Smooth 3D Printed Parts

General discussion of 3D printers

Re: Smooth 3D Printed Parts

Postby SystemsGuy » Mon Mar 04, 2013 2:55 am

LOL - fortunately for all of us, it dissolves in water, and well, we are mostly water! :-) I still don't like the idea of breathing it, or getting on my skin, so....

roberlin wrote:I had always imagined that it dissolves my brain.

Not that I'm careful with it at all. I mean it's nail polish remover. Can't be that bad.

Of course, I was reading yesterday how automotive workers used to use benzene to wash the crud off their hands, pre-Gojo :-)
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Re: Smooth 3D Printed Parts

Postby JeremyBP » Mon Mar 04, 2013 6:02 am

I do actually use acetone all the time for degreasing parts. I don't wear gloves or a respirator. If I breathe too much of it, it starts to really bother me. Maybe I'm just over-sensitive, because it doesn't bother the people around me. I think everyone has a different reaction. I'm guessing most people will be unaffected by the hot acetone vapor, but I'll steer clear.
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Re: Smooth 3D Printed Parts

Postby orcinus » Mon Mar 04, 2013 7:42 pm

:lol:

If it really did dissolve brains, that would be a rather nasty surprise for people suffering from diabetes and epilepsy.
Our own bodies produce acetone as a normal metabolic byproduct. You've got it in your blood.
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Re: Smooth 3D Printed Parts

Postby JeremyBP » Tue Mar 05, 2013 1:41 pm

orcinus wrote: You've got it in your blood.


It's in your blood. Embrace it. Use it for good. :lol:

EDIT: Does that mean I can smooth prints by looking at them?
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Re: Smooth 3D Printed Parts

Postby bdring » Tue Mar 05, 2013 1:57 pm

I think there is an entire 3D printer in your blood Jeremy. :lol:
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Re: Smooth 3D Printed Parts

Postby orcinus » Tue Mar 05, 2013 2:07 pm

Image

JeremyBP wrote:EDIT: Does that mean I can smooth prints by looking at them?


Nope, you'd have to... er... urinate on it.
For a rather long time.
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Re: Smooth 3D Printed Parts

Postby SystemsGuy » Tue Mar 05, 2013 2:17 pm

I think it means you have to bleed on 'em! :-)

So - that said - had to give it a try. I decided not to muck about using my headbed, I used an electric hotplate, and hooked my IR thermometer up to it. Note to self - 120c is *not* 11 on the dial. It's more like 1! :-)

My nephew loves the Octopus in a bucket, and I happened to have one laying around. It was printed on Ugly at .2mm layer in really cheap Chinese red ABS that I actually quite like.

I used the same method described in the video - used coathanger wire to make a holder with a tinfoil base - about the only thing I did different was to make a hook in the coathanger wire so I could suspend it off the side and keep it above the acetone that way.

As I was heating, I didn't really see the meniscus creep up the side of the jar, but you do see condensation of the acetone as boils off and the vapor climbs higher.

I popped the part in, and it's amazing how fast it starts to dissolve - literally by the time I had the hanger hooked on the side of the jar and was paying attention to Octo, he was already shiney and starting to get smooth. I got paranoid about 1.5 minutes in, and pulled him out - he looked damned good to me!

Next experiment will be a 20x20 test cube, and measure it before and after. I'm also thinking it's going to create a stronger part, so I'll probably print a lever or two and try some shear tests.

All in all? +10 on the Fun Scale - other than paying attention to the heat on the hotplate, nothing to "do", and I didn't even notice as much in the way of fumes as when I'm cleaning my boro. I think I'll have to go by the pound store and see if they have some cheap pyrex bowls - the only limitation to the method is the width of the bell jar I was using....

I'm not sure that it would be something I'd do for 90% of the parts I print in ABS, but it makes me think more about some of the parts I print in Faberdashery PLA at insane prices just because of the vibrant colors - if the color holds, this red ABS looks much better than the Fire Engine Red from Faberdashery...

octo-before.2mm layers.jpg
.2mm layers, before

octo-before-.2mm-layers-Front.jpg
.2mm layers, before

P1010637.JPG
Ready to Cook!

octo-after-1.5minutes.jpg
After 1.5 minutes

octo-after-1.5minutes-side.jpg
Same lighting as before shots






JeremyBP wrote:
orcinus wrote: You've got it in your blood.


It's in your blood. Embrace it. Use it for good. :lol:

EDIT: Does that mean I can smooth prints by looking at them?
Last edited by SystemsGuy on Tue Mar 05, 2013 5:43 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: Smooth 3D Printed Parts

Postby Liberty4Ever » Tue Mar 05, 2013 5:29 pm

Well, this thread was getting silly, but SystemsGuy saved it! Awesome stuff! Octy looks good!

I'd still like to try my acetone and water tumbling idea, but it'd be hard to beat the acetone vapor method.
Apparently, I didn't build that! :-)
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Re: Smooth 3D Printed Parts

Postby SystemsGuy » Tue Mar 05, 2013 5:35 pm

LOL - looked too good to be true, so I had to try it! I tell you - it's so damned easy and quick that it will be hard to beat. Octy appears to be "dry" - it's been a good 4 hours or so since his bath - but he still looks as shiny as when he was pulled out.

I was going to try a cube, but she who must be pleased saw the photos and is insisting she be allowed to play.....


Liberty4Ever wrote:Well, this thread was getting silly, but SystemsGuy saved it! Awesome stuff! Octy looks good!

I'd still like to try my acetone and water tumbling idea, but it'd be hard to beat the acetone vapor method.
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Re: Smooth 3D Printed Parts

Postby bdring » Tue Mar 05, 2013 6:05 pm

I have seen vapor phase soldering where people put a cooled condenser above the fluid to recover the vapors.
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