Thanks for the great video showing the steps in getting a professional smooth appearance. For everyone out there that is commenting that this is overkill, yes for you it is! but for a commercial service, it is industry standard. Most 3DP parts are for prototypes, one-offs or short production runs to validate or sell a product. What follows is an explanation so please stop reading unless you want to know more and have the extra 5 minutes that you will never get back.... I have 3D printed parts for automotive concept vehicles and you better believe I primed them 6-10 times along with wet sanding between each coat to get a perfect part. Anything less and I would not have a job. I've also done work prototyping action figures and for the longest time we hand sculpted everything, now you can print with a SLA at high resolution and along with post-processing and have something good enough that can't be distinguished from production (which is required for the client) 3DP takes a lot of time and once you move past a few parts needed you would go to silicon soft tooling (Molds). This is where you finish the part once, make a mold from that part, and cast resin into that mold to produce multiple parts. If you need more than a few dozen then it is onto Aluminum molds and injection molding, Aluminum is much cheaper for a mold but doesn't last as long as steel. You go to steel molds when your parts required are over 20,000. These are rough numbers but gives you an idea of where 3DP comes in during product development (I've used Aluminum molds for a 2 million part run, we would cut new molds while using current molds so they could be swapped in as they wore out, not the way to do it but we had no idea the product would be a hit and were scrambling just to keep up with demand). Hobbyist = Hobbyist quality, which is fine, needs are met. Professional = Pro-quality, something the client can put on the showroom floor, the product launch or the trade fair.
That was an awesome read thank you! I'm studying production technician and most that I leant about is steel, but for complex parts I had no idea it would also be this difficult with plastic
Do you have trouble keeping finer details/clean straight edges when you have to prime and sand 6-10 times? I'm about to work on parts with sweeping curves, and I'm afraid they might turn into free-hand-looking blobs.
Wouldn’t it be easier to print in ABS and do an acetone vapor bath to smooth??? This is a lot of work and I get the reason why but at a pro level I would think PLA shouldn’t be used.
Man y’all being so rude in the comments saying it took forever just to make a piece like this. This was obviously just an example showing how it could be applied to any 3D print and I doubt it took him that long to do it either. It was well done and if you want any quality work then guess what, you sand it more than once
@@retikulum Because maybe those 0.1% of people would like to see how someone else did it. Not everyone is you, some people may find it helpful even if its just to realise they won't do it the way I did.
Any 3D print? To be able to sand it like this, with a spinner thing, it needs to be a body of revolution. Any other body would need to be handsanded or some other tool
@@melvin3509 Hmm if only we had a specialized organ capable of complex thought and pattern recognition to adapt specific concepts shown in one example to other, slightly different situations 🤔 Oh well, I suppose that's too much to ask of internet dwellers!
Thank you! I'm printing masters to create silicone molds out of so I don't mind spending as much time as I need to getting a perfect finish...blown away by some of the arrogant comments on this.
@@flukeylukey6468 I'm guessing that 90% of the salty comments are from people expecting a quick-fix to achieving a genuine high-quality finish on their PLA 3d prints. They've been spoiled with the ease of vapor smoothing with ABS and are upset that no one is handing them the right answer!
@@vikipoyta pretty much yeah - tried a few different things but really this is what works, lots of layers of sanding and spraying. Not surprisingly - starting with a good print saves time and effort in the long run
Filler primer and paint work amazingly well on PLA. I 3D printed a "shark fin" antenna for the roof of my car to house my rear view mirror camera. I color matched it to the car with automotive paint and 2Kclear coat. Its been in the elements now for 2 years and holding up great. I do suggest using a plastic adhesion promoting primer after the first sanding just before filler primer for long term durability. Of course PLA is a poor choice for a part like this, nylon or ABS is preferred, but it has held up well so far.
Hell ya! I thought this was going to be a settings video but I am not mad still watched it all the way through! Very cool! Looked very nice at the end!
Having worked with printed PLA models, i can say the finish at the end is great. However i will add that the description is a bit misleading because without the sanding part you would have never achieved that smooth finish so its a crucial part of the process and is not mentioned in the description giving impression that you achieved the smoothing with the primer and the paint. (of course everyone is trying to avoid the sanding). all the best
Wow, this comment section is crawling with people who have never seen finishing work before XD. Pretty on point demo of some go-to smoothing and finishing techniques, good work.
