3D WERK
JEWELLER'S GUIDE · WAX OR RESIN
PRINTED WAX OR CASTABLE RESIN
Resin burns.
Wax melts out.
Printed in 100% wax, your patterns soften and drain out low in the burnout cycle your workshop already runs. The same kind of investment, the same flasks, the same casting kit. Here is what actually changes at the bench and in the kiln.
Before you start
This guide is general information to help you get the most from your WaxJet. It does not replace the Flashforge manuals, the safety data sheets for your materials or your own safety checks. Where they differ, follow the manufacturer's instructions and safety data sheets. Isopropyl alcohol (IPA) is highly flammable, and warm IPA gives off more vapour. Flashforge's manual uses a mix of PPG400, ethanol and IPA at 40 °C, never above 43 °C. Ethanol is also highly flammable. Keep it away from heat, sparks and open flames, heat it only with equipment suited to flammable liquids, use it in a well-ventilated area, and wear suitable PPE such as gloves and eye protection. Investment powder contains crystalline silica, and wax burnout and metal melting give off fumes, so use ventilation and the PPE your safety data sheets list. As a business, you are responsible for work health and safety in your workshop, including risk assessment and how you store, use and dispose of chemicals. See our Terms and Conditions.
100%
WAX
68°C
MELTS OUT
0
UV CURE
0
CLIPPING
01
What happens in the kiln
05
Side by side
02
What is left behind
06
Where resin fits
03
From file to furnace
07
Questions we hear
04
At the bench
08
Where to next
1
What happens in the kiln
Lost-wax casting was built around one idea: the pattern melts and runs out of the mould. Printed wax does exactly that. Castable resin is a cured plastic, so it has to take a different route out.
PRINTED WAX
Melts, like the wax you know
The red model wax melts at 68°C. It softens and drains out early in the cycle, the way a carved or injected wax does, long before the flask reaches casting temperature. It runs on the kind of investment and burnout cycle your workshop already uses for wax.
CASTABLE RESIN
Stays solid until it turns to gas
A cured resin pattern cannot melt. It stays rigid in the mould, expanding as it heats, until it breaks down into gas. That is why resin needs its own burnout cycle, and often its own investment.
The investment shelf tells the story
Investment makers now sell separate high expansion, reinforced powders designed to survive resin patterns, to stop the cracking and finning they can cause. Printed wax needs no special powder. It goes into good quality investment made for wax patterns, as your carved waxes do today. Wax still expands as it warms: in a 2024 lab test a solid sample of one FDM printing wax pushed about twice as hard as an injection wax, though its porous printed parts did better and the WaxJet's wax was not tested, so keep the full bench set and your maker's ramps.
2
What is left behind
Every pattern leaves something for the burnout to clear. The difference is how much.
Printed wax: a trace
The wax drains out early and the cavity opens. The high temperature stage then burns off the thin film left behind, down to ash of under 0.01% of the pattern weight.
Castable resin: char first
Resin chars on its way to gas, and one published paper puts that char at 15% or more of the pattern weight. A good soak normally clears it. If it does not fully burn off, it can show up as black inclusions in the metal.
A wax model behaves like wax. It softens and drains out before the flask ever sees casting heat.
3
From file to furnace
Same design, same casting. The difference is everything in between.
Up to three more stages on a resin batch: a UV cure for many castable resins, a cut at every support touchpoint, and the marks sanded back. Printed wax supports dissolve in the bath, so the patterns go straight to the tree.
No clipping
The support is a second, dissolvable wax. There are no posts to cut around a claw setting or a gallery.
One batch, one bath
The whole build goes into warm IPA at once. No curing unit to buy, run or wait for.
No exposure drift
The WaxJet jets wax rather than curing resin with light, so there is no exposure setting to chase as resin batches, bottles and light sources age. The print head still needs routine care and nozzle checks.
4
At the bench
Here is how the same pattern gets from the build plate to the sprue base each way.
Spruing
A printed wax pattern joins a wax sprue with a wax pen, like any other wax pattern, so the whole tree is wax. Resin patterns are joined with sticky wax or glue, and a leading resin maker's own casting guide recommends real wax sprues, because they melt out early and give the pattern air.
Handling
Casting wax is typically not classified as hazardous. Castable resin safety data sheets carry skin sensitisation warnings (H317), and some also carry the signal word Danger. Sensitisation can last for years and sometimes for life, so avoid all skin contact and wear gloves., which can take a skilled bench hand off resin work for good.
