this post was submitted on 26 Mar 2026
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3DPrinting

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[–] grue@lemmy.world 55 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (1 children)

TL;DR: normal sand casting, using a microwave to heat up the metal inside an insulated silicon carbide crucible.

It's not, like, using the microwave to sinter a metal-powder 3D print or anything special like that.

[–] ExtremeDullard@piefed.social 7 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (3 children)

I didn't know silicon carbide heated up in the microwave. I learned something from the article.

[–] grue@lemmy.world 12 points 5 months ago

I started watching the video on Youtube, but almost immediately switched to an older video from the same guy that went into more detail on the metal-melting part.

[–] ExcessShiv@lemmy.dbzer0.com 7 points 5 months ago

It's been popular for making ceramics at home in microwaves for years

[–] aBundleOfFerrets@sh.itjust.works 2 points 5 months ago

People often make rubies in microwaves. Microwave crucibles can get exceptionally hot.

[–] dual_sport_dork@lemmy.world 23 points 5 months ago (2 children)

...And also breaks instantly as soon as it's put under load. The process is for sure very interesting, but a simple casting like this is not the correct method for making something like a wrench. It'd be useful for plenty of other parts, though.

[–] finalarbiter@lemmy.dbzer0.com 9 points 5 months ago

Well, it will work... until it suddenly doesn't.

[–] Imgonnatrythis@sh.itjust.works 7 points 5 months ago

Yeah I'd much rather buy a wrench. Making a unique replacement part perhaps would be a better use example.