I’m hoping to start assembling and using my MR1 over the next couple months (finally). I’d like to test my programs on a cheap material first. Other than scrap, do you all use machining wax or something else for that? For those that do, where do you get your supply from and how expensive is it? Are there better alternatives besides what you happen to have in your shop?
I have used scrap hard wood (maple, walnut, etc.) when I want to test things before committing to expensive metal.
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Yea, I get that any type of hard scrap material is the least expensive (free) but what about if you don’t have that?
“Test” your programs??
What in the world? People do that? You don’t just cover your eyes and hit run?
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It may be difficult to find exactly what you are looking for. Check with you local metal supplier, fab shops and scrap yards. Most will sell you their drops for scrap prices.
Well unless you plan to be competition.
On a good day I run my programs through a visual simulation software such as NC Corrector. But otherwise I just let it eat most of the time.
On tight tolerance stuff I’ll toss in a cut off end of some leftovers from other parts to check diameters or threads, but that’s when I have time to spare or haven’t proven a particular thread size or tool before. Wax could be cool though.
This is a good option for picking up cheap material. I lucked into several drops of 316 stainless rd bar for cheap last year. Also got some bigger drops of ductile iron later from the same shop for free since they had my number.
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I have had good luck with MachinableWax.com. I bought cheap silicone molds from Amazon and make my own blocks of wax. The chips get saved and mixed with new pellets in a 50/50 ratio. You can really stretch out the material.
They sell 10lb bags for $50 if you don’t mind brown:
https://machinablewax.com/machinable-wax-pelletized-10-pound-box/
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I looked at them and wondered where they fell on the pricing compared to others. I’m not sure I want to deal with having to melt and form it. What kind of sizes have you molded from a 10 lbs bag? Have you ever done the whole bag? I’m kind of wondering what volume you get from it and how it compares to buying their blocks.
My first parts I need to make on it are with a relatively expensive material for me and I only bought enough for the qty that I need. So I really want to make sure I have the process and program down before I do it on the real material.
The biggest I’ve done so far is 9"x5"x3" or so. I mostly make small parts and have not used a whole bag. Melting is pretty straight forward. I just fill a mold with the pellets and put it in the oven @ 270 or so. Alternatively, if you don’t want to smell up the house or spill wax in the oven, you can do it in a pot and pour it into a warmed mold. I used a candy thermometer to monitor the temp.
The pellets are the exact same material used in their blocks. When you buy their blocks you are paying for them to melt it and shape it. The pellets are about 50% cheaper for the same volume of material - if my math is right.
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That’s great information. So about double the cost for the convenience of not having to mold it. I suppose the whole point of it is that you can re-melt and reuse it so I’ll probably need to set up an easy way for me to do that regardless.
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Check Amazon, online metals or eBay. I’ve gotten machinist wax blocks from both. It didn’t seem expensive at the time but I’m not up on price matching/beating vs convenience so I don’t do a ton of searching.
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