unfortunately for me, I didn't figure out the cause of this problem until after I'd printed that last prototype mold. The areas affected by these slight surface flaws did not effect the mold cavities at all so, I still ended up with good usable mold samples.

Those surfaces of my prints that were effected were the surfaces that rested directly on the build plate. Because the surface of my build plate was not perfectly flat, small sections of those surfaces that were making direct contact with my build plate did not stick fully to the build plate

If I had not mentioned this, no one would have ever known but, I just wanted to divulge the good and the bad I've been working with.

The first 9mm mold was printed with the factory formulation of Siraya Tech Ultra White high heat resistant resin.

Each of the three following mold prints was done using the same resin but I added 1, and then 2 and then ultimately 3 table spoons of additional porcelain powder to each successive print in an attempt to increase the heat resistance of this particular resin.

Whether all of this experimenting will yield the results I'm looking for is still yet to be seen.

Working off of my recent past experience with my Airgun Pellet Mold project using this same resin, I had to come up with some very specific bullet and pellet casting procedures in order for this to work.

I plan on doing some side by side test casting next week some time. I'll be video recording it so I can upload these videos as proof of concept to my YouTube account. I can link those video clips onto my updates here and in my ongoing Facebook updates in the various groups I'm a member of.

The last time I attempted to upload directly to Facebook I got good video but the audio had somehow not made it through so all you could see was some guy who's mouth was moving but no sound was coming through so, this is why I have to take this round about video uploading procedure.


HollowPoint

[Mr_Sheesh]

Looking forward to more info :)

[HollowPoint]

Looking forward to more info :)

You and me both brother.

I really hope I can get it to work as well as the airgun pellet molds I printed up and tested before. I'd love to be able to print a light weight 30 caliber rifle bullet mold that would work out for me too.

Incidentally; I own several aluminum molds and several single cavity iron molds that function just fine. The cheapest of the lot cost me about sixty to sixty-five bucks back in the day. 3D printing one individual single cavity mold like the 9mm molds I've pictured here cost $1.84 cents worth of resin according to the integral cost calculator in my slicer software.

Even if I factor in the cost of the extra porcelain powder and electricity that my printer uses as well as the electricity the laptop I used to model these prototype molds uses, I'm thinking that the total cost of one single cavity mold, whether its a pellet, pistol or rifle bullet mold, costs a total of around four or five bucks.

HollowPoint

[HollowPoint]

Here are a few hastily taken photos of the 9mm bullet molds I've been able to 3D print even after adding additional Porcelain Powder to the factory formulation of Siraya Tech Ultra White resin.

I've superimposed some explanatory text onto each photo to hopefully help them make a bit more sense.

If you have any questions please feel free to ask.

For any who may come across this update without knowing the background behind these experiments, by adding more Porcelain Powder to the factory formulation of the Siraya Tech Ultra White composite resin I was hoping to be able to increase the Heat-Resistance of this resin by just enough to allow me to cast some 9mm bullets out of molten lead.

I thought I might get a chance to do some test casting today but it seems that the weather has decided to rain on my parade.

I do my casting outdoors and even small droplets of Water coming into contact with molten lead can have a violent reaction so, for safety's sake I decided to wait till the weather clears up.

I'll be back with updates as I get farther along.

[Mr_Sheesh]

I live in the Seattle area, rain falling on your melting pot will not cause a visit from the Tinsel Fairy, that's the good news. It'd take a huge blob of water to cause a tinsel incident. Your gear shouldn't rust as it's warm enough to vaporize the rain, also.

Bad news is, the tinsel fairy sends her sneaky Hypothermia Fairy cousin instead, you can get pretty floored.

So I've always cast outdoors even if raining, just with one of those pop-up covers or a tarp to keep me dry.

[HollowPoint]

Let me explain what I mean by the use of the word, "SUCCESS" within the context of this 3D printed 9mm bullet mold project.

I wanted to be able to 3D print a bullet mold that would allow me to cast more than just one or two bullets before the 3D printed mold became ruined by the effects of the thermal-shock introduced by the molten lead I'd be pouring into it.

By pouring the molten lead at a temperature closer to the baseline melting point of lead (625 Degrees Fahrenheit; or there abouts) and by using my ladle rather than filling my molds directly from the melting pot's spout, I was able to achieve the results I got today.

This was in large part due to the additional Porcelain Powder I added to the Siraya Tech Ultra-White resin's factory formulation.

I fully expected for my control mold prototype to give up the ghost after just one or two casts, just like the last time I attempted to cast 9mm bullets with these same 3D printed molds using the Siraya Tech Ultra-White resin.

I was kind of surprised that I was able to cast two bullets before this particular prototype abruptly started showing signs that it could no longer even come close to giving up a usable bullet. The third attempt with my Control sample mold was a total dud. To be frank, the very first casts with each of the four molds were basically duds.

On the other hand, the three other molds I'd 3D printed -the ones that I had incrementally added 1,2 and then 3 additional table-spoons of porcelain powder worked like gang busters. After the fifth or sixth bullet cast with these altered-formulation 9mm molds they showed only miniscule signs of damage of any kind. By, "Miniscule" I mean a slight yellowing along the corner edges of the mold cavities.

I'm more than just a little bit sure that those miniscule signs of distress on the three altered-formulation molds can be worked out further by tweaking my CAD models to compensate for these weaknesses.

I mentioned before that I might have to make some dimension changes to my mold cavities in order to counteract the slight shrinkage I was getting in my prints. I mean, when compared to the dimensions they were modeled at by whomever drew up the original design of these particular 124 grain 9mm bullets.

Those dimensional tweaks I made to my CAD models helped me get the prints closer to the printed dimensions I was looking for but I had not considered or accounted for any shrinkage that might occur with the lead itself as it cooled.

It looks like I'll have to make some further tweaks to compensate for the combined shrinkage of the 3D prints as they come out of the printer and the lead bullets as they solidify in my 3D printed molds.

It would take me forever to explain with the written word what I'm trying to describe here so I've video recorded my casting process. Those video clips contain many of the explanations I'm to lazy to write down with this latest update.

I have alot of video editing ahead of me now so you most likely won't hear from me for a while. I'll be breaking them down into short video snippets mainly because my antiquated computer equipment just can't handle all of those massive video files without going into a sort of Alzheimer-Mode and locking up on me.

I hope to get those videos ready for uploading by the end of next week.

Again I repeat, SUCCESS! It actually worked.

[Traffer]

You are our hero Hollowpoint...Thanks for pioneering the way!

[HollowPoint]

You are our hero Hollowpoint...Thanks for pioneering the way!

I'm no hero. I'm just a chronically cheap chronic Do It Yourselfer.

HollowPoint

[HollowPoint]

This is my short introductory video describing what I hope to accomplish by 3D printing my 9mm Single Cavity bullet molds.

In spite of some obstacles I've encountered along the way I was able to print up the four usable bullet molds that I'll be casting with in the next few video clips.

The obstacles I'm alluding to include some shrinkage in the prints themselves; which I was able to mitigate by simply altering the dimensions of my mold cavities within my design software.

Also; I had not taken into account any shrinkage in the lead itself once it had solidified and cooled after casting.

I wish I could be showing you a perfect outcome the first time out but like all of the other 3D print projects I've undertaken, it's a series of trial and error.

This time around is no different. Even though I got them to cast well there are still some dimensional tweaks that I'll have to make to get them to produce good usable cast lead bullets right out of the mold, without any post-casting work to get them ready to reload and shoot safely and accurately.

Questions insights and suggestions are welcome.

For those who may be stumbling onto this video for the first time, these casting experiments using my 3D printed single cavity bullet molds were meant to test a slightly altered formulation of the Siraya Tech Ultra White Composite High Heat Resistant Resin.

I incrementally added additional amounts of Porcelain Powder to three of the 9mm bullet molds featured in these videos.

This is only the introductory video. I have four or five more that still need to be edited before I upload them onto my YouTube account.

For someone like myself who's always in a hurry, Editing and then uploading them onto the internet is painfully slow.

If money were no object I'd splurge and buy better computer equipment but, money is an object of concern for me, and lots of other so, this is how I have to work it to get it to work for me.

Stay tuned. There will be more videos forthcoming.

https://youtu.be/qdhPPkGtcRE

[HollowPoint]

This is my short video clip of the very first casting session with my newly 3D printed single cavity 9MM bullet molds.

The second half of this video shows some closeup views of how each individual bullet mold is holding up thus far.

The 2nd casting session isn't shown because I was in such a hurry to get this done that I forgot to turn the camera on.

My fumbling around with the stuff laying on the table in front of me should show you all how in such a hurry I can get with these 3D print projects.

FYI--You may want to take a Dramamine tablet before viewing the second half of this video. My camera work can be nauseatingly shaky.

I'm hoping that I can presented enough information with this and all following videos to show that if done in the proper sequence, and with the proper safety protocols, these 3D printed bullet molds actually work.

There are still some minor modifications I need to make to my models and my table top organization but I'm confident now that this WILL be a good viable method for 3D printing and casting my own bullets in the future.

Important to note:
The addition of the Porcelain Powder to the factory formulation of the Siraya Tech Ultra White resin did NOT negatively effect the printability of this resin AND, it has indeed appeared to have increased the heat resistance just as I'd hoped it would.

Also equally important to note:
When mixing additional Porcelain Powder to the Siraya Tech Ultra White resin you must make a concerted effort to keep the additional Porcelain Powder mixed into your resin as evenly as possible. This can be done manually by pausing the print periodically and using a spoon or other stirring tool and/or by adjusting the lift height of the build plate between layers so as to create an up and down agitating effect as the build plate moves up and down. I used the latter method to stir the resin as it printed.

As always, any insights, suggestions or questions are welcome.

I'm sure the obstacles I've encountered so far, whether ignorantly self induced or induced by other factors that I had not considered or experienced, could have been accounted for before the prints were even made if I were a trained engineer.

I am not a trained engineer. I'm just a chronically cheap, chronic Do-It-Yourselfer.

I subscribe to the idea of self-sufficiency. If I can make my own bullets rather than spending money to buy them then, this is what I'll try to do.

We're living in a very squeamish and easily offended society now days. Please accept my apologies up front for the one or two cuss words that came out of my mouth during the recording of his video.

To me this kind of language is just a sort of stress management technique that I've perfected over the years.

https://youtu.be/YDMr01FDsu0

[HollowPoint]

This short video shows the third test casts using my 3D printed 9MM single cavity bullet molds including one control mold sample that was printed using the factory formulation of Siraya Tech Ultra White Composite print resin.

I've now begun to get a sort of casting rhythm down a bit so the casting is going just a little bit smoother.

A casting anomaly has started to show up in the form of one half of my molds seeming to show more effects from the heat of the molten lead than the other half.

You'll see in the video what I'm speaking of. If you have any informed guesses as to why this is happening perhaps you can share those ideas with me and I can figure out a fix.

Something else I'm noticing that I did not mention in this video: I call it the "Frosty Surface Finish" effect on my cast bullets.

I've gotten these kinds of "Frosty Surface Finishes" before when casting with metal bullet molds and molten lead that was overly hot but, since I'm casting with 3D printed molds at cooler temperatures I'm at a loss as to how to explain it.

I powder coat all of my cast pistol bullets so a "Frosty Surface Finish" isn't that big of a deal for me but, I find it peculiar that I'd get this kind of finish on my cast bullets given the parameters I casting with.

Maybe one of you readers/viewers with more metallurgical experience can help me figure this out.

I'll be mentioning more about these "Frosty Surface Finishes" on my cast bullets in the next video; although, in the next video I'll have a hard time trying to describe those "Frosty Surface Finishes."

Bullet casters will more likely know what I'm referring to but for those reading or viewing my videos from the 3D print community, the "Frosty Surface Finishes" on my cast bullets may not make any sense.

For now, I'm starting to get good fill out and smooth surface finishes on my cast bullets, in spite of the fact that I'm getting "Frosty Surface Finishes" on my cast bullets.

I'll be back with the Fourth test cast out of my 3D printed molds as I finish up the editing for each test.

Up next, test casts number 4. Thanks for sticking around.

https://youtu.be/Sd6pZH8PZhg

[dverna]

My first mold was an H&G 10 cavity #50 and it spoiled me.

My second mold was a single cavity Lyman 311334 to make accurate cast bullets for a .308. It was painfully slow, but a speed demon compared to what you are doing. It is 50 years old and still works too.

Plastics have no features that are beneficial to making bullet molds. Heat transfer is low, temperature resistance is low, abuse resistance is low. Thus, both production rate and longevity will be low...and that cannot be overcome. Even if you mange to get 50 casts/cavity, a new mold will need to be printed and cost about $2. To cast 2000 bullets will require 40 molds and cost $80 plus the time to print. And I doubt each of those 40 molds will be identical.

Lee double cavity molds are $25 with handles and will produce 150-200 bullets/hr. If someone wants/needs cheap...that is not only cheap but will last for 1000's of cast bullets. For $65 you can get a 6 cavity mold with handles.

I do not see where you are going with this. It will not be cheap, even if a person owns a 3D printer. For someone without a printer, they can purchase 20 Lee double cavity molds for the cost of a printer/supplies and have a better product that lasts a lifetime.

I followed the thread as I was once interesting in casting .22 pellets. But your attempts were not successful. Making a projectile is not "success"...it needs to shoot accurately too. .22 pellets had the highest chance of a plastic mold surviving as they have so little heat to dissipate.

My background is engineering and I worked in R&D early in my career. Part of R&D is knowing when you going down the wrong path.

Take 10 minutes and think about this. Ask yourself these questions:

Why am I doing this?
How do I define success?
What are the "mile markers" that tell me I am on the right path to get me where I want to be?
What resources do I have to get me there?
What resources do I need to acquire that I do not have?

Let me explain "mile markers". This way of making molds will require multiple molds for the same bullet due to the limitations of plastic. So the first mile marker is...will my 3D printer be capable of sufficiently accurate repeatability? One way to test that is to print 50 bullets (not molds) and measure each bullet for length, diameter and concentricity. I would expect metal mold cavities to be accurate to within +/- .001". That will likely not be possible using 3D....but will the plastic bullets you print be within +/- .002"? If not, your printer/material is not capable. And if that is the case, is there a printer/material that will be? If a bullet cannot be printed accurately, a mold cannot be done either.

[Traffer]

Don't listen to the nay-sayers. The research itself will bear fruit in some way.
When I started reloading 22lr they said "that is stupid, you can buy 22lr for 5 cents per round." But the research I have done has produced results that have gone far beyond just reloading 22lr".
Keep up the good work.

[HollowPoint]

Don't listen to the nay-sayers. The research itself will bear fruit in some way.
When I started reloading 22lr they said "that is stupid, you can buy 22lr for 5 cents per round." But the research I have done has produced results that have gone far beyond just reloading 22lr".
Keep up the good work.

I do not get dissuaded by input like the above. From an engineering and manufacturing point of view it is a very valid argument. From a self-sufficiency perspective my 3D print-nerd projects make all the sense in the world to me.

