| HS Code | 215524 |
| Manufacturer | 3D Systems |
| Product Name | VisiJet SL Jewel |
| Material Type | Photopolymer Resin |
| Color | Clear |
| Compatible Printers | ProJet 6000, ProJet 7000 |
| Applications | Jewelry master patterns, investment casting |
| Castability | Excellent, clean burn-out |
| Ash Content | <0.05% |
| Tensile Strength | 54 MPa |
| Tensile Modulus | 2300 MPa |
| Elongation At Break | 10% |
| Flexural Strength | 75 MPa |
| Flexural Modulus | 2000 MPa |
| Hardness | 85 Shore D |
| Impact Strength | 25 J/m |
| Heat Deflection Temperature At 0 45 Mpa | 60°C |
| Heat Deflection Temperature At 1 82 Mpa | 50°C |
| Density | 1.13 g/cm³ |
| Water Absorption | 0.5% |
| Glass Transition Temperature | 60°C |
| Layer Thickness | 0.05 mm |
| Surface Finish | Smooth |
| Accuracy | High detail |
As an accredited 3D Systems VisiJet SL Jewel factory, we enforce strict quality protocols—every batch undergoes rigorous testing to ensure consistent efficacy and safety standards.
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VisiJet SL Jewel is processed on 3D Systems vat polymerisation platforms operating at 355 nm, with layer thickness selected between 25 µm and 50 µm according to filigree density and build orientation. After extraction from the vat, the pattern is washed in a two-stage isopropanol bath with the first sump maintained at no more than 10% dissolved non-volatile content. Supports are removed before post-cure because the partially cured resin has lower crosslink density and exhibits less brittle fracture; delayed support removal after full post-cure is associated with tip breakage on prongs thinner than 0.35 mm. The cleaned pattern is post-cured under UV-A radiation at 365 nm for 30 min per orientation face, or per the printer manufacturer's chamber specification. Sprued patterns are invested in gypsum-bonded flask investment mixed at water:powder ratios of 38:100 to 40:100 by weight. The lower water level increases green compressive strength but reduces gas permeability; for thin-wall filigree, the 40:100 ratio is preferred to avoid gas porosity at the metal front. Bench set is 2 h at room temperature, and the filled flask is de-bubbled under vacuum at 0.08 MPa absolute. Burnout furnace instrumentation is maintained to AMS 2750F Class 2 uniformity, with ramp from ambient to 150 °C at 2 °C/min, hold 1 h, ramp to 300 °C at 1 °C/min, hold 2 h, ramp through quartz inversion at 573 °C at no more than 2 °C/min, then ramp to 730 °C at 3 °C/min and hold for a minimum 3 h. The flask is cooled to 550–580 °C for 18 ct gold and 600–650 °C for 950 Pt alloys before centrifugal or vacuum casting. Terminal castings in 18 ct gold, 950 Pt, and 925 Ag are checked for fineness according to ISO 9202:2019. Liquid resin handling falls under the SDS requirements of Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 and local workplace exposure limits for methacrylate monomers.
| Pattern class | Maximum wall thickness | Water:powder ratio | Ramp through 300–600 °C | Hold at 730 °C | Flask temperature before casting |
| Solid ring shank | 4.0 mm | 38:100 | 1 °C/min | 4 h | 550 °C |
| Filigree and micro-pavé | 0.20–0.40 mm | 40:100 | 2 °C/min | 3 h | 580 °C |
| Large hollow form | 8.0 mm | 38:100 | 0.5 °C/min | 6 h | 600 °C |
Silicone tooling from printed jewellery masters introduces a platinum-cure inhibition risk that is not present in direct wax systems. Addition-cure silicone rubbers used for wax injection moulds are frequently formulated at Part A:Part B ratios of 10:1 by weight with hardness between Shore A 30 and Shore A 40. Residual unpolymerised acrylate or photoinitiator on the surface of a post-cured SLA pattern can deactivate the platinum catalyst, producing a tacky interface and localised uncured silicone. To reduce this risk, the VisiJet SL Jewel master is first washed in isopropanol, post-cured under 365 nm UV-A at 20–40 mW/cm² for 30 min per face, then baked in a forced-air oven at 80 °C for 2 h to drive off volatile residues. Residual acrylate is monitored by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy; the C=C absorption at 810 cm⁻¹ should be below baseline before silicone contact. Material compliance for the silicone system is governed by Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006; the cured mould must not release platinum-inhibiting species into subsequent wax batches. A cure-inhibition test on a sacrificial coupon is performed before committing a production master; the silicone must gel to a non-tacky state within 2 h at 25 °C. The master is then fixed to a mould frame with a wax sprue former, and the mixed silicone is degassed in a vacuum chamber at 0.09 MPa absolute for 10 min before pouring. Curing proceeds at 60 °C for 4 h. The resulting two-part mould is used for injection of wax patterns under 0.5–0.7 MPa wax injection pressure; mould life on automatic wax injection machines commonly exceeds 5,000 cycles if silicone Shore A is above 35. The terminal output is a wax pattern that is subsequently invested and cast in 925 Ag or 18 ct Au.
