Consumer-grade resin for 3-D printing introduced

Emeryville, Calif.--A California-based company said it is releasing a new 3-D printable material for jewelers called FireCast Resin, a consumer-grade resin compatible with more affordable printers and made specifically for casting metal parts.

MadeSolid Inc. said that it created this new resin to fill a void it saw in the marketplace. 

While there are resins on the marketplace for casting metal parts, they are at the higher end. Although FireCast does work on some of those printers, it primarily was designed to be compatible with printers priced below $5,000, opening the door for more jewelry and metal casters.

Additionally, most of those resins are tied to one type of machine. FireCast was made to work on a number of SLA/DLP printers that are more common among jewelers and more affordable, including Form1, B9 Creator, and Deep Imager 5.

FireCast offers the ability to print intricate jewelry designs in resin, replacing the step of creating a wax figure with a process that costs less. It is also unique in that it leaves no ash or residue when it burns out during the heating phase of investment casting, offering a clean cast with a high resolution. 

The company said that it worked with a variety of casters and beta testers across the country to help develop the resin, including Mind-2-Matter in San Leandro, Calif., to ensure that what they created met standard requirements.

It is available beginning today for $199 per 500-gram bottle. More information can be found on the MadeSolid website.

MadeSolid is a 3-D printer materials company that focuses on researching, developing and producing new materials for 3-D printing applications. The company currently specializes in consumer-level FFF and SLA technologies including thermoplastic filament and UV curable resin.

As 3-D printing continues to grow, more focus has been put on creating technology and machines with the jewelry industry in mind.

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Earlier this year, U.K.-based Cooksongold announced a strategic partnership with consultancy firm A3DM Technologies to bring the 3D printing of precious metals to customers in North America. Cooksongold launched its M 080 direct metal laser sintering machine along with its associated precious metal powders.

Also this spring, J. Tyler Teague, an independent consultant in the jewelry industry and owner of JETT Research, and Jeff Hoover of Jeff Hoover Designs partnered to introduce Proto Products to be a licensed