Hi Jan,

Do you every use lost wax casting to make prototype metal parts? Do you use A CNC mill for prototype parts and if so is it hard to program?

Tom, we have used lost wax before for some Tom,
We have used lost wax before for some of our prototypes. For our patterns we actually used RP parts from a 3dSystems machine that uses wax as the build material. It took some trials, but with some perseverance we got usable parts in aluminum.
We have several CNC machines here that are used regularly; a large 4 foot by 8 foot gantry router from ShopBot ® that is great for large parts in foam, plastics and MDF. We have a small detail machine from Roland® with a forth axis used on projects like the grading pen. When then have a full function 3 axis CNC from Tormach® that can cut anything which we use for the bulk of our machining. Difficulty of programming depends on what you are looking to create. 2D parts cut from dxf files are very easy when compared to surface machining a complex 3d shape. There are many software solutions available at all price ranges depending on what you are trying to achieve and what type of machine you are working with. Good luck
Ian

Jan I’m starting to salivate you have access to some great toys.

Fifteen years ago I designed a casting machine to compete very economically with the high priced German and Italian casting machines for the jewelry industry. I started to build it but never finished. I thought at the time it would be great for prototyping as well as jewelry manufacturing. The machine would have taken a lot of the guess work out of the temperamental casting process. But I guess a lot of that type of metal work can be done on small CNC mills.

Where do you guys go as far as resources, who do you contact when your put up to the challenge?

If anyone at all? I mean you are professionals its kinda like calling yourselves lol.

t depends on the situation. A good example is rapid prototyping. While we do have a Dimension 3d printer in house that runs nearly 100 hours a week, we do not have an any other machines such as SLA, SLS, polyjet, DLS…these machines often need more space, some need ventilation and can use many different types of materials for different purposes. We have found that this is such a competitive market that we are able to get reasonable pricing and turn around without the need to maintain and house such equipment.