I don't think I've ever posted a project online that involved even a small amount of complexity that didn't receive well meaning comments telling all the reasons they thought it wouldn't work or that it was just not worth the effort somehow. When you post your projects online, these types of comments come with the territory.

This is why over time, so many new ideas have been brought about more by the Mother of Invention rather than by the input of a trained engineer. Still, there really is no arguing that there are easier more efficient ways to go about this; like simply buying a pre-made bullet or pellet mold. There's nothing wrong with that. I've bought my share of pre-made bullet molds. I've even machined my own molds and swaging dies.

What's missing in the "No Can Do" mind set are the Wonders Of Life and what can be accomplished if you just set your mind to it.

"Success" means different things to different people. I consider my project a Success because I was able to increase the heat resistance of the resin I'm working with, where before we 3D print nerds didn't know that was possible. I consider it a Success having figured out through trial and error the dimensional tweaks I'll have to make to get the cast bullets to come out in the dimensions I'm looking for. I consider it a Success that I was able to get the cast bullet to fall out of my molds without the heat gluing them to the cavity walls and, a Success getting good complete fill out of the mold cavities.

It wasn't that long ago that I couldn't even afford a 3D printer. Now I own two; Success! Not to long ago I didn't know how to properly use a 3D printer, now I can; Success!

The odd thing to me is that most trained engineers went into their profession dreaming of one day being able to come up with the next latest and greatest gadget or technology. Their years of learning seems to have killed or stifled many of those hopes and dreams, mainly because by learning the "Laws of Physics" or the various other "Scientific Laws," the lessons that stuck with them were the ones that drummed into them all the reasons why things won't or can't work. That's a sad irony.

Have you ever noticed that most of humanity's technological or practical advances made over time were made by those who were thinking outside the proverbial box of the "Laws of Physics" or other "Scientific Laws?"

I think I prefer to remain an ignorant man working on my ignorant-man projects. It keeps the Wonders Of Life flowing in my life and it welcomes more people to participate in what ever Success or failure may be learned by these projects.

Technological advancements that, by their very nature require expertise, excludes far to many people from bringing them to fruition.

HollowPoint

[HollowPoint]

With each successive casting test I've found that if I make a few more adjustments to my casting technique I can mitigate some of the problems I've encountered so far.

For example: I found that one half of each mold was showing more signs of thermal-shock than the other. By placing my mold on a flat surface while pouring the molten lead, I stand a better chance of getting the lead to flow into the mold cavities more evenly and thus evenly distributing the heat.

It seems that while holding the mold in one hand and pouring the lead with the other I had the tendency to lean the mold to one side or the other ever so slightly during the pour.

In theory, this may help eliminate the problem of one half of each mold catching the brunt of the thermal-shock.

After checking the flatness of the inside mold-faces, I found that they were not truly flat. This means that by compensating for this in my CAD dimensions and then manually flattening those faces after the prints have been cured, I can get a tighter seal between the two mold halves.

Again, in theory this may mitigate or eliminate the slight discoloration and erosion induced by the thermal-shock along the very edges of the mold cavities.

These are just two of the things I'll be addressing before I print my next couple of prototype 9MM single cavity bullet molds.

There are a few other things I need to address but for the time being I believe I'm making some good headway.

I'll be back with final-test-cast numbers 5 and 6 and I'll follow that up with some closeups of the bullets and the condition of the molds after just six casts with the still functional 3D printed single cavity 9MM bullet molds printed with the Altered-Formula Siraya Tech Ultra White Composite Resin.

Stay tuned.

https://youtu.be/O2EPGiZxD-A

[HollowPoint]

Test Casts number 5 and 6 have now been edited.

It takes me about one and a half to two hours to edit them and then about a half hour to forty-five minutes to save them.

After that it takes an additional half hour to forty-five minutes to upload them and then another half hour to post them on the online group sites that are following this project.

I'm not complaining. I just want to kind of give you an idea of why my crappy Videography is what it is.

All the while I have thoughts and ideas whirling through my mind as to how I can best fix what needs fixing; be it by tweaking my CAD models, changing the order in which I cast or by going to a 9MM bullet design more conducive to this 3D print application.

In this particular video clip you'll keep hearing me say, "Yea, this is a good bullet" or "Yea, this is a good surface finish."

The actual surface finishes are very good. The thing that may be making them looked like mottled uneven surfaces is the Frosty Surface Finishes that these bullets are coming out of the molds with.

Another thing to note is: Although the surface finishes are smooth and the mold cavity fill-out is very good, there is still the issue of the flashing along the seam lines of the bullets.

I'm finding that they are still out of round to a certain degree.

You'll see in the followup videos when I put my digital calipers to them just how much or how little they are out of round.

The good thing about this Out-Of-Roundness is that the 9MM cast lead bullets cast with my 3D printed Single Cavity Bullet Molds all appear to be Out-Of-Round in a relatively consistent basis.

This means that it should make it slightly easier to calculate the correct compensating measurements I need to make to my CAD models before I print out another batch of prototype 9MM bullet molds.

Thanks for sticking around this long. I'll be back after I've finished editing the last two videos.

As always, if you have any beneficial insights or suggestions that might help this process along I'd be glad to hear it.

Fair Warning: I may not be posting the followup video/s until next week some time. I got a chance to go fishing this weekend so I'm putting this project on the back burner till I get back next week.

I shall return.

https://youtu.be/rGRAtRf1oYE

[dverna]

Good pictures would have conveyed the information you have posted. Spending over 3 hours per video is a lot of time for little gain. For example, you mention putting up a video of measuring bullets. What will that do? Post the measurements....we will believe you. Add a couple of pictures. Done deal. Save those three hours to do more fishing.

Enjoy your fishing trip!!

[HollowPoint]

Good pictures would have conveyed the information you have posted. Spending over 3 hours per video is a lot of time for little gain. For example, you mention putting up a video of measuring bullets. What will that do? Post the measurements....we will believe you. Add a couple of pictures. Done deal. Save those three hours to do more fishing.

Enjoy your fishing trip!!

The handful of good folks that happen to be following this project here on the Cast Boolits forum aren't the only ones following this project.

There are a couple of the 3D print groups over on the Facebook site as well as a bullet casting group there too, and on the Instagram site there are a few folks that are also interested in the outcome of this project.

The majority of those good folks know very little about bullet casting so I pass my information to them first in the manner that I have in an attempt to hopefully have it make a little more sense to them. Most of them already know about 3D printing; a whole lot more than I do but, within the context of this project and in the altering of the heat resistance of certain resins, this is new to most 3D print nerds.

I'm saving time by posting my updates to them first with video content so that they can see what I'm talking about and not just picture in their minds what I'm talking about, and then I just post the same updates here in the same way. Time saved.

I'm off to my fishing adventure.

HollowPoint

[oldcanadice]

I can't believe we here at castboolets have trolls that are trying to aggrandize themselves by showing us how educated and knowledgeable they are at HollowPoint's expense. I have a Physics degree, a PhD in mathematics, taught engineers at the University level (NOT the sharpest knives in the drawer), and have years of commercial experience in the world of computers, so forget about trying to impress me with your wonderful responses as I suggest that you blowhards take your negativity and unimaginative comments and put them to use elsewhere on a social platform where your type are common.

To HollowPoint; I cannot believe your ingenuity and tenacity in doing one of the more interesting experiments I have seen in a very long time. Education is not the same thing as intelligence and you clearly have plenty of the latter. Pay no attention to the men behind the curtain and please DO carry on this project. It is just plain fun.

oldcanadice

[HollowPoint]

In this Next-To-Last video I'll once again go over what I've determined to be the causes of the dimensional discrepancies I've experienced during this casting session.

I'll also once again touch on what I intend to do to get my models to print out to the dimensions they need to be in order to compensate for the Out-Of-Round dimensions I've gotten thus far.

When viewed with the expectation of getting perfectly cast bullets out of these Test-Prototype 3D printed 9MM bullet molds right out of the gate, it's easy to see how one might consider these efforts to be a complete waste of time.

To Me, it's not a waste of time. I'm trying to do something that, to the best of my knowledge has not been done before; and that is, casting some good usable 9MM bullets using some 3D printed bullet molds out of what some may consider to be plastic bullet molds.

How many of you 3D print fans knew that you could increase the heat resistance of the Siraya Tech Ultra White resin by mixing in some additional Porcelain Powder?

I didn't know that either until I tried it to see if it could be done.

How many of you knew how much additional Porcelain Powder it would take in order to increase the heat resistance enough for the resin to be able to withstand the thermal-shock of molten lead?

How many of you experienced bullet casters knew that you could 3D print some Airgun Pellet molds or 9MM bullet molds and use them more than just two or three times to cast pellets or bullets with before they became useless?

I didn't know that either until I tried it myself to see if it could be done.

If I hadn't tried it I wouldn't know how much shrinkage to expect in my prints using the specific 3D print resin that I've been working with.

I wouldn't know if I could get a complete fill out of my bullet mold cavities without having the cast bullets melt into the mold cavities and just create a big molten lead and plastic gooey mess.

Most of the folks that have been following this project who took the time to post any questions or comments have been extremely supportive.

You'll never know how grateful I am for that support.

As is usually the case with projects like this, there have been and will always be those well meaning self-appointed-experts and naysayers who will chime in with all the reasons they think such a project will fail or, is a complete waste of time.

This 3D printed bullet mold experiment is ongoing. These are just the first steps toward inevitably getting these 3D printed bullet molds to cast perfect or near perfect, usable cast lead bullets.

Stay tuned. There's still a bit more to come.

https://youtu.be/TCB71PKL7SY

[HollowPoint]

This is the final 3D Printed 9MM bullet mold video update for now.

I'll be focusing now on making the needed dimensional adjustments to my CAD models before printing out the next batch of test prototypes.

I then plan on resurrecting this 3D printed bullet mold project to update you all on it's progress.

Thanks again to all of you who stuck around for as long as you have and thanks to those who took the time to post comments or suggestions as well as for the words of encouragement.

I believe I've been able to gather enough information from this series of test casts to move this project along to it's final conclusion.

As always, if you can offer up some useful suggestions or insights I'll be happy to hear them.

I'll be back with those updates as I get far enough along.

https://youtu.be/bIFeGhcU0rA

[dverna]

I can't believe we here at castboolets have trolls that are trying to aggrandize themselves by showing us how educated and knowledgeable they are at HollowPoint's expense. I have a Physics degree, a PhD in mathematics, taught engineers at the University level (NOT the sharpest knives in the drawer), and have years of commercial experience in the world of computers, so forget about trying to impress me with your wonderful responses as I suggest that you blowhards take your negativity and unimaginative comments and put them to use elsewhere on a social platform where your type are common.

To HollowPoint; I cannot believe your ingenuity and tenacity in doing one of the more interesting experiments I have seen in a very long time. Education is not the same thing as intelligence and you clearly have plenty of the latter. Pay no attention to the men behind the curtain and please DO carry on this project. It is just plain fun.

oldcanadice

I checked your profile. This is the only post in it. You have not contributed to the forum for a long time.

Your educational credentials are not germane to this topic, bullet casting or reloading. If you can help HP make progress...do it. But moral support may be all you can give him. He is way out on the leading edge of 3D printing...that is for sure. He has certainly accomplished a lot more than anyone else.

HP, I have met folks like you and understand your passion. At one point I worked for an Angel investor. My job was to evaluate new technologies to determine the risk and rewards of investing in a concept/product. Therefore, I come at things purely from a business perspective. Is the product marketable, is it a "game changer", is it patentable, can it make money. None of that applies to something that is a hobby, so I apologize for not being "rah-rah" supportive. I was honest in my evaluation of reality...even if I am proven wrong.

I will keep following and shut up.

Good luck!!!!

[HollowPoint]

I started printing my next batch of 3D printed bullet molds this morning. Everything seemed to be going well until about a half an hour in.

We had power outage. Power outages are very rare in my neighborhood. The last time it happened it was caused by some drunk guy crashing his truck into a power poll in our area.

What does this mean for my project? It's just another annoying setback. It means that if I'm using two ounces of resin for each mold print and a full bottle of resin holds about 16 ounces, I may not have enough resin left in my bottle to print out four more molds prototypes.

It's going to be close. If I have to I can simply reuse the previously printed Sprue-Cutter lids to save on resin.

Unfortunately I had also made some slight tweaks to my lid dimensions as well in order to get them to fit just a tiny bit snugger so as to have the underside bottom of the lid hug the top surface of my molds a bit tighter.

I found with my previous casting sessions that if there was even a tiny gap between the top face of the mold and the underside face of the lid it gave the molten lead a chance to form flashing within that tiny gap.

This time around I'll be printing an almost exact copy of my previous 9MM mold. The only difference will be in the printed dimensions of the mold cavities. I've also added .01" to the inside faces of each mold half. This will mean that I can go in and manually sand those faces down by the same .01" amount to get those faces as perfectly flat as possible.

I'm trying to get the mating surfaces of both halves of my molds as tight as possible to mitigate or eliminate the erosion that seemed to take place on those inside mold cavity edges when even the tiniest gap was present.

The other 9MM mold I'll be printing will be basically the same mold except that it will be hollow pointed.

Why make it a hollow point?? This will be like an experiment within an experiment. I plan to file the tip of the hollow point stem so as to create some very small channels that will (in theory) deflect the molten lead away from the seam lines of the mold cavities. This, in combination with the tighter mating of the two mold halves will hopefully mitigate or eliminate the erosion that seemed to occur by pouring the molten lead into the cavities.

I think I alluded to possibly of using a Bullet-Model more conducive to 3D printed bullet mold applications in one of my previous posts. This, "More Conducive" bullet design is one of those cast bullets designed to be powder coated before reloading.

On my third print of this next batch of 3D printed bullet molds I thought I'd try using one of those Powder-Coated bullet designs for the 45 ACP range of bullets. It has no grease grooves, and except for the nose of this 45 caliber bullet it has only straight cylindrical sides.

At this point, I'm not really sure if the larger volume of molten lead that this 45 caliber bullet will effect the dimensions of the models being printed or the bullets being cast in the molds.

I don't know if the dimensional shrinkage is of a linear type or not. What I mean is; back when I printed and cast with my Airgun pellet molds, the amount of lead being poured and the pellets being cast were tiny when compared to the 9MM bullets. The dimensional shrinkage I got with the pellet molds and the pellets was extremely miniscule.

With the nine millimeter bullet, although still very small, I was getting more measurable dimensional shrinkage in two different directions. With a 45 caliber bullet, I don't know if I'll get larger dimensional variance or if it will be generally the same as with the 9MM bullet.

When I modeled this upcoming 45 caliber bullet mold I used the same dimensional tweaks I used on this latest iteration of my 9MM bullet molds.

If you recall, my molds were originally modeled to be .358 " in diameter. When I discovered that the actual finished print dimensions had shrunk down slightly differently in two directions, I then changed that diameter dimension to .360" to compensate for the shrinkage.

My dimensional changes at that time turned out to be incorrect or insufficient. The dimensions were different in the X-Axis and the Y-Axis. I had just increased the overall diameter thinking I could then size it down to the proper dimension. Didn't work.

