3D Printing Smoothing Prints

[dvdsnyd]

Came across this tonight. Looks like a reasonable approach.

 

[John Kemker]

I like!

Only one problem: Can't power-sand parts with lots of small angles, etc. like my DynaSoar/Titan nosecone. BUT, I can try the wood-filler/acetone trick.

 

[OverTheTop]

Sounds like a neat trick. Will give it a go in the future.

 

[cwbullet]

Very nice and similar to what most do with fiberglass.

 

[DragonRocketry]

I find the 2-part automotive spot putty, works great. It sands very easy and does not shrink like the red crap in the tube. I have had problems with the wood stuff flaking off.

 

[Banzai88]

In the making of Star Wars helmets for cosplay the two preferred smoothing methods are successive coats of UV cured resin and sanding, or sanding the print, then coats of spot putty....and sanding.

Filler primer also covers a lot of sins.

 

[Bravo52]

In the making of Star Wars helmets for cosplay the two preferred smoothing methods are successive coats of UV cured resin and sanding, or sanding the print, then coats of spot putty....and sanding.

Filler primer also covers a lot of sins.

This. I've been using uv resin on round objects and it works really well. One hit with that and then automotive filler primer and sanding is all it takes.

I've also started to experiment with different layer heights and resin smoothing to see if I can get faster prints in FDM applications. Using a .4 nozzle with a .4 layer height and still get smooth objects in the end works well, even on detailed parts.

 

[JohnCoker]

"Ironing" (slicer setting) helps as well. Unfortunately, it only works for flat top surfaces.

 

[Gunstar]

Make the print come out smooth to start with.

Use a small layer height, like 0.12
Also set the Outer Wall Inset to something like 0.05
It will take longer to print, but you will have greatly reduced the layer lines right from the start. I use these settings when printing D&D minis and they look like they were printed on a resin printer.

 

[dr wogz]

ABS & 'Acetone bath'

done it once.. good results..

 

[Blast it Tom!]

So... uh... I got this and the LE tower from Shapeways. See the texture? It's probably as good as you're going to get from a 3D printer, unless you use that high-detail resin stuff. But I wish it were smoother. Still, there's no reasonable way to sand it (or the tower, similar), but I really didn't want to invoke the 10' rule for this. I'd better check the material, too.

Thanks for any advice, I'm a real n00b with this technique.

Edit: Shapeways calls this stuff "Multi-jet fusion plastic" color PA12.