Formlabs Clear Cast Resin (Form 4) 1L

Clear Cast Resin - 1 L

Formlabs Clear Cast Resin is a specialized material designed for the direct production of high-fidelity investment casting patterns. Engineered to replace traditional molded wax, it allows foundries and engineers to move from digital design to a cast metal part in record time. With best-in-class low thermal expansion and a clean burnout profile, Clear Cast Resin ensures the integrity of ceramic shells, virtually eliminating the risk of cracking during the burnout process.

This material is particularly effective for larger engineering components, excelling at producing geometries thicker than 3mm. When paired with latticing software to create hollowed patterns, it provides an accessible in-house solution that reduces costs and turnaround times while allowing for complex geometries that are impossible with traditional tooling. It is fully antimony-free and contains no trace heavy metals, leaving a low-ash residue that prevents contamination of the final cast part.

Key features and industrial benefits:

• Low thermal expansion: Formulated to minimize internal pressure on casting shells, ensuring reliable results with minimal cracking.
• Clean, low-ash burnout: Achieves a residue-free burnout (<0.20% ash) with no trace metals, ensuring high-purity metal castings.
• Exceptional accuracy: Capable of producing patterns within 0.25mm of the original CAD design for tight-tolerance engineering applications.
• Tool-free iteration: Direct printing of patterns eliminates the need for expensive metal moulds, enabling rapid design changes and low-volume production.
• Universal compatibility: Works seamlessly with standard metal alloys and investment shelling systems used in modern foundries.

Common applications:

• Industrial investment casting: Producing patterns for pump housings, impellers, and complex mechanical brackets.
• Direct pattern production: Replacing wax patterns for medium-to-large scale casting projects.
• Functional metal prototypes: Creating metal components for aerospace, automotive, and manufacturing validation.
• Bespoke tooling: Manufacturing custom metal parts without the lead times of traditional machining or molding.

Compatibility:

Clear Cast Resin is optimized for the professional Formlabs SLA ecosystem:

• Printers: Formlabs Form 4, Form 4B, Form 3+, Form 3B, and Form 3L.
• Resin Tanks: Compatible with all standard resin tanks for the respective printers.

Post-processing and workflow:

• Washing: Wash patterns in Isopropyl Alcohol (IPA) using the Form Wash.
• Curing: Post-curing is essential to achieve the material's full strength and dimensional stability. Cure in the Form Cure according to the official material settings.
• Burnout Preparation: After curing and support removal, any drain holes used for hollowing should be plugged with wax before the pattern is attached to a casting tree.
• Resources: Technical Data Sheet (TDS) | Investment Casting White Paper