It had shrunk by an average of .006" from side to side at the seam line; and it had shrunk an average of .014" from front to back in the non-seam line direction. I added these numbers to the diameter of my 45 caliber bullet mold cavities just to see if this type of 3D print shrinkage will be the same for a larger bullet as it is for the smaller 9MM bullet.

I'll be back with updates as I get farther along.

HollowPoint

[HollowPoint]

I just finished up my third batch of prototype 3D printed single cavity bullet molds.

I'm hoping that the Third Time Will Be The Charm.

Judging from the finished measurements I got I think I finally got my numbers right.

The next Casting session should tell me if those corrected dimensional numbers will be reflected in the dimensions of the bullets I'll be casting.

I thought perhaps if I wrote all of my measurements down on a piece of paper it might all come across more clearly but in viewing this short video clip during editing, the only thing "Clear" is that the numbers I'm presenting here are still a jumbled mess of confusion.

I'm happy to report that in spite of the fact that Mathematics and I are not on Friendly Terms, I was still able to get my print dimensions where I wanted them.

I thought I'd be able to print four more prototype bullet molds this time around but due to the power outage we experienced here at about a quarter of the way in to my first print, I was afraid that I wouldn't have quite enough resin to print that fourth bullet mold.

I decided to print something else instead. That "Something Else" was a smaller 3D print of an item I've wanted to print for a while now but, I just never seemed to get around to it. It required a bit less resin to print.

The hollow pointing stems that I'll be using in both the 45 caliber and the 9MM hollow pointed bullet molds will be made from some quarter-inch aluminum rod I have in my junk pile.

I'll be turning them on my metal lathe rather than 3D printing them; for the same reason; I wasn't sure if I'd have enough resin left over to print anything more.

As it turns out, I ended up with just a little less than two ounces of resin left in the bottle. Again I repeat, "I Suck At Math."

I'll be back with more updates as I get farther along.

https://youtu.be/va8BB8VVpiM

[bangerjim]

You need to use the low temp alloy I have many hundreds of pounds of! It melts at 145F! Can be cast in any plastic mold or Solo cup. Used to hold jet engine turbine blades in place for machining at a local jet engine factory. No Cd in it.

Fun stuff. Cast a spoon of it, give it to a friend to stir his "VERY strong" coffee, and it melts in the hot coffee!!!!!!

Now THAT...............is a strong cup of black coffee! :bigsmyl2:


banger :guntootsmiley:

[HollowPoint]

You need to use the low temp alloy I have many hundreds of pounds of! It melts at 145F! Can be cast in any plastic mold or Solo cup. Used to hold jet engine turbine blades in place for machining at a local jet engine factory. No Cd in it.

Fun stuff. Cast a spoon of it, give it to a friend to stir his "VERY strong" coffee, and it melts in the hot coffee!!!!!!

Now THAT...............is a strong cup of black coffee! :bigsmyl2:


banger :guntootsmiley:

I think I'll stick with lead since that's the metal most bullet casters use. If it turns out that there are some adventurists who would ever decide to undertake a similar 3D printed bullet mold project, what are the chances that they'd want to shoot bullets made from a metal that could melt in an overly hot gun barrel?

Thanks for taking the time to post a suggestion.

HollowPoint

[HollowPoint]

Casting session number four is now done. Now I'm closer than ever to being able to print out some user friendly 3D printed molds that will last for more than just a handful of casts before they're no longer usable. I really thought that this time would be the charm but I learned a couple more hands-on lessons that I now know how to correct.

The 45 Caliber hollow pointed bullet mold surprised the heck out of me. I thought that because I'd be pouring a larger volume of molten lead into it, it would be the first to start showing signs of an early death. Not so; that 3D printed 45 caliber single cavity mold seemed to hold up better than all the 9MM molds I've printed thus far.
Although, I did manage to screw up that mold before casting anything with it. I tried to manually ream out the hole for the hollow pointing stem and I managed to ream it out off center.

Since this was just a prototype mold it didn't matter to much but still, if I hadn't screwed up the alignment of the hollow point with the body of the bullet I would have been extremely happy with it. It really does look as though a cast bullet designed specifically for Powder Coating is more conducive to this 3D printed bullet mold application.

The 9MM molds I printed this time out also appeared to perform better than the previous two mold I'd printed but I found that a couple more tweaks are still in order. The erosion I was getting along the cavity edges have been successfully corrected but now I found that a similar type of erosion was taking place along the edges at the mouth of the mold cavities. This too can be corrected easy enough. I just wish I would have had the foresight to have expected this before hand.

I have alot of video editing to do so hopefully I can post some video updates within a couple of days.

A couple of my short video clips are made with a hand-held camera approach so, fair warning; get your Dramamine pills ready. It may be a dizzying view.

HollowPoint

[HollowPoint]

I may have just tried to cram to much information into this short ten or twelve minute video update.

It starts with a quick intro or overview of this latest batch of 3D printed bullet molds.

Although they printed out well using the revised dimensional improvements, I did managed to screw up the 45 caliber mold by manually reaming out the hollow pointing cavity. I ended up reaming it off-center.

No matter. It's just a prototype mold meant to test the viability of casting lead bullets of a slightly larger volume than the 9MM bullets or the Airgun Pellets I'd previously done.

This time around, rather than using the alignment divots I had previously modeled onto the inside faces of my mold halves, I opted to use thru-holes, into which I inserted some 1/8" aluminum rods.

Replacing the alignment divots and replacing them with thru-holes allowed me to sand the inside faces of my mold halves as flat as possible in order to get a tighter mating surface between the two halves, which helped to eliminate the excessive lead flashing I was getting with my previously printed bullet molds.

The excessive flashing along the edges of the mold cavities has now been successfully eliminated; however, in upcoming videos you will see that the introduction of the alignment rods also brought with it the added time it now takes to remove the bullets from the molds.

This added time allowed for the molds to cool between castings; which in turn, kept me from being able to get the more well defined surface finishes that I was getting with my previous batch of 3D printed bullet molds.

The bulky safety gloves I was wearing also added to the difficulty in getting into a more consistent flow of casting. It made it a bit harder to remove the cast bullet as quickly as possible so I could move on to the next cast.

In this short video, I am NOT Deliberately Neglecting to show each bullet as they come out of their respective molds. It's just that I was trying to cast, remove the bullet and then move onto the next cast as quickly as possible in order to get the molds to reach a higher temperature like in my previous videos.

There was alot of fumbling around in the process. I had a difficult time getting into a casting rhythm this time around; due in large part to the added steps of removing the alignment pins and the hollow pointing pins as part of the casting process.

If I had also taken the time to raise each cast bullet to the camera lens to show you what it looked like, it would have just allowed the molds to cool even further.

I hope you all will bare with me. I'll show you the bullets in the upcoming videos. Right now I'm working out ways of preheating the molds for my next batch of 3D printed molds. I think I've figured out a way but I'll have to wait till next time to show you what I'm getting at.

The 3D printed molds CAN NOT be placed directly onto a hot-plate because it causes scaling and then cracking on the surfaces of the molds that makes contact with the hot-plate. I don't want to damage the molds before I've even had a chance to cast with them.

Trying to explain with the written word what I've come up with to resolve this issue would make it seem far more complicated than it really is.

I'll be back with more video updates as soon as I can crank out the next video.

Thanks for sticking around this long.

https://youtu.be/ZSPVF8CxeT8

[HollowPoint]

My fresh bottle of resin showed up today. You're not going to believe this but, it was donated by one of the members over on the Siraya Tech resin group on the Facebook site. It's one of the guys who's been following this project.

The guy's name is Bill Pennington. He has a fair sized YouTube following. He makes alot of fishing related 3D printed stuff. It's rare to find such gracious people now days. Especially those you don't even know or have never met. His YouTube channel is; https://www.youtube.com/c/GulfStreamOutdoors If you're into fishing and making your own fishing lures check out his content if you get the chance.

The bottle of resin I just used up had been donated by the guys over at Siraya Tech resins. It would appear that the Good Lord really does answer prayers. The Siraya Tech Ultra White resin I've been using for this project isn't cheap. Including tax and shipping it would have cost me about 81-bucks for one bottle. There are other resins that are said to have High-Heat-Resistance but those can cost up to 280-bucks not including tax and shipping.

Anyway; what all of this means is that after I get the rest of my videos edited, I can finish up what I hope will be the final dimensional tweaks to my CAD models. From there I can print out what I hope will be the finished project.

Most of the obstacles and setbacks I've encountered with this 3D printed bullet mold project could have been avoided if I had applied a little foresight with each batch of molds I've printed. Unfortunately this is generally how my projects go. I tell folks that I'm "Self-Taught," and this is basically true. I learn my lessons via the hands-on approach.

Being "Self-Taught" is just a round about way of admitting that I have to learn things the hard way. When you're "Self-Taught" you're basically in a situation where the teacher is just as ignorant as the student.

I'm hoping that by late next week some time I'll be able to print out that last batch of bullet molds. I'll try to remember to post some pictures of the tweaks I've made to my CAD models in an attempt to solve the problem of having the ultra razor thin edges at the mouths of my mold cavities from cracking or eroding.

I'll be back when I get farther along.

HollowPoint

[HollowPoint]

In this video, I'm up to my fourth cast with each individual bullet mold. As to be expected, the first few bullets cast out of each individual mold were nothing to write home about.

This was followed up with repeated casts with each individual mold.

I have not been getting the repeatable crisp clean frosty surface definition that I was getting with my previous batch of 3D printed bullet molds.

I believe this is because of the added time it takes to first pull the alignment and hollow pointing pins out their place before I can extract the cast bullets. This is followed by having to reassemble the molds before the next cast.

I thought that by making repeat casts as quickly as I could out of each individual bullet mold I'd be able to raise the temperature of the molds themselves which in theory, should have helped increase the surface definition of the cast bullets.

It was difficult to get a good work flow going to facilitate the warming of the molds themselves. You'll see in the video when it gets past the midway point.

If I went to fast, I'd get the same kind of edge damage at the mouths of the mold cavity that I got with my previous batch of bullet molds. And, if I went to Slow, I'd get inconsistent definition in the bullet surfaces.

I was thinking of modeling some integral slots on each mold half so as to be able to use some standard bullet of mold handles to open and close the molds. I'm reluctant to do that just yet because this would mean that I'd have to re-incorporate some alignment divots onto the inside faces of my mold halves again.

If I do that I won't be able to flatten those inside faces to get a nice tight inside surface to surface mating. I may do that after I've ironed out the two latest bugs I've encountered.

On a bright note: as of this writing, solutions to the problems encountered in this casting session have been worked out.

With my next batch of 3D printed single cavity bullet molds I believe I will have fixed what needed fixing in terms of 3D print accuracy and the negative effects of casting too slow or too fast.

I'm hoping that with my next batch of 3D printed bullet molds it will be like the grand finale.

For the time being though, I have a couple more short video clips to edit for uploading.

Those additional video clips will be coming on the heels of this present video. I hope you can stick around a bit longer.

https://youtu.be/Wgoz__ncL3c

HollowPoint

[HollowPoint]

I'm nearing the end of all my video editing for this latest batch of 3D printed bullet molds.

I Wasn't sure If I should post this entire video or not because to me it just seemed monotonous at this point.

For most of this latest video it seems like it's just me doing the same thing over and over again.

I've went ahead and uploaded this slightly longer video because, although it may come off as monotonous it covers both the good and the bad. It touches on the successful fixes that I've made and those areas that still need fixing.

I don't want it to seem like I'm just blowing sunshine up your butts by posting only the successes. These are trial and error experiments. There's going to be ups and downs.

The good news is that with each new batch of 3D printed bullet molds I've printed up, I've gotten closer and closer to getting the kinds of bullet molds I envisioned when I first decided to undertake this project.

I'm more confident now than I ever was that by adding a specific amount of additional porcelain powder to the factory formulation of the Siraya Tech Ultra While Resin I can increase it's heat resistance enough to allow me to cast lead bullets.

I'm also more confident than ever that I can cast more than just one or two or three or four bullets with these 3D printed molds before they are damaged to the point of uselessness.

A couple of the fixes I'll have to do with the upcoming new batch of molds is to model a slight curve or fillet at the top edges of my mold cavities.

In their present configuration, I have the same type of thin frail edge along the circumference at the mouth of the mold cavities. By adding that fillet, it should strengthen that top edge.

This will also have the effect of making the cast bullets come out of the molds with a slight flare at the base but, this slight flare can be easily ironed out when I run my cast bullets through the sizing die.

Running my cast bullets through a bullet sizing die is something I do anyway so I don't see the addition of that fillet as a
detriment of any kind. I just wish I'd thought of it sooner.

Another fix I have to address has to do with the hollow pointing stems. I'll have to make up some more anyway so while I'm at it I'll be tapering the tips of those new stems so as to make it easier to extract them from the cast bullets.

I'll be back when I get farther along. Many thanks to those of you who have stuck around for this long.

https://youtu.be/oi73yHKKyQI

[HollowPoint]

This will be the last video pertaining to this particular batch of prototype 3D printed bullet molds.

I'm afraid that this video is also one of those dizzying shaky-camera-closeups kind of video. It might be advisable to have your Dramamine tablets ready.

Also: as I ramble on in this video I've superimposed some text that correct and/or explain what I'm trying to say in certain parts of the video.When you see the text scroll across the screen, please take the time to pause the video to give yourself a chance to read the text. If you don't, I may come off sounding like I'm contradicting myself.

I HAD prepared some computer renderings of the latest modifications I'd made to the next batch of bullet molds but, I seemed to have lost those files in the digital vortex of my cheap little Windows-7 laptop computer. I couldn't find them.

I'll have to keep looking for them. If I'm not able to find those files I'll have to re-do them. Either way, I'll post them before I upload the video updates of my next (and hopefully the last) casting session with the upcoming batch of 3D printed bullet molds.

Also; I'll be printing out four more single cavity bullet molds; two 9MMs and two 45 Caliber molds.

Two out of the Four bullet molds will have a slightly different look to the outside walls and the other two will be basically the same as those printed in the previous batch of molds; with the exception of some slight tweaks I've made to their cavity-mouth edge geometry.

Originally I thought about modeling my bullet molds with an outside slot on each mold-half to accommodate some standard scissoring mold handles. I decided against it because it would have meant that I'd have to reintroduce the alignment divots that I had previously modeled onto the inside faces of my mold halves.

With the alignment divots in place I wouldn't have been able to manually sand those inside faces perfectly flat in order to mitigate the damage I encountered along the inside edges of the mold cavities as shown in my previous video casting sessions.

At the suggestion of a couple of different folks that have been following the progress of this project, I decided to model in those slots to accommodate some standard mold handles after all.

This means that I'll have to separately fabricate some kind of alignment pins. I'm hoping that doing so will help me to stream line my casting work-flow rather than fumbling with those tiny metal-rod alignment-pins. Whether it will work out that way or not is yet to be seen.

At this point I'd like to ask for a rhetorical show of hands.

Up until you came across this 3D printed bullet mold project, how many of you had heard of anyone who actually 3D resin printed some bullet molds and then proceeded to cast bullets out of molten lead with them?