Ceramic shell investment is selected for platinum-group alloys and larger hollow structures where gypsum-bonded moulds cannot withstand prolonged high-temperature exposure. The process replaces monolithic gypsum with alternating layers of colloidal silica slurry and refractory stucco; typical primary slurry viscosity is adjusted to 20–25 s with a #4 Zahn cup, and successive coats use fused silica stucco from 80 grit to 30 grit. A printed VisiJet SL Jewel pattern is attached to a ceramic sprue, dipped in primary slurry, drained, and stuccoed; six to eight coats are applied with 4 h drying at 25 °C and 50% RH between coats. The dewax cycle uses a steam autoclave at 150 °C and 0.55 MPa for 15 min, but residual photopolymer requires oxidative burnout in a vented kiln to 900 °C for platinum alloys. Carbonaceous residue from incomplete oxidation is a known defect source in ceramic shells because the shell has lower oxygen permeability than gypsum; operators compensate by holding the kiln at 730 °C for 2 h before ramping to 900 °C at 2 °C/min. Flask temperature before casting is typically 800–850 °C for platinum and palladium alloys. The terminal product includes 950 Pt and 950 Pd castings that are tested for fineness according to ISO 9202:2019 and for internal porosity by X-ray inspection per foundry-specific standards. Published residual carbon data for VisiJet SL Jewel in ceramic shell systems is limited, so each foundry must validate shell permeability and burnout hold times on representative part geometry before production.
In micro-pavé layout development, wall thickness below 0.20 mm demands a different support-removal sequence. Micro-pavé and shared-prong settings require stone seats with dimensional tolerance of ±0.05 mm and girdle gaps below 0.15 mm. Patterns are printed at 25 µm layer thickness on the SLA platform; orientation is set at 15–30° from the vertical axis to reduce staircase marks on prong sidewalls. Support touchpoints are limited to 0.15 mm diameter, and the pattern is removed from the vat while partially cured to avoid post-cure embrittlement at thin sections. Support tip diameter is maintained at a ratio below 0.5 of the prong width to reduce seat edge fracture. Under 10× stereo microscope, supports are cut with scalpel or micro-shears before alcohol washing, because residual support fragments in undercuts remain after casting as surface inclusions. After washing, the pattern is post-cured at 365 nm for 30 min per face; total post-cure time beyond 60 min increases brittleness and elevates prong fracture rates during demoulding. The spruing layout for pavé work uses two feeder sprues of 1.5 mm diameter at the arch of the ring shank, not at the stone seats, to avoid metal turbulence and gas porosity. Terminal castings in 14 ct white gold with 1.0–1.5 mm melee diamonds are finished under microscope; final stone security is checked by prong deflection force tests, with typical retention above 0.30 kg for 0.20 mm diameter prong tips measured on a digital force gauge. Dimensional verification uses optical profilometry or silicone replica of stone seats against a reference master. Finished stone-set items must meet the fineness requirements of ISO 9202:2019 and the dimensional criteria of the stone-setter’s optical comparator protocol. The primary process conflict is that thicker supports improve build stability but increase seat damage; in batch production, support tip diameter above 0.25 mm raises rework rate by more than 8% on filigree pavé styles.
Stone-in-place casting restricts burnout conditions because only heat-tolerant stones such as synthetic or natural ruby and sapphire can remain in the investment cavity during heating; diamond is excluded in air above 650 °C due to oxidation. VisiJet SL Jewel decomposes in the region 300–500 °C, so the furnace profile must include a controlled hold at 300 °C for 2 h to volatilise the polymer before the investment reaches quartz inversion at 573 °C. The flask is ramped to 700 °C at 2 °C/min and held for 3 h; casting temperature is reduced to 450–500 °C for cast-in-place ruby and sapphire to minimise thermal shock. Feeder sprues in stone-in-place work are positioned away from the gemstone crown, and investment is mixed at 40:100 water:powder ratio to improve permeability around the stone. Decomposition gases from the acrylic photopolymer require local exhaust ventilation compliant with ACGIH industrial ventilation guidelines; extraction face velocity at the burnout kiln door is maintained at not less than 0.5 m/s. The resulting cast part contains a heat-tolerant stone seated in 18 ct Au or 950 Pt; fineness is verified according to ISO 9202:2019. Stone integrity is checked by magnification for surface frosting or flux residue. The method is not suitable for stones with thermal stability below 500 °C, including most tanzanite, opal, and emerald.
