Castable Wax Resin
Castable Wax Resin is a wax-loaded photopolymer for SLA/DLP/LCD printing that behaves closer to true casting wax than standard castable acrylates, giving very low ash content and cleaner burnout.
Reference datasheet — Castable Wax Resin is not in the instant-quote catalog. Upload your part and an engineer will quote it in this grade or suggest the closest stocked equivalent.
Values for the CW-STD condition
Castable Wax Resin grades and fills
Castable Wax Resin is supplied in 4 conditions, soft to hard. CW-STD is the default FabDigit quotes; the values on this page are for it.
Compare all 4 grades and fillsHide
| Grade · open for datasheet | Best for | Yield MPa | Tensile MPa | Elong. % | Hardness |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
High wax content (~40%) castable resin | Pick when burnout cleanliness and investment-safe expansion matter most — behaves closest to true casting wax, but parts are soft and easily bent. | 7 | 11 | 65 Shore D | |
toughened / flexible castable wax blend | Use for long thin prongs, shanks and large trees where snapping during support removal or investing is the main failure mode. | 7 | 9 | 20 | 60 Shore D |
CW-STDDefault Standard wax-filled castable resin | General jewellery/small-part pattern resin; balanced print detail, handling strength and clean burnout. | 12 | 5 | 78 Shore D | |
405 nm low-viscosity mSLA/LCD castable wax | Use on consumer LCD/mSLA printers where low viscosity and short layer exposure are needed; slightly stiffer and more brittle than SLA wax grades. | 16 | 18 | 3 | 80 Shore D |
Supply forms, finishes and certifications
Ways Castable Wax Resin is supplied — form, process route, surface or paperwork — without a datasheet of their own. The property values above apply.
| Option | What it is | Type |
|---|---|---|
DLP-JEWEL | Fine-detail DLP jewellery wax resin | Printing process |
Dental | Castable wax resin for crown, bridge and partial frameworks | Certification |
What is Castable Wax Resin?
Castable Wax Resin is a wax-loaded photopolymer for SLA/DLP/LCD printing that behaves closer to true casting wax than standard castable acrylates, giving very low ash content and cleaner burnout. It is used for fine jewelry and dental pattern work and is available as CW-STD, CW40, LCD-FAST, DLP-JEWEL, Dental and TOUGH-WAX variants. The trade-off is very low mechanical capability — 12 MPa tensile strength, 5% elongation, 0.45 GPa modulus, 78 Shore D, 1.1 g/cm³ and a 40 °C service ceiling — so patterns are fragile and must be handled and stored cool. Standard Castable Resin is the tougher alternative when patterns need to survive rough handling. Castable Wax Resin has a density of 1.1 g/cm³ (0.0397 lb/in³), lighter than 66% of polymer grades. Its glass-transition temperature is 55°C (131 °F). Castable Wax Resin has a tensile strength of 12 MPa (1.74 ksi), weaker than 76% of polymer grades. Elongation at break is 5% and the elastic modulus is 0.45 GPa (0.0653 Msi).
What is Castable Wax Resin used for?
- fine jewelry casting
- dental crown/bridge patterns
- detailed investment casting
Limitations
- Limited service temperature — 40°C (104 °F), worse than 99% of polymer grades
- Difficult to machine — 25/100, worse than 93% of polymer grades
- Degrades in UV without stabilisers — 20/100, worse than 88% of polymer grades
- Hard to polish — 30/100, worse than 82% of polymer grades
Castable Wax Resin properties
Typical room-temperature values for Castable Wax Resin-CW-STD; bars are the position among polymer grades.
Physical4
Castable Wax Resin has a density of 1.1 g/cm³ (0.0397 lb/in³), lighter than 66% of polymer grades. Its glass-transition temperature is 55°C (131 °F).
Mechanical8
Castable Wax Resin has a tensile strength of 12 MPa (1.74 ksi), weaker than 76% of polymer grades. Elongation at break is 5% and the elastic modulus is 0.45 GPa (0.0653 Msi).
Thermal7
Castable Wax Resin is rated for continuous service to 40°C (104 °F). It conducts heat at 0.2 W/m·K (0.116 BTU/hr·ft·°F), worse than 56% of polymer grades. Thermal expansion is 150 µm/m·K (83.3 µin/in·°F).
Chemical & Environmental2
UV resistance is poor.
Manufacturability2
Castable Wax Resin's machinability is poor (25/100, worse than 93% of polymer grades).
Common Calculations4
Values are nominal handbook figures for design screening. Certified mill or lot data ships with every FabDigit order on request.