I ask because, if there is or was such a person I sure wish I'd known about them before I undertook this project. I would have like to have learned from their mistakes rather than having to learn from all of the mistakes I've made thus far. It sure would have simplified things for me.

I'll be back when I get farther along with that next batch of 3D printed bullet molds.

Thanks again for sticking around.

https://youtu.be/tBhyJ6y27nE

[HollowPoint]

Here are a couple of Screen-Shots of the new changes I've made to my next batch of 3D printed single cavity bullet molds.

As pictured in my Slicer Software, the tweaks I've made to both the 9MM and the 45 caliber mold are identical. In addition, I've changed my 9MM bullet model from the previous "Lube-Groove" type to a more conducive to this application, "Powder-Coat" design bullet.

I've increased the diameters of each of the bullet mold cavities by just enough to give me some finished cast bullets that I can then size down to the exact diameter I need for powder coating.

I've also included a CAD Rendering of how they look right out of the printer. Bare in mind that this is a computer rendering and not the real thing.

The latest batch of molds have now been printed, cleaned and cured and they do look almost exactly like they do in the rendering. The only difference is the shade of white they actually are; compared to the shade of white in the computer rendering.

I still have to fabricate the newer shorter Alignment-Pins and the newer Tapered-Hollow-Pointing pins. Those pictured in the rendering are there just to give you a visual example of how I plan on configuring them.

Since I finished printing this latest batch of molds sooner than I had anticipated, that gave me the time to re-print a newer version of my Fishing-Hook-Weight mold as well. I had to tweak the angles of the hook slots on that mold design to get the hooks to just drop right in without me having to fiddle around to get them into place. Hopefully I got those angles right this time around.

I'll be sanding the inside faces of my newly printed molds as flat as I can by the stated .01"-of-an-inch tomorrow while my Fishing-Hook-Weight mold is printing. That will be followed by the Metal-Lathe work I'll need to do to form those Alignment and Hollow-Pointing pins.

If all goes according to plan I should be ready to do my last casting session later this coming week.

I'll be back.

[HollowPoint]

I had planned on casting with my new batch of prototype 3D printed bullet molds today but I discovered that I'd made a horrible dimensional error. Yesterday, before I started sanding the inside faces of my molds as flat I could get them; to bring them down to the correct dimensions, I discovered that I had somehow totally screwed up the dimensions of my 9MM bullet mold cavities from front to back in the "Y-Axis." I mean; that dimension was WaaaaaaaaaY off.

Before doing any sanding; looking down into the bullet cavity with the two mold halves pressed tightly together, the cavity had the shape of a football. It was actually supposed to be this way but not to the extent that it was. This is why I really didn't think much about it when I took those prints out of the printer.

The dimension from side to side at the seam line came out just as I had intended them to but I'd mistakenly added an additional .014" from front to back in the "Y-Axis," on top of the .014" that I had previously adjusted for in my measurements. I could have sanded down the inside faces of my mold halves until they were the right dimension front to back in the "Y-Axis" but, that would have shrunk down the side to side dimension in the "X-Axis" and I still would have been left with an oblong bullet.

So; last night I made the needed dimensional corrections and today I waited the three hours for my corrected 9MM bullet mold to print. This time around it came out the way it was supposed to have come out with the previous print. I spent the better part of today prepping that last bullet mold for tomorrow's casting session.

The 45 caliber bullet molds printed out real well and my dimensions all seemed to fall in line with what I needed them to be. It's those 9MM 3D printed bullet molds that have given me setback after setback. I think it's a combination of me being in to much of a darn hurry all the time and me over-thinking the process.

I think I've got it under control now so it's on to the casting session. Each time I've printed another batch of these bullet mold prototypes I've discovered ways that I could have gone about it differently that would have made things a bit easier or faster; or more accurate. This time was no different.

I'll use what I've learned from this present print session to perfect my final 3D printed bullet molds. Those will be the molds I use to test my own bullet designs.

For now, I have a couple of out of round Guinea-Pig 9MM 3D printed prototype bullet molds that I can deliberately torture-test just to see how much abuse they can take by pre-heating them as hot as I dare and then casting with them to see if they can give me the kind of surface definition that my metal bullet molds give me.

I'm back on track now with two newly 3D printed 45 caliber Powder-Coat-design hollow pointed bullet molds and one good 9MM hollow pointed bullet mold. I'll start the show with the two wonky Guinea-Pig molds that I managed to mess up dimensionally and move forward from there.

I'll be back as I get farther along.

HollowPoint

[HollowPoint]

I finally got my dimensions right; although, I think I can increase the diameter of both the 9MM and the 45 caliber mold cavities by a couple of thousands more and they'll come out of the mold as close to perfect as I can get them. (for now)

I cast four separate bullets out of the two oblong or out-of-round 9MM 3D printed molds that I'd messed up the dimensions on before. In hindsight, I'm kind of glad it worked out that way because by using them as torture-test Guinea-Pigs I was able to successfully confirm the pre-heating method I had hoped I could get to work for me.

I intended to cast fifteen bullets out of each mold as quickly as I could just to see how much the thermal-shock would affect them with each successive cast. I learned a couple more valuable lessons that I can use the next time I 3D print and then cast with these types of resin printed bullet molds.

Starting with my latest dimensionally corrected 9MM bullet mold, I really thought I had cast fifteen bullets but, somewhere between camera changes and incoming phone calls I lost count and I ended up only casting 14 bullets instead. I got 12 good shoot-able bullets out of that 3D printed prototype. This time when I say, "Good/Shoot-able Bullets," what I mean is that I can run them through my sizing die, powder coat them, reload them and shoot them. Good bullets.

With the two 45 caliber bullet molds I succeeded in casting fifteen bullets out of each. The latest dimensionally corrected flat-sided 3D printed 45 caliber bullet mold yielded 9 good/shoot-able bullets. The other 6 bullets cast from this mold came out with bad bases or slightly bad hollow point mouths. They were culled for that reason.

With the 45 caliber mold that I had added the mold-handle slots to, I got 12 out of 15 Good Usable/Shoot-able bullets.

So, this time around I got a total of 33 Good/Shoot-able bullets.

My latest 9MM prototype mold started showing signs of damage as I closed in on the ninth or tenth cast. Even though it started showing signs of the same kind of thermal-shock damage as all of the previous 9MM molds I'd printed, the difference was in how many more bullets I was able to cast before that damage developed.

For reasons that I can't explain, both of the latest 45 caliber prototype bullets molds held up better than the 9MM molds. With one of those 45 Cal molds I started seeing a very faint hairline crack in the cavity wall of one half of that mold when I got to about the 11th or 12th bullet that I cast out of it. Other than the slightest tint of yellowing, the bullet cavity in the other half of that same mold looked pristine.

The second 45 caliber prototype mold; the one that I had added the mold handle slots to; it basically looked none the worse for wear other than the expected yellowish tint that develops from being subjected to the heat of the molten lead hitting it.

I have alot more video editing to do in the next few days. I'll also follow that up with my final thoughts on this project. I hope to include in those final thoughts, the most recent procedures I had to use to go from only being able to cast one or two bad bullets before these prototype bullet molds became unusable, to now being able to cast 15-plus good usable bullets.

I have no doubt now that if I apply what I've learned from this latest 3D print and casting session I can increase that bullet cast count some more. How much more? I really don't know at this point. This is the first time I've ever done anything like this. To the best of my knowledge, it may be the first time anyone has done anything like this.
I mean, bullet casting with 3D printed bullet molds.

I'll be back when I've gotten farther along with the video editing.

HollowPoint

[HollowPoint]

I hope you can forgive the annoying sniffling runny nose sound effects I unconsciously interjected into the audio of this video. I woke up with a particularly runny nose on the morning that I video recorded this casting session.

This video starts out with the introduction to some of the mods I've done to this
latest batch of 3D printed single cavity bullet molds.

I've discovered after the fact that some of these mods were totally unnecessary; while others like the added curvature to the cavity mouths of the bullet molds actually eliminated the cracking that was taking place with my previous prototype molds when those same cavity mouths were thin and frail.

Another helpful mod was in replacing the long alignment pins I was fumbling with each time I went to open or close the molds.

I replaced those long cumbersome alignment pins with short alignment divots that I pressed into one half of my mold blocks. Those alignment divots corresponded with the alignment holes in the opposite half of the same mold. The ease of opening and closing my prototype molds was now like a night and day difference.

The Preheating of my molds before casting also helped tremendously with getting decent bullets beginning with the first cast.

Previously I had to do several casts before the mold temperatures got high enough to produce good fill out and good surface definition. Even then, because of all the fumbling around I was doing to open and close the molds, it would allow those molds to cool off to quickly.

I also discovered that by placing the extended Mold-Pliers-Slots where I had on either side of the newer mold halves, it was causing an uneven pressure when I applied the tight grip needed to bring the two mold halves tightly together.

Because I'd placed those Mold-Pliers-Slots as close to the mold's center of mass, I found that when I crimped down on the pliers they tended to cause a gap between the two mold halves at the top part of the mold.

I should have placed those Mold-Pliers-Slots where they would have corresponded to the center of the bullet mold cavity instead. Unfortunately, placing the Mold-Pliers-Slots in the center of the bullet mold cavities would have been almost impossible due to the short stature of the mold itself in relation to where the bullet cavity was positioned within the mold.

In this video you'll hear me wonder out loud what could be causing this gap between the two mold halves. It was that poor placement choice of the Mold-Pliers-Slot that was the cause of this gap.

On a bright note of sheer dumb-luck, even with the gap between the two molds halves I was getting good usable bullets.

In the video clips that follow this particular video update I'll be able to show you what I've attempted to describe here.

I noticed that I've tended to over-think alot of the mods I've done during the evolution of this project. Only in hindsight have I realized that if I'd kept it as simple as possible things would have progressed a whole lot smoother.

If I'd not been in such a hurry to turn my hollow pointing pins on the lathe as quickly as I could, they would have fit a bit more securely. As it was, a couple of them tended to slip out of place if I didn't support them from the underside.

I have to keep reminding myself that these are just 3D printed prototype molds and all of these trial and error obstacles come with the territory.

In spite of all the self induced setbacks and obstacles, the video updates that I have coming after this one will start showing some of the successes.

This time around I got 33 good usable cast lead bullets out of 43 cast attempts. A couple of months ago when I first attempted to cast molten lead bullets out of my 3D printed bullet molds I only got two bullets before the molds were ruined; and those two bullets looked like crap.

Things are looking up. Things are evolving for the better with these 3D printed single cavity bullet molds. I hope you'll stick around for the grand finale.

https://youtu.be/SMUNW7NylN

[HollowPoint]

I'm afraid that after about the third or fourth of these 3D printed Single Cavity Bullet Mold casting sessions my video updates all tend to appear to be the same as the previous videos.

I think the word I'm looking for here is, "Monotonous."

This is due to the fact that the positive strides I've made have been slow in coming and incrementally small improvements.

As you'll see in this video, I start to have some good success with my work flow but it's comes only in spurts. Loose fitting gloves, Loose fitting hollow pointing pins, Low camera memory; among other distractions, all tend to add up to the fact that these videos all look the same.

Trial and error involves alot of repetition. In my case, sometimes it involves alot of cussing too.

I hope you all will pardon the few slips of the tongue in this video. As the viewers of such a video I can understand that some my take offense.

When ever a foul word slips out of my mouth, to me it's just a stress-management technique that I've perfected over the years.

I'm using the video editing software that came with my OLD Windows-7 Laptop. I haven't figured out how to bleep out any offensive words that I happen to spew as I'm speaking during this video. I'm not even sure if it's possible to bleep out foul language with this rudimentary video editing software.

Near the tail end of this video update my camera automatically shut off because it had run critically low on memory. This meant that I had been casting off camera with the dimensionally corrected 9MM bullet mold and I didn't even know the camera had shut off.

It's a good thing no one dropped by while my camera was off. They would have caught me talking to some invisible audience about what I was doing.

Although my lack-luster camera work and camera presence would seem to indicate otherwise, I got some good usable cast bullets out of this 3D printed 9MM bullet mold this time around.

There are still some improvements I intend to make. As I mentioned before, I can increase the diameter of my bullet mold cavities by a couple more thousand of an inch in order to get a large enough finished diameter out of my cast bullets to be able to size them down to a perfectly cylindrical bullet shape.

Also; I mentioned in the video that the actual printed Layer-Lines of the 3D printed molds were becoming slightly more visible as I reached the 11th or 12th cast.

There is a mathematical equation in the 3D resin printing world that will help you calculate the optimum angle at which to place a flat sided model on the printer's build plate. This optimum angle is said to produce the smoothest, flattest surface finish possible for a given 3D resin printer.

In my mind's eye, and at a microscopic level, the cause of the eventual yellowing and cracking horizontal striations that my mold cavities are displaying may very well be initiated by the molten lead acting on those Print-Layer-Lines developed during the printing process. It spreads from there to affect the entire wall of the mold cavities.

By using the mathematical equation in question to get smoother printed surface finishes, (in theory) it's possible that this could help solve the premature yellowing and cracking of my cavity walls.

What exactly is this mathematical equation?

"Arctan (Layer Height/Screen Resolution)= Angle in degrees."

Have you ever heard of this equation?

In the case of my particular 3D resin printer this equation would read as follows:
Arctan(.05/.047)= 46.770 or there abouts

And, after I account for a 90 degree correction on the bottom face of my mold models, the actual optimal calculated orientation angle to place my models onto my build plate would be 43.224 degrees.

I know that sounds confusing. I suck at math so it's taken me four days to get this equation to make any sense to me.

I'll be trying it out with my next bullet mold prints to see if it actually makes any difference.

I have enough resin left for another batch or two of bullet molds. Slowly but surely I'm closing in on the exact dimensions and procedure to get my 3D Printed Bullet Molds to work for more than just a hand full of casts.

https://youtu.be/W7Vu_eSWjPU

[HollowPoint]

I don't believe for a minute that there will ever be a time when machining and machinist will no longer be at or near the top of human progress. At least not in my life time.

However, I can see how other technologies will begin or continue to make in-roads into the domain of what machining had previously been at the forefront of.

The photo I've uploaded here is just a miniscule preview of what I'm alluding to. I'm neither a machinist nor and engineer of any kind. I'm just a chronic do-it-yourselfer with more ideas than I have time to experiment with.

Before you look at the photo I want to ask you; Is it possible that I'm holding the future in the palm of my hand?
That's not a rhetorical question. I really want to know.

Back when I first started hearing about 3D printing, one of the things I remember reading over and over again from different sources was, "3D printing is destined to become a Disruptive-Technology."

I didn't know exactly what that meant at the time but I'm starting to get the picture.

So, here are the first few good Usable/Shootable cast lead bullets I've been able to cast out of my 3D printed single cavity bullet molds.

What do you think?

Yet to come, I still have more video editing and uploading to do that will bare witness to being able to cast bullets using 3D printed bullet molds. I just wanted to give you a sneak-peak of the finished product.