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3D Systems VisiJet SL Jewel is a high-wax-content ultraviolet-curable stereolithography material qualified for use in the ProJet 6000 HD and ProJet 7000 HD SLA platforms. The product is used primarily for sacrificial investment-casting patterns in gold, silver, platinum, and palladium alloys, where the printed part is mounted on a wax tree, embedded in gypsum-bonded investment, and removed by thermal burnout before the metal pour. Its liquid formulation contains a nominal wax phase documented by the supplier at 20 wt%, which is intended to lower ash residue and improve evacuation of decomposition products during burnout. The cured state is a crosslinked thermoset network, not a thermoplastic wax, so the material does not soften and flow out of the mold in the manner of a wax pattern. This distinction dictates the furnace schedule, solvent handling, and support-removal practice described below.
VisiJet SL Jewel is supplied as a low-viscosity photopolymer with a liquid density controlled within 1.05–1.10 g/cm³ at 25 °C when measured by ASTM D792-20. The material is stored at 15–25 °C and protected from ambient light because both the acrylate and wax phases are sensitive to uncontrolled polymerization. Exposure to water or alcohol in the resin vat is undesirable; protic contaminants delay the radical cure response and can generate soft layers that detach during re-coating. The manufacturer recommends the resin not be mixed with other SLA resins unless the mixture is explicitly approved for the specific ProJet platform.
On the ProJet 6000 HD, the 355 nm solid-state laser scanning system cures the resin in a vat using a layer-by-layer process. High-definition jewelry builds are typically processed at 0.05 mm layer thickness, while 0.10 mm layers are used for larger structural patterns. Resolution is not solely layer thickness; the laser spot diameter and scan spacing define the minimum lateral feature and the ability to reproduce sharp corners on prong tips and bezel walls. Because the SL Jewel resin contains a dispersed wax filler, optical scattering at the filler–resin interface reduces the laser penetration depth relative to unfilled SLA resins. The practical consequence is a narrower process window for down-facing features: if the cure depth is insufficient to reach the previous layer, the first few layers can delaminate or form a weak interlayer plane.
Minimum unsupported wall thickness is governed by re-coater forces rather than laser resolution. Patterns with unsupported cross-sections below 0.4 mm are prone to flexure or detachment during blade movement. Production experience with the ProJet 6000 HD indicates that filigree lines below 0.3 mm often require custom support positioning and can vary between builds if the resin temperature drifts outside the 25 ± 2 °C process window. A viscosity shift of more than 10% relative to the nominal lot value alters the re-coated film thickness and changes the energy dose required for full cure. These process limits are not fixed machine constants; they depend on part orientation, support density, and fill ratio within the build envelope.
The supplier-published typical properties for VisiJet SL Jewel are summarized in the following table. Values are nominal and should be verified for the specific production lot.
| Property | Test method | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Liquid density at 25 °C | ASTM D792-20 | 1.05–1.10 g/cm³ |
| Dynamic viscosity at 25 °C | ASTM D2196-18e1 | 150–250 mPa·s |
| Tensile strength at yield | ASTM D638-14 | 38–45 MPa |
| Tensile modulus | ASTM D638-14 | 1.2–1.5 GPa |
| Elongation at break | ASTM D638-14 | 10–15% |
| Flexural strength | ASTM D790-17 | 50–60 MPa |
| Flexural modulus | ASTM D790-17 | 1.3–1.6 GPa |
| Heat deflection temperature at 0.46 MPa | ASTM D648-18 | 45–50 °C |
| Ash residue after 750 °C burnout | ASTM E1131-08 TGA | < 0.02 wt% |
| Nominal wax filler content | supplier TDS | 20 wt% |
In a production environment, the resin vat is sampled at the start of each build cycle because the dispersed wax phase can settle after idle periods. If the filler is not re-dispersed according to the recirculation procedure, the first build layers may exhibit low wax content and higher ash residue. The recirculation procedure is performed in low ambient light to prevent premature photopolymerization, and the build chamber is maintained at a relative humidity below 40% where possible. Water uptake changes the gel point and slows the cure response. Lot-specific certificates of analysis state the liquid viscosity, density, and cure depth, and these values are compared against the limits in the supplier specification before the material is released to the vat.
Pattern data are prepared with a shrinkage compensation factor that combines the photopolymerization contraction of SL Jewel, the thermal expansion of the investment, and the solidification contraction of the target alloy. A universal percentage cannot be stated because the correct value changes with flask size, alloy family, and casting machine type. Production facilities commonly cast a calibration grid in the target alloy and measure the resulting deviation before releasing a production build. This calibration step is necessary because the resin itself does not drive the total dimensional error; the investment and metal-solidification factors are often larger than the SLA component contraction.
