Casting Molds and Silver Jewelry Made with ZMorph 2.0 SX

With the help of a ZMorph 2.0 SX Multitool 3D Printer and 3D printed molds, a talented designer was able to manufacture her own unique silver jewelry.

Desktop-size multitool 3D printers won’t replace professional jewelry and industrial 3D printers, but a machine like ZMorph 2.0 SX can be used to quicken the traditional manufacturing process while lowering its costs. Paula Szarejko, who designs and fabricates her own 3D printed jewelry, proved this recently with her collection of unique silver ornaments. Furthermore, her process can be applied to cast various types of metal objects.

Paula combined traditional jewelry making with her desktop 3D printer. Using it instead of an industrial printer or outsourcing services, allowed her to quicken the process and lower its costs. Her collection of 3D ornaments included two pairs of earrings (geometric icicles and low poly wolf heads), three rings (with zirconia stones, with a silver bow, and with a geometrical shape), and a low poly wolf head pendant.

First, she 3D printed all her designs with an ABS filament and fabricated forms about 5 x 5 x 4 cm each. She then flooded her prototypes in cases with a two-component rubber. After about 20 hours, she opened the forms, cut the rubber molds in two, extracted the prototypes, and took the molds to a professional jeweler, who injected them with wax. Wax models with sprues were then attached to a mandrel to form a jewelry casting tree and dipped in a liquid plaster. Jeweler poured 45 g of silver into the mold to create the raw objects.

Objects cast from metal always require post-production. Regular files and sandpaper were enough to grind bubbles and clean them. Paula polished a very clean surface on the geometrically shaped ring but left visible 3D printing layers on the icicles earrings to give them a unique feel. She then packed each piece in her own 3D printed boxes. The results are just amazing!

It’s also worth to mention, that jewelry and silver casting is only one of many possibilities here. 3D printed molds and the entire process described in the latest ZMorph case study can be easily adapted to manufacture various objects from a variety of metals, rubber, ceramics, chocolate and other materials.