I haven’t done any casting experiments for a while.
Let’s give it a go. Hey guys,
I’ve been pleased with my recent castings and I’m finding I can capture detail fairly consistently
these days. As I’ve been turning my hand to CAD work as well, I’ve been wondering just how
little depth I need to capture detail. In the past I’ve always aired on the side of caution,
raising faces by at least half a millimetre or more. But could I get away with less?
If you look at a coin, for example, there’s so little height in the layers
that they can barely be felt, and whilst I know coins are stamped rather than cast, I
fancied finding out what I could achieve. So I set about creating a coin.
Its dimensions were 40mm wide and 2.5mm deep, which is pretty large for a coin.
My aim was to draw something into existence using thin layers of virtual clay.
Depth is something I have trouble with in CAD sculpture. It’s hard to gauge just how proud
your details will stand from the surface. If it’s not deep enough, detail might not show.
If it’s too deep, it may stand out too proudly and look odd. I guess that’s the sort of thing
you need to learn through experience, but I fancied trying to get a head start on it.
When I was making my tentacled Kraken ring a couple of weeks ago, a few folks said
they thought it was going to be Squidward. As if I would ever do anything like that…
Of course a coin has two sides to it…
so what could I add to the other? Handsome Squidward of course.
I will say at this point, when I drew this first side, I felt I was laying the clay on too thick.
So on the second side, I strived to be more subtle. Only a print would determine the truth.
Printing on my Phrozen Sonic 4K using the Siraya Tech Cast resin, I was astounded by
the results. I expected the layer lines, even though I maximised the antialiasing,
as I’d printed the coin vertically. But it felt huge to me. Obviously it’s not,
but it felt it, and the detail practically leapt forward; it was so prominent.
So I couldn’t resist. I had to print one that was 60% the size of the first one.
And I may as well do 50%. And why not try a 40% as well. I was certain these wouldn’t print,
but I gave them a go anyway. But print they did and whilst
it may be difficult for you to see, I could actually discern some detail.
Now I was feeling intrigued enough to try casting them. The smallest print was tiny and just a tad
over 1mm in depth. I didn’t hold out much hope, but that’s what experiments are for.
Incredibly all four have cast. Whether we can see anything or not is another matter.
Well they’ve come out surprisingly well. I would imagine you’re seeing them magnified on a screen
so the smallest ones may look a little vague,
which they are, but in the real world, in my hand, they look great. It’s truly surprised me.
This smallest coin is barely a millimetre deep.
I never imagined it would cast, but here’s the proof.
On close-up the detail is vague so maybe I’m finding the limits of 3D printing to casting. But
more experiments are needed before I can say that. But overall it’s clear that the slightest of depth
can register as detail, so keep that in mind with your CAD work.
I hope you enjoyed this little experiment in casting extremes.
So take care guys and thanks for watching.