Machinable wax tooling?

[Fan O' Zakk]

Hi all,

I'd like to get a few opinions on using machinable (very hard) wax as mold making material for small, non-structural components to be made using (typically) infusion.

I've built a small CNC machine that can safely and accurately machine wood, foams, and some plastics, so wax wouldn't be a big stretch for it. It's reusable, non-hazardous, and I can get the stuff quite cheaply, compared to blocks of tooling resins, for example. The other nice bit is that there wouldn't be need for release coatings - wax IS a release agent! I expect I could get quite a high quality surface finish in wax, as well.

For cons - it will scratch easily. I wouldn't dream of using it near heat. It wouldn't be good for much beyond one-off layups. It will be tough to seal a bag to the mold surface.

What do you guys think? TIA!

Kevin

[snocutt]

It still needs a release agent.