HollowPoint

[HollowPoint]

This is the last of the bullet casting that was done with my most recent 3D Printed Single Cavity 45 Caliber bullet molds.

More camera problems and memory shortages kept me from video recording every single cast with each of the two latest dimensionally corrected 45 Caliber bullet molds.

I was able to capture enough video footage to prove that we can indeed cast bullets out of 3D printed Bullet Molds; provided that specific protocols are adhered to.

The Siraya Tech Ultra White High Heat Resistant print resin that I mixed additional Porcelain powder into REALLY DID seemed to be up to the task for this application. I just had to figure out the best way to go about printing it and casting with it.

To be sure, there will be more tweaks to my printing procedure and to my casting procedure in order to increase the durability of the molds so as to be able to cast more than just fifteen bullets before the extreme heat of the molten lead takes it's toll on
the bullet molds.

I'm at a place now where I can state with complete confidence that the concept has now been proven. We really can cast bullets out of 3D printed bullet molds using molten lead as our casting medium. What's left to do now is to continue to increase the durability of the 3D printed molds.

My next batch of 3D printed bullet molds will be printed using the print calculations I alluded to in my previous post. I'm hoping that those print calculations will help me to mitigate even the faintest Printed Layer-Lines that I have been getting in my finished prints up to now.

Also; I am in the process of coming up with a way of keeping thoroughly mixed throughout the print process, the additional Porcelain Powder I've added to the factory formulation of the Siraya Tech resin.

This is no easy task but, I believe that it's the next phase in optimizing the heat resistance of this particular resin.

With each 3D print session, I've been left with a fair amount of residual Porcelain Powder that ends up unused at the bottom of my resin vat.

This tells me that if I can get a more thorough and continuous mix of the resin from the beginning to the end of the print process, it should enhance even further, the heat resistance of the Siraya Tech Ultra White Resin; and by extension, it should prolong the
life of the 3D printed bullet molds.

I'll be uploading one last video to close out this present 3D Printed bullet mold Casting Session using this latest batch of bullet molds.

In this last uploaded video I will include some closeup photos of the bullets as they came out of the mold; followed by some measurements and some bullet weights; as well as some before-and-after sizing and powder coating.

I have also had a request for a screenshot of my Slicer Software's print settings for the Siraya Tech Resin I've been working with.

Stay tuned. I hope that you'll find it informative.

https://youtu.be/0tgzM9nalJA

[HollowPoint]

This is the final video for this latest batch of 3D printed single cavity bullet
molds.

I hope that my explanations and closeup photo/video-presentation will give you all a good idea of what I've been working with in terms of printing and then casting with these 3D printed molds.

It is my plan to print some further upgraded or improved molds until I again run out of resin. After that I'll have to start saving up my nickles and dimes to buy another bottle.

Hopefully the next bottle of Siraya Tech Ultra White Resin will be the last bottle dedicated to the completion of this specific project. I can then move on to using this same resin for other upcoming projects.

I fully intend to reload and shoot the bullets I've already cast and powder coated but, I'm going to wait till I have a few more than just the handful of cast bullets that I've successfully cast thus far.

It's a long drive to the shooting range and going there with just twenty-five or thirty bullets is less than productive in my mind.

I'm afraid that posting videos of me shooting these finished bullets is beyond the scope of those Facebook 3D printing groups I'm a member of.

The individuals that run these particular 3D print-related groups may not take kindly to me posting what can easily be considered as "Guns and Shooting" related content; even though it was all brought about by using 3D resin printing techniques and subject matter.

When I upload those videos further documenting my success with this 3D print project, I'll be uploading them to my obscure YouTube channel. From there I can link those videos onto the updates I post on the bullet casting Facebook group and here as well as the other internet venues where I've posted this project.

If any of you are interested in viewing them you can do so by visiting the 3D print section here on the Cast Boolits site or you can do a YouTube search for those videos by searching for the Tim Montano YouTube channel.

I want to draw your attention to some of the text captions I've inserted in certain parts of this video. Please take the time to pause the video when you see those texts appear. I inserted this text in this manner to clarify some of things I'm speaking of. Also, doing it this way allows me to not have to add any more length to the video itself.

Something else I'd like to clarify about a certain section of the video. Near the tail end of this video I'll be showing you the bullet weights I ended up with for the individual bullets.

When I get to the 9MM bullet weights, I'm afraid my Dyslexia kicks in and I start rattling off some obviously incorrect bullet weights. The scale clearly reads out the correct bullet weights but my brain is registering and reading off incorrect weights.

Sorry about that. I really am a diagnosed Dyslexic. This happens to me when I get into to much of a darn hurry.

Someone requested that I show the print settings I used in the printing of my bullet molds. I've included those print settings at the tail end of this video. You can pause the video here too if you'd like to see the exact settings I've been using to print the altered formulation of the Siraya Tech Ultra White Resin.

A note of importance regarding these print settings: They are set up for my specific printer. If you are using a different brand or model of printer, you may need to make adjustments to these setting in order to get your prints to come out how you want them to.

Lastly, I don't want to forget to give a big shout out to a guy by the name of, Bill Pennigton. He's the fellow 3D resin print enthusiast who donated the bottle of Ultra White resin I used for printing up this latest batch of bullet molds. You can find him on YouTube on the channel known as, Gulfstream Outdoors.

Also, for the moral support given to me by the good folks over at Siraya Tech, I am grateful.

I'll be back after I've had the chance to print up the next batch of further improved bullet molds.

Thanks again for sticking around.

https://youtu.be/CEIROsVg8ug

[HollowPoint]

I've finally come up with a temporary fix for one of the main problems I've encountered while working with the altered formulation of the Siraya Tech Ultra White resin.

This resin, in it's factory formulation is an extremely good resin for applications involving high heat applications.

I recently began experiments using the Siraya Tech Ultra White resin in which I added more Porcelain Powder to the factory formulation in an attempt to increase the heat resistance of this resin.

I found that if I could maintain a thorough blend or mix of all the components that make up this resin I could substantially increase the heat resistance.

The downside of adding more Porcelain powder is that unless my 3D prints are paused periodically so I can manually mix the resin that's in the vat, the added Porcelain Powder tends to settle to the bottom of the vat quicker than I'd like.

To add to that problem, each time I've paused the print it tended to leave a very faint but still barely perceptible layer line at the point of each print pause.

An even mix of the altered formulation of this resin ensures that I get a more even heat resistance through out the entire print, as well as far better surface finishes.

It's a major pain in the butt to have to pause my print periodically just to stir the resin in the vat but, it has to be done.

Even now, with this little mixing gizmo I've 3D printed and put together, I still have to pause my print but, the mixing takes just a few seconds as apposed to the time it takes to painstakingly rake my spatula across the bottom of the vat.

The pucker factor during these manual mixing events can be nerve racking. On a three or four hour print, it means I have to babysit the print process from beginning to end.

Just to be clear; I developed this resin mixer just for this project and this specific resin; and, for the specific models I'm working with. Although, I suppose it could be used for some of the other 3D print resins on the market.

If a resin calls for a thorough mixing before you print with them, a mixer of some type could be of some benefit; especially for periodic mixing during a long print.

The models I'm printing only stand about an inch and a half tall. For taller models it may not be possible to raise the build plate high enough to fit this resin mixer on top of the resin vat.

Anyway, this is my temporary solution to the ongoing problem I've had with this present 3D printed Bullet Mold project.

This is a hastily made short video. I just wanted to show you all what I came up with.

Make sure you pause the video as each new scene comes into frame, otherwise it may not make any sense.

https://www.facebook.com/1525077442/videos/911839516405494/

[HollowPoint]

I have just enough resin left to print about four more individual bullets molds. Each of these 3D printed bullet mold takes about the same amount of resin. (2 oz.)

Since coming up with my recent Resin-Mixing-Gizmo, I've tested it by simply placing it in my resin vat filled with an 2 ounce equivalent of water but, since that time I've actually come up with what I'm certain will be a more efficient way for me to keep my altered-formula resin thoroughly mixed throughout the four hour print time of each individual print. If I can get it to work like I think it will, I won't have to stand around to do periodic pauses to my print so that I can manually do the mixing.

The problem I'm wrestling with now is; should I wait till I get my more efficient and automated resin mixer fabricated or should I move forward with my existing resin mixer?

I'm leaning hard toward waiting because if I move forward with this and my existing resin-mixer doesn't mix my resin sufficiently enough, I will have wasted even more time and money/resin.

If I wait it will require me to fabricate a new resin vat for my printer. Such a resin vat would be made out of Delrin instead of powder coated aluminum.

Aluminum would be cheaper and faster to obtain but Delrin has the characteristics I'd need in order to keep any residual 3D print resin for adhering to it if or when it solidifies during routine printing or cleaning.

This is important because the new resin vat design will have several threaded inlets and outlets that will aid in the circulation of resin within the vat. This circulation will be what keeps the altered-formulation of my resin well mixed throughout the time it takes for the print to reach completion.

Drawing up the new resin vat was easy enough; it's running the Flow-Simulations in order to get the resin circulating as smoothly and efficiently as possible that's the hard part. In order to do this I'm having to learn how to use the Flow-Simulation feature that came with my CAD software. I never had any use for this simulation feature until now.

I think I mentioned before that I'm, "Self-Taught" with most of this computer aided design stuff. My trial and error way of learning is one of those time consuming parts of being "Self-Taught."

Delrin machines pretty easily based on previous experience so machining it shouldn't take to much time. It's the software part of this Self-Teaching that will take up most of my time.

You wouldn't believe all of the video tutorials that I've watched on this subject in the past few days. I'm afraid that I get nothing out reading about this subject. Because of the slight dyslexia I have to deal with, reading about it just doesn't register in my brain in the same way as seeing it done or doing it hands-on, even with the trial and error.

This is just another short update of where I'm at with this project. It is not yet completed by any means. It's still a work in progress. I think that the time that it will take me to rig up the new, more-hands-free resin vat that I have in the design stage right now will be more than made up for after I get it done.

Of course, once I get it up and running it will leave me with no more excuses as to why my 3D resin printed bullet molds won't hold up for more than just a handful of bullets before they succumb to the effects of the molten lead.

When all is said and done, the only way to know if it will all work out in the end is to try it and see.

HollowPoint

[HollowPoint]

To some it may seem like overkill but to me, it's my way forward to a successful completion of this 3D printed bullet mold project.

Good News: I figured out how to use the "Flow Simulation" feature that came with my CAD software.

Bad News: I found that this "Flow Simulation" feature is very rudimentary and upgrading to a full blown simulator software cost more money than I care to spend.

Good News: This feature does gives just enough of a clue to help select the optimum positions of my input and output nozzles.

Bad News: The "Flow Simulation" feature only allows me to select one input nozzle and one output nozzle at a time to run a flow simulation.

I have a total of four nozzles through which my resin will be flowing; two input and two output nozzles.

Good News: After testing various nozzle positions and angles of flow, this "Flow Simulator" helped me decide where the best places to set my nozzles.

Bad News? Well, that's all the bad news.

Good News: I had assumed that I'd be machining my new Auto-Mixing-Resin-Vat into existence. It had not even occurred to me that I might be able to just 3D print the resin vat instead.

I knew that my resin printer had to small of a work envelop for this but I remembered that I also own a 3D Filament printer as well.

I'd been working so much with my resin printer for the past several months that I'd forgotten I even owned a filament printer. And, even better news, I believe that my filament printer has a large enough work envelope to be able to print my new resin vat.

Bad News; Kinda? It's a 13 and a half hour print but, I can live with that.

My main concern was in selecting the best filament type to print the vat with. Being that I'm chronically cheap, I also remembered that back when I bought this filament printer it came with a complimentary roll of ABS filament and a roll of PLA filament.

I used up the ABS filament pretty quickly but I've had the full roll of blue PLA filament in my storage room for about two years. I hope it's still good cause that's what I'll be using to print out my new resin vat.

One of the images below is just one of the "Flow Simulation" attempts I ran. In all I must have done about a dozen or so before arriving at the vat design I'll be printing.

This "Flow Simulation" shows the theoretical flow of the resin in an unobstructed resin vat. In reality, the models being printed will be altering the course of the resin flow. I also did some simulations by including some of these obstructions and for the most part, the placement of the input and output ports were still at their best in the corners of the vat with an angle aimed not quite at the center of the vat.

The second is a computer rendering of my resin vat design. I've also taken the liberty of modeling the two small 12v pumps I'll be using to pump my resin through the vat in order to keep my resin continually mixed during my bullet mold prints.

These to tiny pumps will have a Potentiometer wired ahead of them in order to be able to control the flow of the resin.

This update is just to give you all an idea of how far along I've gotten thus far. To me it seems like I'm moving at a snails pace but, I am moving; slowly but surely.

I'm pretty well set on the vat design but I may decide on a different set of micro-pumps. The ones pictured in my CAD rendering are just the smallest I've been able to find so far.

I'll be back when I get farther along.

HollowPoint

[HollowPoint]

In checking into the durability of a resin vat printed using any kind of filaments or resins, I was informed by the folks who manufacture 3D print resins that, a 3D printed resin vat will most likely start to soften within a few hours of being in direct contact with a 3D print resin. A filament printed vat will most likely give up the ghost a bit more quickly than a resin printed vat.

I'm still checking into this to confirm it. I was also told that there are only a couple of plastics that will hold up to this type of prolonged exposure to 3D print resins. One of those plastics being a high quality HDPE plastic (not the recycled kind, the highest quality kind) or possibly the highest quality Acrylic plastic.

My original choice of materials was Delrin. I'm still waiting for confirmation to see if this is a suitable choice for this application. I still plan on 3D printing my prototype resin vat out of PLA. I want to see if I got all my dimensions right or not. From there I'll move on to my original plan; which was to mill the vat out of the material most suitable for this application.

Funny thing is that, the manufacture of the same brand of 3D resin printer I'm using now; they used to make their resin vats out of aluminum. They recently started selling their printers with plastic resin vats. I put in an inquiry to find out exactly what kind of plastic they are using. It may very well be HDPE. I'll know for sure if or when they reply to my question.

While I was at it I also asked them about the expected service life of their plastic resin vats. In the mean time, the project and the learning continues.

I learned that a better pump choice for circulating the resin in my yet-to-be-fabricated Automatic-Resin-Mixing vat would be something called a Paristasltic Pump. I had never heard of such a pump until a few of the folks over on the Facebook 3D print group mentioned it. In researching this type of pump I found that it was indeed a far better candidate for circulating the more viscous resin. The little pumps I had originally looked into were made basically for circulating water. And since they were made of ABS plastic they most likely would have taken a dump on me in pretty short order.

Once I find out which of the plastics I inquired about will best fit my needs I'll go ahead and order some from McMaster Carr to begin the fabrication.

UPDATE:

In looking into this a bit further it occurred to me that virtually all of the 3D print resin I've ever bought or been given came in a plastic bottle. These are the same plastic bottles that the 3D print resin is stored and shipped in.

So, I looked on the underside of the resin bottles I have now in hopes of finding the name of the manufactures of these resin bottles. There was no such information available on the bottles BUT; on the underside of every single bottle was embossed in Capital-Letters, "HDPE."