The burnout behavior of VisiJet SL Jewel is determined by the two-phase wax-filled network. The wax filler vaporizes in the low-temperature portion of the cycle and creates fine escape channels, while the crosslinked acrylate network requires oxidative decomposition at higher temperatures. A neat-wax pattern can often be removed by flash de-waxing or steam de-waxing, but the SLA pattern does not have a conventional melt transition. The furnace ramp must be slow enough to avoid gas pressure spikes that crack the investment shell. For fine jewelry flasks, the critical zone generally lies between 100 °C and 350 °C, where the filler vaporization rate reaches its maximum. If the ramp exceeds the venting rate of the investment, the mold can fail at the pattern surface and transfer a positive defect to the metal casting.
Residual ash after a standard burnout cycle in air at 750 °C is specified below 0.02 wt% according to ASTM E1131-08 thermogravimetric analysis. This low residue is critical for platinum and high-karat gold casting because refractory inclusions from pattern ash become visible after polishing. The actual residue on a production flask can differ from the coupon value when the furnace atmosphere is starved of oxygen, the workload is densely packed, or the terminal soak is shortened. Users should verify lot-specific ash residue using the actual burnout kiln profile and a representative tree configuration; published data for highly branched stone-setting trees are limited, so a qualification casting is advisable before processing high-value metal.
After the build, uncured liquid resin is removed by immersion in isopropyl alcohol at 99% concentration, followed by a second clean rinse and air-drying. Extended solvent exposure beyond the interval specified in the supplier’s post-processing guide can plasticize the outer surface and reduce green strength. No additional UV post-cure is universally required for casting patterns; over-curing raises crosslink density and changes the burnout pathway, which can increase carbon residue if the furnace profile is not adjusted. Support tips are removed before the pattern reaches the investment step, and residual nibs are dressed under magnification. Support remnants left on the pattern create localized ash-rich zones and can deflect the investment, producing dimensional error in the final metal part.
Direct investment casting of filigree and micro-prong settings places the green pattern under tensile, bending, and compressive loads during support removal and tree assembly. The published tensile strength of 38–45 MPa and elongation at break of 10–15% indicate that the material is sufficiently rigid for handling but is not ductile. Thin sections below 0.3 mm can fracture if the operator applies an unsupported bending load at a support contact point. White stress marks at the contact surface are treated as rejection criteria because the localized damage creates a weak plane during burnout and can allow investment intrusion.
Support generation for SL Jewel uses dense contact points on non-visible surfaces and lighter scaffold structures inside internal cavities. For stone-setting bars, the support contact diameter is frequently limited to 0.2 mm so the witness mark left on the pattern is smaller than the final polishing allowance. The use of cyanoacrylate adhesives for tree assembly is not recommended unless the adhesive is fully cured and solvent-free before investment; residual monomer contributes to ash and can produce local porosity in the refractory. Wax welding is preferred for attaching SL Jewel patterns to wax sprues because the junction can be smoothed with a heated tool and adds no foreign polymer phase to the casting tree.
VisiJet SL Jewel differs from neat-wax MultiJet materials such as VisiJet M2 CAST in both build process and burnout. The MultiJet material is deposited as a molten wax-like phase and is largely thermoplastic; it can be joined with wax pens and melts in a relatively narrow temperature window. SL Jewel is a crosslinked SLA material that cannot be re-melted after cure, so steam de-waxing is not a viable removal method. The SLA platform, however, offers a 250 × 250 × 250 mm build volume on the ProJet 6000 HD and a 380 × 380 × 250 mm build volume on the ProJet 7000 HD, allowing multiple ring patterns or large one-piece filigree structures in a single build. This platform difference is significant when a service bureau moves from a small MultiJet cell to a high-volume production workflow.
Against unfilled SLA resins such as VisiJet SL Clear, the wax-filled SL Jewel formulation has lower optical transparency and lower heat deflection temperature, but it is designed specifically for investment casting. The filler phase creates micro-channels during thermal removal that reduce internal gas pressure and improve evacuation of decomposition products. The main trade-off is mechanical: structural SLA resins offer higher tensile modulus, but this is not required in a pattern that will be destroyed in the furnace. The critical foundry specification is ash residue, where the wax-filled system is designed to remain below 0.02 wt% at 750 °C, while unfilled photopolymers may require longer oxidative holds to achieve comparable cleanliness.
Process transfer from a wax MultiJet material to VisiJet SL Jewel is not a direct material substitution. Tree spacing and flask packing must be re-validated because the SLA pattern surface has a different wettability to investment slurry. The furnace profile used for neat wax cannot be transferred without modification because SLA decomposition is oxidation-dependent rather than melt-driven. Comparative published data for specific burnout schedules and alloy families are limited; each alloy and investment combination should be qualified with a small production batch before full-volume manufacturing.
