The Difference Between 3D Printing and Vacuum Casting

3D printing means that after the drawing is designed, a sample needs to be made by 3D printing or CNC processing to test the appearance and functional structure. The vacuum casting refers to the prototyping of a silicone mold, and then in a vacuum environment through the mold for batch copy of the prototype. So what is the difference between these two processing methods? Let's introduce it for you.

Different precision

        Although the accuracy of the 3d printing is not very high, only about 0.1mm. Some 3d printers may print out a slightly higher hand plate. However, the precision of the vacuum casting is lower, only 0.2mm, and for customers who need to do precision hand plates, they will certainly not choose vacuum casting.

Different processing materials

        3d printing can mainly print photosensitive resin, nylon, ABS, and some 3d printing can print metal prototype (such as stainless steel and aluminum alloy). The vacuum casting can only copy the hand plate like plastic, and the metal hand plate cannot be done.

Different charging methods

       To do 3d printing, the handboard factory will calculate the weight of the raw materials required for your handboard according to your 3d drawings (in g), and then multiply it by the price per gram of raw materials. Vacuum casting need to make a prototype with CNC or SLA in advance, and then use the prototype to make a silicone mold, and then copy through the silicone mold. Therefore, when calculating the price of the casting, we need to estimate the price of the prototype, the price of the silicone mold and the price of each casting, and then calculate the sum of these three prices.

        Therefore, the 3d printing and the vacuum casting are mainly different in terms of accuracy, processing materials and charging methods.

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