It looks like I've found the appropriate plastic for making my Automatic-Resin-Mixing vat out of. What a relief. I was afraid it would take even more time to get this information.

HollowPoint

[HollowPoint]

After searching for more information on the durability of various 3D filament materials that might be better suited for printing my first prototype 3D printed Automatic-Resin-Mixing Vats I determined that PETG filament might be a good starting point. From what I could gather, the PLA filament I previously planned to use would have been a waste of time in printing for this application. I mean, other than to check to see if all of my dimensions were correct.

My new roll of PETG arrived today and the first prototype print is running as I write this update. If filament printing this prototype is a waste of time I would prefer that this time be wasted on something that at least has a slightly better chance of giving me the information I need to move forward. Let's hope that there are no power outages during this 13-hour and 51-minute print that the 3D print Slicer software has calculated.

The new Micro-Paristaltic-Pump and a length of tubing I ordered should be here tomorrow. The little Potentiometer I ordered at the same time I ordered my roll of PETG filament arrived in the same box as the filament so I'm all set there. I don't know what happened when I tried to order a rectangular stock of HDPE from McMaster Carr. Somehow the order didn't go through. I don't think I did anything wrong on my end. I'm thinking that something might be wrong with their ordering pages. I'll try again tomorrow.

Thanks to some advice from one of the group members over on the Facebook 3D resin print group, I now know how to do a work-around when running my computer aided Flow-simulations. This work-around allows me to use all the input and output ports in my new resin vat to show how it might actually work before I move to far along. I'll be re-running some of those simulations again just to see if I had correctly selected the optimum positions of my input and output ports within the vat walls.

If you recall, I was only able to select one input and one output port at a time in my previous Flow-Simulation attempts. It was suggested that I model a forked hose or tubing coming off of the pump and then select the input end of that forked hose as my input end. Each tube coming off of that forked tubing would go to each of the two input ports. The same will be done with a second modeled piece of forked tubing for the output port. In theory, this will allow me to see the input flow and the output flow of all four ports at the same time.

If all goes according to plans, I should wake up tomorrow to a completed prototype Automatic-Resin-Mixing vat. If my Micro-pump arrives as it should I'll be able to setup my first test to see if it's going to work for me; or, if I'll have to do any tweaking to the geometry of my resin vat model.

I'll be back with a photo of the finished print soon.

HollowPoint

[HollowPoint]

My first attempt at 3D filament printing the first of my prototype Automatic-Resin-Mixing vats started out beautifully. About a third of the way in, problems arose.

I was afraid I had set the heat way to high in the print settings cause I was getting blobs of melted filament accumulating around the hot end/nozzle. I was asleep at the time so I didn't find this out till the next morning. It appeared that these same blobs of melted filament, while in their melted state, had drooped down and then solidified.

This caused the solidified blobs of previously melted filament to rub hard enough against that part of the print that had already been laid down that it actually made the little stepper motor start skipping steps. I came to this conclusion because the initial one-third of this first print looked pristine. The other two thirds had shifted to one side by a good quarter inch.

So, I tired again a second time. I could tell that the second attempt was clearly failing within the first twenty minutes of the print. I discovered that the nozzle of my printer had somehow come partially unscrewed. The blobs of melted filament were actually oozing out of the threaded slot into which the nozzle was screwed.

I don't know how the heck that could have happened. This printer has been sitting idle for the past several months and no one else has used it except for myself.

Oh well, I did manage to learn from my mistakes. The failed prints also indicated that the design of my Automatic-Resin-Mixing vat needed some slight changes to simplify the print process and, because of the change in the type of circulation pump I'll be using I thought now would be the time to make those changes.

I screwed everything down tight on the printer and I was off to the races. The third print came out excellent. That PETG filament printed really nice once I figure out the correct print settings.

I'm hoping to upload some photos of the two bad prints and the third (good print) before this weekend. After finally getting that good third print I decided to make just one more change to my model and try printing a fourth resin vat.

Because I wasn't really sure exactly how I was going to route my hoses or tubes, I decided to just replace those integral arms with threaded holes instead. I turned some threaded brass fittings on the lathe. I'll be able to simply screw them into the holes that will be used as my input and output ports.

The small pump I ordered still hasn't arrived yet. Updates from the seller state that they are running behind schedule with their shipment. It was supposed to be here on Monday. Then they updated the arrival to Tuesday. It's Wednesday now and Thanksgiving tomorrow so who knows when it will get here. Without that little pump I can't really move ahead with any testing.

This is also why I decided to print that fourth vat while I'm waiting. I never was able to order that chunk of HDPE from McMaster Carr so I just order some off of the Ebay website. It was cheaper that way but that piece of material won't be here till the end of the month.

I'll be back with those photos within the next couple of days.

HollowPoint

[HollowPoint]

I was afraid that I'd be to stuffed with turkey later on to want to do any uploading or photo editing so I thought I'd get this done now.

I'm still waiting on that little Peristaltic Pump I ordered but in the meantime I'm trying to get everything else related to this project done so when it does get here, I can start the testing to see if all of this effort is going to work for me.

I think it will. I just need to verify it before I get too far ahead of myself.

As mentioned in my previous post, my first attempt at printing one of these Automatic-Resin-Mixing vats started out really well but ended in disaster. The second print didn't fare to much better. OK, it was a little better but not by much.

Prints 3 and 4 were the kind of prints I was hoping for all along. They turned out great.

I have to mention that on the first two prints, I was printing them with a 55 percent infill. What this means is that they had a sort of honeycombed hollow interior with just the walls being solid. And, they were placed on my build plate upside down.

Why upside down? This was done to facilitate a clean underside track. This underside track is where the clear FEP film is stretched over and held in place with a corresponding bottom face plate. I didn't want to have any microscopic burrs or uneven spots possibly damaging the FEP film. That clear thin film gets stretched on the bottom of the resin vat pretty tight.

In doing all of this, it's easy to get sidetracked into forgetting why all of this is being done in the first place.

Remember; I'm doing this in order to get the 3D print resin that I'm working with, thoroughly mixed so that I can 3D print my single cavity bullet molds with an even higher level of heat resistance. The higher the heat resistance, the better.

Will it work? Will all of this effort pay off? I sure freaken hope so. I can already 3D print and successfully cast lead bullets with just the addition of a little extra porcelain powder to the factory formulation of the resin I'm using.

I believe that getting a thorough mix of resin and porcelain powder will be just the ticket for being able to 3D print my bullet molds so that they last longer than just a few cast before they're no longer usable. Presently, much of the added porcelain powder tends to settle to the bottom of the resin vat during the print process. Keeping it thoroughly mixed is what I'm aiming for.

I gotta to tell you guys; I was told by the "Experts" that make these 3D print resins that, a 3D filament or resin printed resin-vat would not hold up well when exposed to 3D print resin. Paraphrasing their exact words, they stated that the 3D printed resin vats would start to soften fairly quicky after being exposed to 3D print resin.

They could be absolutely right. These 3D printed filament resin vats may very well melt away as they've indicated but, in looking at them and holding them in my hands, since they were printed as a solid mass of PETG plastic, they look and feel solid enough to withstand whatever detrimental effects that exposure to 3D print resin might do to them.

So, what does this mean? Well, in typical fashion, and as a typical non-expert I'm thinking that the folks that offered up these "Expert" insights have most likely never really tried it for themselves. Their insights were based on book learning rather than HandsOn learning. Even if it turns out that they were right, I'll be happy if I can get two, three or four print sessions out of them before they give up the ghost.

Until my block of HDPE material shows up and I can mill an Automatic-Resin-Mixing vat out of it, I plan on using one of these latest 3D filament printed resin vats to do my flow testing and if it works out, I'll use the other 3D filament printed resin vat to do another bullet mold print.

I'll be back after my Peristaltic Pump shows up. Then I'll be able to do some preliminary flow testing with these 3D printed Automatic-Resin-Mixing vats.

UPDATE: Just got another email from Peristaltic Pump seller stating that my pump should arrive today. (11-26-21) This is the third email update from this seller regarding the delivery of this micro-pump so I'm not holding my breath but if it does arrive, this means I can move forward with testing.

HollowPoint

[HollowPoint]

My Micro-Peristaltic Pump showed up today.

I got a chance to do some rudimentary testing with it. I'm happy to report that the pump works. I mean it circulates the water I was using as my test medium.

I happened to have some alcohol based dye/colorant that I used so show the flow of the liquid as it was sucked up through the output ports and flowed in through the input ports.

This alcohol based dye wasn't the best choice but it was all I happened to have on hand. Since it was alcohol based it tended to float to the surface of the water in the vat so, I had to deliberately squirt it into the output ports to get the color to circulate up through one set of tubes and then down into the vat through the other set of input tubes.

I made four, three minute video recordings of me running these tests with the hoses connected as I'd shown in my Computer aided flow simulations. For the most part, the water I was using was flowing almost exactly like the simulations.

I also tried connecting the hoses in various different ways to see if it made any difference in the flow pattern. Oddly enough, with just one input and one output hose connected I got a slightly stronger flow rate but that flow rate did not seem to cover as broad of an area of the resin vat as the two-input and two-output setup.

When I went to edit those videos for uploading to my Facebook account my laptop kept telling me that it couldn't play those videos because it couldn't read the files. For the first three minute video I used my daily carry cellphone and that video was able to play back but that particular video gave no real tangible information on the flow patterns.

Then I broke out my secondary cellphone camera and thought it was recording like it always did. Because it was running out of memory to quickly during my last bullet casting video recordings I installed a larger memory card. It showed that it was recording and it also played back those recording but, when I attempt to upload them onto my laptop something seems to go haywire. My laptop couldn't seem to play them back for some reason.

I'll have to remove that memory card I added just to see if it's causing these problems.

I intend to run some more flow test next week. By then I should have these recording problems ironed out; then I can upload the video proof showing that the Computer aided Flow Simulations seemed to have been almost spot on.

I have to mention here that it was only water that I was testing the flow of. The 3D print resin I'll be using is much thicker; and grittier given the added porcelain powder. I may have to break down and buy yet another micro-Peristaltic pump that has just a bit more pumping power to get that resin flowing at a rate that ensures a good resin mix.

Fortunately these little pumps aren't very expensive. If I have to get a second pump of the same kind I will but I'd rather have just one slightly over powered pump that's capable to delivering just the right amount of flow when using 3D print resin. If it's slightly over powered I can then use the Potentiometer I purchased for this very reason. I'll be able to dial up or down the amount of flow I'm getting.

I'll be back when I've tried a few more approaches to this resin flow testing. Thanks for sticking around for this long.

HollowPoint

[HollowPoint]

In fiddling around with all the connecting and disconnecting of the small hoses needed to facilitate the circulation of my fluid flow testing, I've come up with a way of simplifying the process even further. And even better still, it will make removing and cleaning the resin vat from the printer after the print is completed far, far simpler for me.

I don't know why I didn't think of this sooner. It's so simple.

Don't get me wrong, I still plan on running more resin flow tests with the vats I've already 3D printed; and I still plan on video recording this testing so I can show you all how it's been working but, when that chunk of HDPE plastic I ordered finally arrives, I'll be forming it into a slightly different configuration. When you see it, you'll know what I mean when I say, "I don't know why I didn't think of this sooner."

The Peristaltic-Pump, the hoses and a slightly different modified vat will still be needed and used but the slight change in configuration of the Automatic-Resin-Mixing vat will mean that either milling or 3D printing those Automatic-Resin-Mixing vats will be far easier, far less complicated and far quicker for me. What a relief.

I'll try to model up some CAD Renderings of this slightly different resin vat configuration tonight so I can upload an image of it for you to see.

Dimensionally, the geometry of the simplified Automatic-Resin-Mixing vat will remain essentially the same. The difference will be in the elimination of the integral inflow and outflow ports in the four-corner walls of the existing configuration.

This slight change will require the fabrication of four individual Insert-Type of inflow and outflow ports but what makes them simpler is that they can be easily placed, adjusted for angle of flow and removed. No more having to connect and disconnect any hoses. (Except perhaps for the thorough cleaning of the pump and hoses.)

HollowPoint

[HollowPoint]

This is a quick and general CAD rendering of what I hope will be the final iteration of my Automatic-Resin-Mixing Vat.

The dimensions of the vat itself remain basically the same. The only difference are the input and output flow ports.

These will be easily removable and allow for the adjustment of the angle-of-flow. They are designed to slide right into place.

The exact placement within the vat corner walls will be adjusted as soon as I take delivery of the HDPE plastic material I've ordered.

In the mean time I'll continue to run my flow tests with the 3D printed Automatic-Resin-Mixing vats I now have to work with. I'll be uploading those flow tests next week some time.

Incidentally, I went ahead and ordered that slightly more powerful Peristaltic Pump I mentioned in one of my previous post.

I'm starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel for this particular project. I really believe it's going to work out well as a resin mixing tool that doesn't need me to constantly monitor it as my prints are under way.

Please note; this is just a computer rendering. The final vat may have some very slight cosmetic changes but the purpose and the function will be the same.

HollowPoint

[HollowPoint]

I'm starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel with this latest Automatic-Resin-
Mixing Vat project.

I believe I've managed to come up with the final version that will serve my specific needs.

In the past four weeks I've changed my Resin-Mixer design four times. With each different design change I discovered that there was a better or simpler way to make them more efficient and user-friendly.

Versions one, two and four will be pictured at the end of the video. Version four is the Final Version.

Version three is the 3D printed Automatic-Resin-Mixing Vat seen in this Fluid-Flow testing session.

As usual, my videos are unprofessional and kind of choppy but, I think they contain just enough visual information to give you a good idea of what I was attempting to achieve with this Automatic-Resin-Mixing Vat project.

Please take the time to pause the video whenever you see some text coming on screen. It's information that I either screwed up or failed to mention.

The final iteration of my Automatic-Resin-Mixing Vat will be machined out of a piece of solid HDPE plastic.

WHY machine them out of HDPE plastic? In the event that my 3D printed vats cannot or will not hold up when subjected to prolonged contact with non-cured liquid 3D print resin, HDPE plastic is one of the very few types of plastic that I know of that, WILL hold up.

HOW do I Know This?

Go into your resin stash and look on the underside of one of your bottles of resin. You will see in bold embossed lettering, the letters "HDPE."

The plastic bottles used to store, sell and ship the 3D print resin we print with are made of HDPE plastic. This is the reason why I will be machining my two final working prototype Automatic-Resin-Mixing Vats out of this specific type of plastic.

If I find that my 3D printed Automatic-Resin-Mixing Vats DO NOT hold up, then I'll be machining them out of HDPE plastic if or when I ever need more.

For now, I only need a couple of them so, I should be covered either way.

I hope to be upgrading to a slightly larger format resin printer during the holiday sales season. By then I should have everything worked out to where I can either 3D print or machine myself a new Automatic-Resin-Mixing Vat as needed.

I'll be back with updates when I get farther along but, before I end this particular update I just want explain to any who may be new to the progress of this project, why I've designed this Automatic-Resin-Mixing Vat.