Strength versus weight in the polymer family
Yield strength against density for every polymer grade FabDigit runs. Castable Wax Resin is highlighted; hover a dot for its name, or open the interactive family chart.
Working with Castable Wax Resin
Is Castable Wax Resin easy to machine?
Not a machining material — patterns are carved or trimmed with a warm blade or scalpel; the wax phase smears and gums abrasives.
Can Castable Wax Resin be welded?
Joined like wax: sticky wax, a heated spatula or a drop of the same uncured resin flashed with UV.
Can Castable Wax Resin be formed, bent or molded?
Print at 25–50 µm layers with generous supports; wash briefly (≤3 min IPA or wax-safe solvent), post-cure cool and short, then invest promptly — burn out with a slow 150 °C wax-drain hold before the standard 730–750 °C ramp.
Castable Wax Resin chemical composition (wt %)
Limits by weight percent from the governing specification, written the way the spec states them — a single maximum for impurities, a range for alloying elements, and the base element as balance. Nominal is the typical mid-range value.
| Element | Spec limit (wt %) | Nominal |
|---|---|---|
| urethane/epoxy (meth)acrylate oligomernetwork former | 25 – 50 | 38 |
| acrylate monomer / reactive diluentviscosity control | 10 – 35 | 20 |
| paraffin / microcrystalline waxburnout and expansion control phase | 15 – 45 | 30 |
| photoinitiator (e.g. TPO/BAPO)385/405 nm | 0.5 – 3 | 1.5 |
| pigment, UV blocker, stabilizercolour and cure-depth control | 0.05 – 2 | 0.5 |
| residual ash after burnouttypical claim <0.05 wt% | 0 – 0.05 | 0.02 |
What surface finishes work on Castable Wax Resin?
Smooth with a low-heat wax pen or brief warm-air pass; no anodizing/plating — the pattern is destroyed in burnout, so finish quality is transferred to the cast metal.
How much does Castable Wax Resin cost?
Castable Wax Resin is a high-cost polymer ($$$$), pricier than about 78% of the materials FabDigit quotes. Part price depends far more on geometry, tolerance and quantity than on the raw stock — upload a CAD file for a live quote.
Castable Wax Resin — frequently asked
What is Castable Wax Resin used for?
Castable Wax Resin is typically used for fine jewelry casting, dental crown/bridge patterns and detailed investment casting. In short: wax-like burnout behaviour; lowest ash residue; fragile pattern-only resin.
What is the tensile strength of Castable Wax Resin?
Castable Wax Resin has a typical tensile strength of 12 MPa (1.74 ksi) — weaker than 76% of polymer grades. Strength varies by condition: see the 4 listed tempers.
Is Castable Wax Resin easy to machine?
Not especially — machinability is rated poor (25/100, worse than 93% of polymer grades). Not a machining material — patterns are carved or trimmed with a warm blade or scalpel; the wax phase smears and gums abrasives.
Can Castable Wax Resin be welded?
Joined like wax: sticky wax, a heated spatula or a drop of the same uncured resin flashed with UV.
What surface finishes work on Castable Wax Resin?
Smooth with a low-heat wax pen or brief warm-air pass; no anodizing/plating — the pattern is destroyed in burnout, so finish quality is transferred to the cast metal.
Can Castable Wax Resin be formed, bent or molded?
Print at 25–50 µm layers with generous supports; wash briefly (≤3 min IPA or wax-safe solvent), post-cure cool and short, then invest promptly — burn out with a slow 150 °C wax-drain hold before the standard 730–750 °C ramp.
What is the maximum service temperature of Castable Wax Resin?
Castable Wax Resin is rated for continuous use to about 40°C (104 °F). Strength falls off well before that limit — check the elevated-temperature data for load-bearing parts.
How much does Castable Wax Resin cost?
Castable Wax Resin is a high-cost polymer ($$$$), pricier than about 78% of the materials FabDigit quotes. Part price depends far more on geometry, tolerance and quantity than on the raw stock — upload a CAD file for a live quote.
Sources
- Castable Wax 40 Resin — material properties and burnout guide — Formlabs (2023)
- Castable wax-based DLP/LCD resin technical data — BlueCast / Phrozen / Elegoo (2024)
- ASTM D638 / D790 / D2240 test methods for plastics — ASTM International (2022)
- Investment Casting Handbook — pattern wax and burnout practice — Investment Casting Institute (2019)
Property data is compiled from published supplier and standards handbooks and normalised for comparison; hardness values on non-Brinell scales are converted approximately for charting only. Manufacturability limits are FabDigit quote-engine defaults and may be relaxed by engineering review. Nothing on this page is a certification — request mill certs, CoC or material test reports with your order.