Your process stays
Wax patterns go on the same kind of tree, into the same flasks, on a standard wax burnout. Nothing in the casting room has to be relearned.
5
Side by side
What actually changes at the bench and at the furnace, for a workshop casting in-house.
Burnout
PRINTED WAX
100% wax. Melts out in the low temperature stage your cycle already has.
CASTABLE RESIN (LCD / DLP)
Its own burnout cycle, and often an investment powder made for high expansion patterns.
Residue
PRINTED WAX
Ash under 0.01% of the pattern weight. A trace for the furnace to clear.
CASTABLE RESIN (LCD / DLP)
Chars before it gasifies. Published figures put that char at 15% or more of the pattern weight.
Mould integrity
PRINTED WAX
Softens and drains before the flask sees casting heat. Your usual investment.
CASTABLE RESIN (LCD / DLP)
Cannot melt. Stays rigid and expanding until it gasifies. Investment makers sell reinforced powders to resist it.
Supports
PRINTED WAX
Dissolvable support. The batch goes into a solvent bath and comes out clean. No clipping.
CASTABLE RESIN (LCD / DLP)
Cut at every touchpoint, and the marks sanded back on the pattern or on the finished metal.
Post-processing
PRINTED WAX
Solvent bath, the whole build at once. No cure step.
CASTABLE RESIN (LCD / DLP)
Wash, dry, then a UV cure for many castable resins. An extra stage and extra kit.
Repeatability
PRINTED WAX
No exposure setting to drift and no light source to age, but the print head still needs routine care and nozzle checks.
CASTABLE RESIN (LCD / DLP)
Exposure drifts with resin batch, bottle age, light source wear and room temperature.
Spruing
PRINTED WAX
Joins a wax sprue with a wax pen, like any wax pattern. Wax through the whole tree.
CASTABLE RESIN (LCD / DLP)
Joined with sticky wax or glue. Use real wax for the main sprue and any large feeds, because wax melts out early and gives the expanding resin room. Small printed feeders are fine for fine detail.
Handling
PRINTED WAX
Casting wax. Typically not classified as hazardous.
CASTABLE RESIN (LCD / DLP)
Many safety data sheets read Danger: may cause an allergic skin reaction.
6
Where resin still makes sense
A good workshop uses the right tool for each job, and resin printers are good tools.
Resin is great for
Fit checks, mock-ups and try-ons where nothing gets cast. Masters for rubber moulds. Chunky, low detail pieces with generous sections. Resin printers also cost far less, the patterns stand up to handling better, and they hold the finest wire and the thinnest walls. Weighing up the cost of a wax printer? Our jewellery cost calculator compares it with what you pay a bureau.
Wax earns its place in the flask
When the pattern has to survive the furnace and come out as metal, printed wax does what casting was built for. It melts out on your usual wax cycle, leaves only a trace behind, and skips the cure, the clipping and the sanding.
Keep your resin printer. Many workshops run both: resin for proofs and try-ons, the WaxJet 51C for the patterns that go into the flask.
7
Questions we hear
Is it real wax?
Yes. The WaxJet 51C prints 100% castable wax, not a wax-filled resin. The red model wax melts at 68°C, so the pattern melts out in the kiln the way a carved wax does.
Does castable resin cast well too?
It can, with the right powder and cycle, and plenty of casters make it work. The difference is how much has to go right. Printed wax runs on the wax process you already know.
Is printed wax fragile?
Handle it as you would a fine wax pattern, and test fit it before you cast. Handle it with soft-tipped tweezers and gloves, and it will be fine. Resin is tougher in the hand, which is why some workshops keep a resin printer for try-ons.
Can I use my usual investment?
Use a good quality investment made for wax patterns, and follow its maker's burnout schedule, just as you would for carved or injected wax. No resin powder needed.
Do wax patterns need curing or sanding?
No UV cure and no clipping. The support dissolves in warm IPA. As with any pattern, check it under magnification before it goes on the tree.
How fine can it print?
The WaxJet 51C prints 15 µm layers at up to 2900 × 2900 × 1700 dpi, with ±0.04 mm accuracy per 20 mm. That suits fine settings and filigree. Print a test piece of your smallest seat or wire first.
WHERE TO NEXT
Keep reading
See printed wax for yourself
Tell us what you cast, and we will show you what the WaxJet 51C can do for your workshop.
GUIDE 5 OF 13 · PATTERNS
THE BIG PICTURE
1 · DESIGN
2 · PATTERNS
3 · CASTING
4 · AFTER CASTING