Ytec3D Forum

So, I found a novel new meta material.

I was impregnating some of my sugar powder models with wax, and wanted to test the water resistance of the final result.

So I left some small pieces to sink to the bottom of a glass of water, and forgot about them.

Two days later, the pieces were floating.

Odd, says I.

A quick taste revealed that all the sugar had moved by osmotic pressure to the surrounding water.

I let that dry for a day or two, and now I have a wax structure, nearly identical to the original sugar structure in shape, but the exact inverse in volume.

A very light wax foam.

Now, to figure out what to do with such a thing...

Can the foam also be made with something more sturdy than wax, like epoxy or CA?

I will think about possible areas of use for a while.

I don't see why you couldn't do the same with CA or epoxy, since the sugar is a fully bonded matrix throughout after it's fully cured, and will be able to be fully removed after infiltration.

I'll have to try that with a small sample object.

Ok, CA may be a fail.

Only penetrated about 1mm into the object, and pretty much fell apart after immersion.

If I had a vacuum pot, I'd try epoxy.