Overview
Turns resin or wax masters into metal pieces via lost-wax casting, DMLS, or small-batch bench fabrication—rings, pendants, charms, and custom hardware.
Quick facts
- Difficulty
- Intermediate
- Best for
- Metal · lost-wax / direct
- Typical output
- Rings, Pendants, Charms
- Typical cost
- Resin master print $5–$50/part; casting $20–$200+ per piece at volume
Excellent for
- Custom rings, pendants, and charms★★★★★
- Designer hardware and small metal badges★★★★★
- Limited runs before mass manufacturing★★★★★
Compatible with
Pros & cons
Pros
- ✔Custom rings, pendants, and charms
- ✔Designer hardware and small metal badges
- ✔Limited runs before mass manufacturing
Cons
- ✘Large structural parts (use CNC or machining)
- ✘Same-day turnaround without casting queue time
Creator & maker guides
Equipment
- Resin printer (castable resin)
- Vacuum / centrifugal casting setup
- Bench tools (files, polisher, torch)
Materials
- Castable resin (for burnout masters)
- Sterling silver, brass, bronze, gold alloys
- Investment powder for flasks
- Sprues, wax wire, and casting trees
Machine settings
No items yet.
Quality control
No items yet.
Best practices
- 1Design masters with sprue attachment points in mind.
- 2Minimum wall thickness depends on metal—ask your caster.
- 3Export STL in millimeters; verify ring size with a mandrel chart.
- 4Resin-print masters for casting; FDM is rarely castable without coating.
Common mistakes
Non
castable resin leaving ash in investment
Wall thickness too thin for metal flow
Wall thickness too thin for metal flow
Porosity from too
fast cooling or dirty metal
STL scale wrong
ring sizes must be exact
Troubleshooting
| Symptom | Cause | Solution |
|---|---|---|
| Non-castable resin leaving ash in investment | See guides below for context | Review creator/maker tabs and troubleshooting table |
| Wall thickness too thin for metal flow | See guides below for context | Review creator/maker tabs and troubleshooting table |
| Porosity from too-fast cooling or dirty metal | See guides below for context | Review creator/maker tabs and troubleshooting table |
| STL scale wrong—ring sizes must be exact | See guides below for context | Review creator/maker tabs and troubleshooting table |
Helpful tools
DPI & resolution calculator
SoonImage size calculator
SoonBleed generator
SoonAspect ratio calculator
SoonHeat press time & temperature
SoonSublimation wrap calculator
Soon