Application Examples
Prototyping.
Virginia Tech has a long history of offering an outstanding education in engineering and the sciences.
The team competing in the SAE Baha race car challenge uses machinable wax to prototype various components of their race car design. After they confirm that the parts are accurate and the CNC program is correct, they make the final parts out of metal. This speeds up the design process and reduces wasted material and broken tooling.
Photos are courtesy of Virginia Tech students.
Four axis machining of pump impellers.
After verifying that the tool path is correct, the finished parts are used in a lost wax casting process to make the final part out of metal.
Jewelry Manufacturing
We produce several waxes that are designed for complex machining of jewelry and other extremely detailed items. The rings shown here are still mounted on their original fixture which will be cut away. The wax will be be coated with investment and then melted away to form a mold for gold or other metals.
This wax is our F-14 formula with MicroFine process.
Photo is courtesy of Dickinson by Design (USA).
Pen Craft
A great example of how easy it is to turn machinable wax on a lathe.
Pen courtesy of Amy G.
Proton therapy for cancer treatment
Machinable wax has the property of attenuating an electron or proton beam that passes through it. Researchers have learned how to use this characteristic to minimize the damage done to healthy tissue during cancer treatments. A machinable wax disk like this one is made for each patient. When the treatment is finished, the wax can be recycled.
Dental CAD/CAM
Dental labs use our machinable wax to produce teeth and dental devices for patient care. We produce the wax for labs in several colors to fit the exacting needs of our customers. These teeth were created with a CAD/CAM system, machined on a small mill, and delivered to a dentist as an example of the proposed treatment for a patient.
Turbines & Blisks
We produce specialty waxes that allow complex and delicate structures to be machined like this blisk for a turbo charger. This part was produced on a 5 axis mill. These pieces are used in the lost wax casting process to create a lightweight titanium part for use in a diesel engine.
Special applications... Special waxes
We produce specialty waxes for challenging machining operations. This wax allows the user to machine very high resolution parts while using very small milling cutters. The application used to require a lot of "after work" and time consuming cleanup.
Mold Making
Machinable wax can be machined into a pattern and used as a mold for other materials. In this application, engineering students at the University of Michigan used our wax to make a pattern for a lightweight composite (carbon fiber) steering wheel component.
Photos are courtesy of University of Michigan students.
Orthotics
Every foot is slightly different. Medical professionals can 3D scan a person's feet, then machine an exact copy of each foot in machinable wax. The wax is then used to vacuum form the material for a precise custom fit.