It was designed as a tool to be used for increasing -even further- the heat resistance of the "High Heat Resistant" resin I've been working with in order to 3D print my single cavity bullet molds. These bullet molds are used for casting bullets out of molten lead. (625 to 640 degrees Fahrenheit)

I've already succeeded in 3D printing and casting with a slightly altered factory formulation of the Siraya Tech Ultra White resin. It's just that the bullet molds I've 3D printed will only hold up to the heat of the molten lead for about 15 or twenty casts
before they succumb to the overwhelming heat.

By being able to add more porcelain powder to alter the factory formulation of this already great resin, it increases the heat resistance enough to prolong the life of my 3D printed bullet molds even further. The more evenly I can get the added porcelain powder to suspend within the factory formulation of this resin, the higher the heat resistance; AND, the higher the heat resistance, the longer the service life of the 3D printed bullet mold.

This is my reason for coming up with this Automatic-Resin-Mixing Vat design.

I'll be back with updates when I get farther along.

One last thing: Make a mental note. If you start seeing that some or all of the 3D resin printer manufactures start introducing some kind of resin mixing vat of their own with their latest crop of resin printer offerings, now you'll know who they stole the idea from.

https://youtu.be/OKvJ7RY_S7A

[HollowPoint]

My CNC mill has been sitting idle for a little over a year since delving into 3D printing.

What this means for me is that I've just about had to re-learn how to use my mill and the CAM Software that I use to convert my CAD models to the G-Code needed to be able to machine them into existence.

I just about have it all done. I'll be ready to do my machining next week.

I bought just enough HDPE plastic to machine two Automatic-Resin-Mixing vat prototypes. This means I have only enough room to screw up once and still get a good usable resin vat.

I'll also be printing one last vat with my filament 3D printer. I still want to experiment with letting one of my filament printed vats sit full of resin overnight. I want to see with my own eyes exactly if or how the 3D print resin affects the resin vat. The down side to this may be that I'll be ruining some resin if that experiment does go south on me but, I just can't wrap my head around how liquid resin could ruin a solid PETG plastic resin vat. The only way to know for sure is to try it.

I've been told by "Experts" that a 3D printed resin vat will not hold up when subjected to direct contact with liquid un-cured resin. If it fails, then those experts will be able to gloat and tell me, "I Told You So." If it succeeds, well, good. That's what I was hoping for all along.

I know my title states that all my ordered parts have come in; I take that back. I'm still waiting for the silicone rubber gasket material I need to be able to fill my vats with resin so they won't leak; then I can do the testing on the 3D printed vats.

I'll be back with another update next week.

HollowPoint

[HollowPoint]

Just to clarify; I'm not meaning to say that I'll be throwing alot of farts tomorrow. I got all my milling tool paths setup in my CAM software. The computer simulations all looked good but, I want to run through all the tool paths on the mill by letting it go through all the motions without actually cutting anything.

It's been a while since I programmed my mill or machined anything with it so, the pucker-factor will be high when I actually do the cutting. I anticipate my little CNC mill will be spitting out strands of black HDPE plastic spaghetti the likes of which I've never seen before on any of my projects. I've never machined plastics like this before.

I'm happy to report that I got that last 3D filament printed Automatic-Resin-Mixing prototype finished up. It turned out real well too; just like the previous prints. I also made the four little easily-installed, easily-removable and easily-adjustable input and output resin-flow ports.

I was running low on 1/2" aluminum rod so I made those flow-ports in such a way that I could test them with both the 1/4" inside diameter tubing used on the slightly larger peristaltic pump I recently ordered and the smaller 1/8" inside diameter tubing on that slightly smaller pump I had previously ordered.

Through a stroke of Sheer-Dumb-Luck, I found that the slightly larger pump did very well without having to go through the hassles of wiring it with the previously purchased little potentiometer in order to control the flow of the fluid I'd be pumping through it. That was relief because, there are two things that really I suck at. One is mathematics and the other is electronics.

The rubber gasket material I ordered also finally showed up so I was able to completely assemble my newly 3D-filament printed Automatic-Resin-Mixing vat. I filled it with water just to see if it would leak, and to do some quick tests with the new pump. So far so good. I'm letting it sit over night filled with water just to confirm that it doesn't leak

Once I confirm that it's not going to leak while holding a less viscous liquid like water, I'm sure it will do fine holding a thicker liquid like 3D print resin. I'll then fill that same 3D-filament printed resin vat with some 3D print resin and let it sit for a day or two. I'm really curious to see if that non-cured liquid 3D print resin will do any kind of damage to that PETG filament printed vat.

I mentioned before that I was told by the "Experts" that pouring liquid 3D print resin into a 3D printed vat or container would have detrimental effects on those 3D printed containers; or in my case, resin vats. These "Experts" know more about this kind of stuff than I do but I'm holding out hope that they have never personally done such a thing themselves. They were just offering their advice based on what they'd read and not actually on what they'd ever done to prove their claims.

Heck, even if these "Experts" are right and my 3D printed vat melts away into oblivion, I'd be real happy just to have that 3D printed vat hold up for two or three print sessions before it showed signs of failing or succumbing to whatever negative effects that 3D print resin might impart.

That would be more than enough time for me to print up a couple of batches of single cavity bullets molds. This would then allow me to prove my own theory that, thoroughly mixing the added porcelain powder to the factory formulation of the resin I use to print my bullet molds will in fact increase the heat resistance of the molds; and thereby increase the service life of the 3D printed bullet molds.

I don't want to get ahead of myself though. I'll just have to take it one step at a time. I'll try to take some photos of this latest 3D printed Automatic-Resin-Mixing vat within the next couple of days so I can show you all where I'm at with this project. Even if the 3D printed vat doesn't work out, I know now that the HDPE plastic vats that I'll be machining in the next day or two will work out when subjected to prolonged contact with 3D print resin.

I'll be back with more updates later.

HollowPoint

[HollowPoint]

This is just a short video update to show you all where I'm at with this Automatic-Resin-Mixing Vat Project.

As always, my video quality is very low so again I'll be asking you to pause the video whenever you see any kind of text coming on screen. This text is generally something that I screwed up during my ramblings or something I forgot to include.

In addition to this PETG filament 3D printed prototype resin vat, I'll also be machining two additional vats out of HDPE plastic within the next couple of days. That way if my torture tests fail to produce the desired results I'll still have a couple of usable Automatic-Resin-Mixing Vats to work with.

There is an embarrassing side note to all of this. It's something that I had not taken into consideration in the designing, machining or printing of my resin vats. I had not considered the fact that with the larger inside diameter hoses I'll be using to pump my resin into and out-of my Automatic-Resin-Mixing Vats, this means that the four or five ounces of resin I have left to work with will not be enough to actually print my next batch of single cavity bullet molds.

Initially I'm more than sure that everything would work as designed but, even if I put all four or five ounces of the resin I have left into the vat, enough of it would be sucked out of the vat in fairly short order that I'm afraid I'd run the risk sucking in air and blowing out bubbles on
the input flow end. I can't run the risk of bubbles getting into my resin mix. That would be a terrible mistake to make.

If I were printing another batch of single cavity bullet molds without the Automatic-Resin-Mixing Vat as before, I'd have more than enough to print three more bullet molds.

This just means that I'll have to save up some more nickles and dimes to buy another full bottle of the High Heat Resistant 3D print Resin before I can actually print more bullet molds. With the thoroughly mixed resin that this Automatic-Resin-Mixing vat was designed to deliver, (minus the air bubbles) there's a far, far better chance of ultimate success.

I think it's still going to work out for me because I still have the HDPE plastic vats to machine and test, followed by the fabrication of four more input and output flow ports and possibly having to fabricate a couple of the small rectangular metal frames that fit on the underside of each resin vat.

The 3D printed frames I'm using now seem to be working fine but I'd feel more comfortable with ones made of a more rigid material than PETG filament.

By that time I should have the money saved up to buy another bottle of resin. I'm inching my way toward the finish line. I can't wait to print out that next batch of bullet molds. I'm optimistic about the greater durability of my next set of those prototype bullet molds now that I've come up with a way to keep my resin thoroughly mixed.

In the end, I believe that all of this will have been worth while. Not just for me but for any 3D-Print-Nerd that happens to be a bullet caster or mold maker who dreams of 3D printing molds that are able to cast certain types of metals; metals that were formerly out of reach of the 3D resin printer.

Thanks for sticking around for as long as you have. I'll be back to show you all how the machined HDPE plastic Automatic-Resin-Mixing Vats turned out.

Even though it's outside the scope of a couple of the 3D resin print groups that are following this project, I may video record some short snippets of the machining process of those HDPE resin vats too. Why? Because there's more to resin 3D printing than just resin 3D printing.

I'll be back.

https://youtu.be/Amv5r0brkcg

[HollowPoint]

So far so good.

Neither the vat itself or any of the pieces of different types of materials I've left emersed in my 3D resin filled vat show any kind of deterioration or damage. In fact, at this point they all appear to be in no different condition than they were a couple of days ago when I started this testing.

I contacted those "Experts" that had cautioned me about my 3D resin vats not holding up and I got a sense that they were sort of back-peddling in regard to what they had told me.

As I had kind of suspected; none of the three "Experts" I had consulted about this had ever really tried it themselves. Their words of caution were based mainly on book learning more than actual hands-on experience. I'm not knocking them. I only wish I had as much book learning experience as they do but, on the other hand, if I did have this kind book learning under my belt I most likely would not have even tried this to begin with. Sometimes ignorance really is bliss.

So what does this mean in the grand scheme of this project?

Well, I still plan on finishing up the machining of my HDPE prototype vats and using them first but, what this really means is that now I can simply 3D print my Automatic-Resin-Mixing vats as needed; and I can be confident in the fact that they will not melt away or deteriorate into oblivion in short order as was indicated by the "Experts."

Regarding the HDPE vats that I would be machining yesterday:

I did my "Air-Cutting" tests, and everything went exactly as my computer simulations showed that they would BUT, when I went to do the actual cutting on the part, I could immediately tell that something wasn't right cause my end mill was cutting into parts of my HDPE block that it was not supposed to cut into. Fortunately, I caught it in time so as not to ruin a perfectly good piece of HDPE plastic.

Have you ever heard the saying, "Measure Twice, Cut Once?" Well, I did this. I always to this with my projects so this was not to blame for my end mill shaving off parts of my plastic block that it was not supposed to. So this kind of left me scratching my head.

Upon careful inspection I found that the culprit was caused by me "Assuming." When I had cut my blocks of HDPE to size on my table saw, I had "Assumed" that the blade on my saw was at a perfect ninety-degree straight up and down angle to my work piece. Unbeknownst to me it was tilted just enough to result in one side of my HDPE block coming out wider on the top of the block than on the bottom of the block.

So, when I placed it on the mill for machining, I had placed it with the thinner side up. This meant that when I indexed it before cutting, my end mill would naturally be off by the same amount that my crooked saw blade (my "Assuming") had left me with.

Since I caught it in time, I was able to just trim down and square up my block of HDPE and salvage this block of plastic. This also meant that I had to go back into my CAD and CAM software and redo my models and my tool paths to compensate for the slight dimensional changes I had to make to salvage my blocks of HDPE.

I think I got it under control now. Even if I still manage to ruin both blocks of my HDPE vat workpieces, I can still fall back on the fact that if I do manage to screw this up I can simply 3D print them now.

There's light at the end of the tunnel. I can see it more clearly now.

HollowPoint

[HollowPoint]

All of the components for my Automatic-Resin-Mixing Vat are now completed.

I've ordered some additional tubing for my 1/4" Peristaltic pump. The tubing I had previously ordered was a bit too stiff for me to easily thread in and around the tiny work area within my small resin printer.

The new tubing is some of that silicone tubing. It's medical and industrial grade so I'm sure it will hold up well when subjected to extended contact with 3D print resin. My ongoing torture testing has confirmed that it would. The 1/8" tubing I was using for my 1/8" Peristaltic pump was included in my torture testing. It seems to be holding up real well so I see no reason that this incoming 1/4" silicone tubing won't work out for me.

I'll also have to make some slight mods to my printer as well. These mods will be in the form of simply altering the height of the two small vat-anchoring points.

My 3D printed Automatic-Resin-Mixing Vat is 1-1/2" tall. The factory Vat and the HDPE machined vat is 1-1/16" tall. It's a simple modification that will allow me to use either vat by simply adjusting the height of the little vat-anchoring-points up or down.

There is also a small 3D printed housing that I'll have to print for holding my pump in place within or outside of the 3D resin printer but, all of these have already been modeled and will soon be ready to print as well. I just have to decide if I want to place the pump inside or outside of my printer.

It's all coming together. I'll have the money I need to buy another bottle of the High-Heat-Resistant resin within the next few days.

Just to give you all an idea where I'm at with those Flow-Ports, here's a screen shot of the Flow-Ports as they'll be oriented on my filament printer's build plate.

You know: The more I get into this 3D printing stuff the more I'm thinking of selling my CNC mill and just buying a smaller verticle mill instead. It seems that for the kind of projects I've been doing and plan on doing in the future, I can just as easily do them on my 3D printers. Having a small or mid-sized verticle mill will still allow me to do some basic milling when ever I need to.

I'll be back when I get farther along.

HollowPoint

[HollowPoint]

I thought I'd gotten everything done that needed doing.

I also thought that since I live in Arizona I would have no need for an inline heater to keep my resin heated to the optimum temperature for printing with my newly finished Automatic-Resin-Mixing Vats.

It appears that the weather here in Arizona has conspired against me and we've hit a cold snap.

My printer runs in the back storage room where there is no air conditioning or heating. This means that if the weather continues to stay as cool as it's gotten then I'll also have to order the components to build a resin heating setup.

It's nothing that's really hard to do; it's just that it adds to the time it will take me to finally be ready to print some more bullet molds.

The original design of my Automatic-Resin-Mixing vat had already included the option to integrate an inline heating element.

The components I need to print in order to facilitate this inline resin heating pod had already been modeled. It's just that I didn't think I'd ever need to use it. Looks like I was wrong. (again)

I got just about everything else ready to go. The bracket that secures my Peristaltic Pump to the outside-back of my resin printer is done. The Pump-Housing has been printed. The tubing I need and connectors are all ready to go too.

Some of the money that was to be used to buy another bottle of resin will now be diverted to buy the couple of components that will make up my inline resin heater/reservoir.

Below is another CAD rendering of some of the components that I've modeled and printed and some (the smaller components) that I'll be printing in the next couple of days.

I've also included some photos of the partially assembled and installed pump-bracket, pump-housing and other components as well as a shot of the four finished Automatic-Resin-Mixing vats I have to work with once I'm ready to do some actual printing.

Now I just have to wait for my financial stars to align again so that I can get back on track for buying that bottle of resin. I have to mention here that this is just a hobby for me so I don't mind saving up expendable-income to do this kind of stuff. When it comes to budget constraints I like to be meticulous about it. I guess one could even say I'm anal-retentive about it.

Still, once I get rolling on a project I hate having to wait while I stick to my financial guns about all of this.

I'll be back with more updates as I get farther along.

HollowPoint

[HollowPoint]

It was right under my nose all this time.

I have a Spare-Change-Jar on my dresser that I put all my spare change in each time I empty out my pockets.

I generally use this spare change at the end of each year to buy my new hunting and fishing license. It's like an annual ritual that never fails me.

Just out of curiosity I thought I'd check and see just how much spare change I had accumulated this year. Wow: it was enough to pay for my fifty-seven-dollar Hunting/Fishing Combination license with enough left over to buy the Heating element and controller I need to complete the Automatic-Resin-Mixing Vat project.

I'm back in business. With any luck at all I'll be able to do my next single cavity bullet mold print next week some time. Hallelujah! Things are looking up.

In case any of you were wondering; if there had only been enough spare change for one or the other, I would have spent it on the hunting and fishing license for sure.

HollowPoint

[HollowPoint]

Just wanted to let you all know that I'm still here. This project is ongoing; it's just that the holidays and the delivery wait times have set me back some more. I was sure I'd be able to start printing this past week but, not so.

I actually got just about everything ready to go. I'm just waiting on one last-minute part to show up and that should get me to the full-ready-to-print stage. I found that just from sitting for a week or so, the 3D printed frame that screws up into the underside-channel of my vat had begun to buckle at each point where a screw was placed. I need more rigidity in that frame like the one found on the factory resin vats in order to eliminate this waviness. It has to be perfectly flat when installed otherwise the FEP/Clear Plastic sheet on the bottom of the vat will not rest flat on the UV lamp.

Next week will be filled with my annual medical checkups and such followed by a few days of helping out a friend with her pickup truck, then I'll be back on track.

I'll try to take a photo of the mods I had to make to the cabinet of my 3D printer just so you know where I'm at with it. Spoiler-Alert; right now it looks like a Jr. High-School science project that went horribly awry. No matter. I just want to confirm that it's all going to work for me and then I'll deal with refining the curb-appeal.

Incidentally; I've tweaked my Automatic-Resin-Mixing vat's CAD drawing so that I will have them updated to be able to mill a prototype out of aluminum. It's not really necessary since my 3D filament printed vat works just fine. I just want to have it on hand in case I decide to do something more with this project than just use it for personal usage.

HollowPoint

[HollowPoint]

I finally got around to taking some photos of some of the alterations I've made to my 3D resin printer in order to accommodate the taller Automatic-Resin-Mixing vats that I printed with my filament 3D printer and that I milled out of HDPE.

Right now it looks like something out of Frankenstein's laboratory or, like I mentioned in my previous post; "It looks like a Jr. High-School science experiment gone awry."

No matter. I just want to get it to work for now. I'll deal with the aesthetics later.

I did some last-minute fitment tests with everything hooked up so I could raise and lower the build plate to see what kind of clearances I was getting all the way around.

I'm so happy I did these tests because I was fully prepared to do my first prints without ever checking my clearances.

By slowly lowering the build plate I found that I had failed to account for the thickness of the arm that the build plate attaches to.

My build plate would not go all the way down to the home-position. It stopped about a quarter of an inch before reaching the bottom of its movement because it was hitting the top of the rear-most vat wall.

I can easily mill off enough material from the raising and lowering-arm but, I don't want to make any kind of irreversible alterations to my printer.

Up to now, all the mods I've done to accommodate the new Automatic-Mixing-Vat can be easily reversed. At the very least, those mods can be covered over to make them look like they're supposed to be there.

What I ended up doing instead was milling a notch on the rear-most wall of the vat to allow my build plate to be able to travel all the way down to the home-position. Unfortunately, doing this means that I will no longer have a new vat that is capable of holding more resin than the factory vat.

This just means that it was a good idea to incorporate an additional resin reservoir to hold the additional resin I'd need to keep the vat filled high enough throughout the print session for the pump not to start sucking in air and blowing bubbles into the vat.

In some of my recent posts I made it a point to mention more or less, the estimated time before I'd finally get to the actual print session to print out my next batch of single cavity bullet molds.

I'm going to have to stop doing that because it seems that each time I throw out a timeline, something comes up to throw a monkey-wrench in the works. It's like I put the whammy on myself or my project by stating when I'll be printing another bullet mold.

At this point I just want to say that this project IS moving forward. I'm just reluctant to give any set date when I'll be printing up another batch of bullet molds; other than to say, Soon; hopefully very soon. I've got everything ready to go now, except for the free time to do it in.

UPDATE: Wouldn't you know it? After I went to the trouble of milling that slot on the rear-most wall of my 3D printed Vat in order to get the clearance I needed for my Build-Plate to reach its Home-Position, I discovered that I could have simply lengthened the little metal trigger that trips the Homing/Limit-Switch just before the Build-Plate reaches the Home position.

This will require another modification to get the build plate to reach down low enough into the taller Automatic-Resin-Mixing vat to get to the Home-Position. I wish I would have discovered this earlier. It would have kept me from hacking up a perfectly good 3D printed Automatic-Resin-Mixing vat. Now I have to make a couple of easily swapped-out little extension plates.

Imagine if I would have gone ahead and milled off some material on the arm that the Build-Plate attaches to. I'm glad I decided against it. This is what happens when I get into to much of a darn hurry.

Oh well, I have enough filament left on that last roll of PETG filament I bought to print out one more of the taller Automatic-Resin-Mixing vats; then I think I'll be home-free. I've already started that print. It should be done when I wake up tomorrow morning; unless of course, I just put the whammy on myself again.

HollowPoint

[HollowPoint]

I Think, but I'm not sure that at this point I'm waiting for one last piece of this puzzle to arrive.

Back when I first started posting this project over on the Epax 3D Resin printer Group on Facebook; as well as the Siraya Tech 3D Resin Printing Group and the 3D Resin Printing Group, I got alot of support from all of these parties.

All the way up until a very small number of Anti-Anything-Having-To-Do-With-The Shooting-Sports individuals started raising a fuss about the subject matter of my projects. It didn't matter to them that my project centered around 3D resin printing and this new High-Heat-Resistant application for resin printing that I was working on.

All that seemed to matter to these two or three individuals was that my project seem to trigger them into enough of a frenzy that I got the distinct impression that the administrators of these groups started showing signs of caving into the pressure of political correctness. They were afraid of having their groups shut down by the Facebook supreme authority.

Although I believe they still supported me and my projects, they seemed kind of antsy from that point on. It was then that I quit posting updates of my project on these groups. Only by linking my 3D printed bullet molds project to my YouTube account did it seem to relieve some of the pressure being felt by the administrators of these Facebook groups.

I mention all of this because up till then, certain individual within these groups were graciously providing help in the form of resin to work with and insights into chemical reactions and compatibility when different resins came into contact with different print filaments. Stuff Like That.

Now, this project is finally winding down. One of the above supporters had graciously agreed to send me out what I'm hoping is the last component needed to finally be ready to print again. I'm now waiting for a factory configured little metal frame. It's the frame that secures the clear-sheet of FEP to the underside of the resin vat.

While I've been waiting, I've used the time to fabricate the modified components that are needed to get my Build-Plate to stop at the correct Home-Level even with the slightly taller 3D printed Automatic-Resin-Mixing Vats in place.

I mentioned in my last post that I'd be printing one last resin vat after needlessly butchering the rear-most vat-wall on my previously 3D filament printed resin vat. That last vat I 3D filament printed came out even better than the previous ones I printed so, as far as having some good usable resin vats to work with, I'm good to go.

Below are a couple more photos of the modified components I had to fabricate in order to get the little-flat-metal-switch of the Optical-Sensor's timing just right; and also, to get my Build-Plate to reach down into the taller Automatic-Resin-Mixing Vat to the correct Home-Position.

It wasn't as easy as I initially though it would be. It took me a couple of tries to get the timing just right. This was due to the way the optical switch seems to function.

As a quick analogy: if you've ever ridden in an elevator, you sense the elevator slow as you reach the floor you're going to. The elevator seems to then go just a tiny bit past the level of the floor you pushed the button for it to stop at. It will then slowly move upward just slightly above the floor level and from there it will slowly come down to match the exact height of the intended floor.

The Optical-Sensor and the little Metal-Trigger-Switch seem to work in a similar fashion. I had to get the length of the small flat Metal-Trigger-Switch just the right length in order to get my Build-Plate to come to the exact Home-Position.

And so now I wait; again.

I'll be back as I get farther along.

HollowPoint

[HollowPoint]

I spent the better part of this morning testing my pump setup with both the new Automatic-Resin-Mixing vat and the Inline-Reservoir filled with the premixed resin I'd prepared.

Although the pump worked as designed, I found that it tended to suck all of the resin out of the reservoir and just transfer that volume of resin up into the vat.

It would then proceed to suck air out of the reservoir and blow bubbles into the resin already in my Automatic-Resin-Mixing vat. That seemed strange to me because I had envisioned an equal amount of resin being both sucked out of the vat as was cycled through the reservoir.

I fiddled around with hose lengths and resin levels in the vat and the reservoir and in the end, I decided to just run my inflow and outflow hoses directly into the vat and forgo the use of the reservoir. That seemed to do the trick.

I started getting a good even flow of resin coming into and going out of my new 3D printed Automatic-Resin-Mixing vat.

This also brought to light another problem I thought I had already taken care of; that was, thoroughly cleaning any residual specks of 3D print filament-dust or strands from the newly printed vat.

It took me about a half hour of manually sifting the resin in the vat with one of my resin strainers till I finally felt comfortable enough to consider my Altered-Formulation-Resin clean enough for use in printing.

Having done this pump testing, I see now that there is a couple more precautions I can take to increase the likelihood of getting good prints using this method in the future but for now, I've run out of patience so, I went ahead and started another print.

Since I went through the process of pre-mixing the resin I planned to use, and it was already in the vat with the pump running I decided to pull the trigger.

As I write this update this latest print has been running for about an hour. Honestly, I'm afraid to pause it to take a look to see if anything good is happening under my build plate. I'll probably let it run a bit longer before I check. I can't let it run too long because if something has gone south on me it could mean me risking some cured resin getting trapped and crushed between the build plate and the UV lamp.

I'll be back to let you know how it went. Assuming that all goes well, it's a five-hour-plus print.

Oh yea, I forgot to mention: my inline reservoir also had as a part of its makeup, the integral heating element. When I decided not to use the reservoir this meant that the resin would no longer be heated as it circulated.

I manually heated the resin with my hot-air gun. I then wove the heating element around the inside wall of the printer-cabinet to hopefully keep the temperature inside the 3D printer at a temperature more conducive to keeping it at least close to the optimum temperature for this particular resin.

Pray for me brethren and sistren. I have big plans for a certain cast lead bullet design once I get this project and all of its components dialed in and working reliably.

HollowPoint

[HollowPoint]

My Automatic-Resin-Mixing Vat worked great. It showed absolutely no negative effects by being subjected to either the resin or the pump flow.

Weaving the pump-hoses the way I did left me with plenty of clearance for my Build-Plate to freely move up and down.

The Build-Plate and Limit-Switch mods all worked reliably as intended and yet, the attempted print was a dismal failure.

I did get a partial print out of it but that partial print showed distinct layer lines that were not there when I printed those previous batches of bullet molds.

Some of you may remember me mentioning a mathematical formula for orienting my models on my Build-Plate so as to give the smoothest Flat-Surface-Finish possible for a given 3D resin printer. Well, in my case this just didn't prove to work at all. I'll be reverting back to simply orienting my models flat, directly onto the Build-Plate from here on out.

Using this mathematical formula to calculate the optimum orientation angle meant that I had to use supports in order to hold my models at this specific "Optimum-Angle." I believe it was the combination of this, "Optimum-Angle" using the model-supports, and the fact that I was not able to keep my resin heated to the "Optimum-Heat-Level" that did me in.

Also, I had mentioned in my previous update that I was getting air bubbles because my pump was sucking all the resin out of my inline reservoir and just dumping it into my resin-vat.

During my cleanup of this print debacle, I found out what had really been causing all of those air bubbles. It turns out that one of the 3D filament-printed ports running into my reservoir had cracked at its base underneath the lid of the reservoir and I didn't know about it until I went to clean out the little 4oz reservoir. When I went to unscrew the lid on that reservoir the tip or nipple of one of those ports just broke the rest of the way off.

SO; what this means is that I'll be replacing those particular components with components I'll be fabricating on my metal lathe. It shouldn't take to long but the fact that I'm having to take the long way around is a bit disconcerting.

If I hadn't been so impatient, if I had just taken the time to do a bit more testing; this is one of those, "Coulda-Shoulda-Woulda" moments.

In my own defense, I'd like to repeat that I am not an engineer. I'm not even a machinist. I'm just a chronic Do-It-Yourselfer who tends to learn by trial and error. (mostly error)

At this point I have no doubt it's all going to work once I get it all dialed in. It's the time that it's taking for me to get it dialed in that's driving me nuts.

I'll be taking some time off to get some much-needed home repair stuff out of the way. Recent rains in our area has shown me that my house needs to be re-roofed. I can probably have those new aluminum components made up within a couple of days but even then, it will be a week or so before I can get back on this project to bring it to its' completion.

Here's a photo of the partial print I got this time around. I hope it's not too washed out to show the layer lines I was talking about. I'm also including a closeup of the broken port that broke on my inline resin reservoir and another CAD rendering of the way I had oriented my models on my build-plate in order to give me that, "Optimum-Angle" that didn't work worth a darn.

I shall return.

HollowPoint.

[HollowPoint]

I'm still here.

Finally got over the flu, now it's on to the home repairs I had planned before the flu bug stung me.

I'll be back on this project as soon as I can.

HollowPoint

[HollowPoint]

Some of you may have wondered whatever happened to this project.

Well, I'm still here and I still plan on completing this project but, I went from having to re-roof my house to catching the flu bug, to being hit by a Sinus-Infection-From-Hell. It's kept me down for the past -going on- three months now.

I thought I'd gotten these sinus problems taken care of last year but, it has re-occurred, and it appears that it will take some sinus-surgery to give me my life back.

It's been so bad that I haven't been able to go fishing or shooting. The smell of just about anything chemical or synthetic just seems to exacerbate the intensity of this sinus infection.

I've known for quite a while that I have a deviated septum. My Ear, Nose and Throat specialist has indicated that this may in large part have something to do with this lingering sinus problem. Just about the time it starts to feel like it's clearing up, it comes on again like gangbusters.

I hope to get back on this project to bring it to its' successful conclusion in a few weeks. Right now, I'm just waiting to hear from my insurance people to see exactly how much of this surgery they will cover.

I know this isn't the place on this forum for this kind of stuff but if any of you are of the praying type, I'd appreciate you putting in a word with the good Lord for my speedy recovery.

I'd like to get my life back as soon as possible. I'd like to be able to go fishing and shooting again and I'd like to be able to do so using my home-made fishing baits and reloaded cast bullets.

I just wanted to let you all know that this project is still live. I've just had to put it on the backburner until I can get these medical issues cleared up.

Over N Out for now. I be back.

HollowPoint