Smart idea. Might have to try this with some figure accessories im working on. Just being able to get some of the lines out for the glossiness will be fantastic
I feel like this method would only work for a pretty narrow range of parts - if the part has too many concave surfaces or needs to be dimensionally accurate, I can't see this being super viable
yes, I grab a large plastic container put some acetone, and in the middle, I put an aluminum can put my print close with lid wait a few minutes, and don nice and smooth
There was an interesting idea about it somewhere on TH-cam. You can take some resin for SLA 3D printers, spray "paint" your model with it and expose it with a UV lamp. The author of the idea used isopropyl alcohol to dissolve the resin and ease the process. After a couple of iterations the model becomes really smooth.
I am impressed, I really am, but the form of the component here lends itself to sanding using automotive finishing methods and materials. It could get quite fiddly if your part has small details just as channels, grooves, holes etc.
Thanks, I mostly used 180 240 and 400. Didn't go much further than that. You might want to adjust those values depending on how fast you want to get things done or how smooth you need the finished surface.
Thanks for the video. Just got my first printer, and am about to try my first sand and paint, with this method. Just in case you respond before I get to the store :) what sandpaper grits are you using? You mention 120 at the start, but I assume you're going to higher grits as you use the filler? I would like an idea of the progression.
You can go as far as you choose. I would probably do 180 then move onto 400 to finish. Since doing the video I have found that wet and dry sandpaper is a must. Lasts way longer. 400 grit or maybe 600 should be far enough.
@@flukeylukey6468 Using wet and dry paper while wet can be a good way to cut down on the dust. Just keep dunking the paper into a small tub of water to remove the grit and dust that may accumulate in the grains of the paper. Something to try in any case.
I wonder if it would be faster to skip the initial sanding and jump straight to the priming, perhaps with a couple of coats before first sand. Interested in your thoughts!
As someone who's tried, the sanding both helps to flatten out that top layer a bunch, allowing you to use less of the primer, but it also gives a nice grippy texture for the primer to adhere to. It's much easier and looks cleaner if you just sand first
Mate im a newbie at 3d printing, and was looking for this type of video. Once I heard bunnings....auto Subbed gotta help out our Aussie bros. Thanx for all the effort you put into this video for newbies like me. You should go back to bunnings for a snag!
unless you want to defend you, or your shed against a violent criminal. Then it would be much better to be on American soil, where you can use your firearm and not be prosecuted for defending yourself on your own property.
@@HoodrichShinobi Not an issue there, all the violent criminals and school shooters they would have are busy fighting off snakes and giant spiders... and emus.
Yeah that's a great question. Normally I try keep the parts I want to smooth either round or rectangular for ease of sanding. Generally the filler primer can do a decent job of smoothing parts without sanding if you do enough coats, the sanding definitely helps a lot though. One day I think it would be cool to try a gentle sandblast over the filler to see what that does. I have no idea if that will work at all but just something I think would be cool to experiment with.
@@flukeylukey6468 I know there are several types of media blasting I’m not sure any would be gentle enough to use with PLA and alike. I was curious if you have ever tried any type of self leveling seam sealer or other automotive type resins that you could possibly dip the part in. I would be seriously interested in seeing a video on this.
@@flukeylukey6468 I've blasted a white ABS skull for a customer with coal slag and it helped get ride of the layer lines and added a beat up, aged, and weathered effect to the skull. It looked very convincingly real. This was straight from the printer to the sand blaster. So no processing in-between. Customer was happy.
Great video, kind of too much work for me. I've seen acetone vapor techniques that seem to get a similar result without heavy equipment and spray paint.
Thanks. It was just a part that I was making for someone. It was a cap for some antenna module or something. Nothing of particular significance except that they wanted it smooth.
hey man just came across this video awesome example I'm fairly new to 3d printing and slowly getting there, as someone who uses 3d printing in a professional manner you would have used different brands of filament what would you recommend I have found just going to jaycar and getting their generic stuff well it is that generic so not great quality but does the job
Professional might be a bit generous. I do offer 3D printing on gumtree but it is as much a hobby as a business. As for filament, Jaycar is somewhat expensive. I use filament from a place called CCDIY. I think their stuff is great. I regularly use fairly generic plastics, they are often fairly cheap and the main downside is a lack of colour choice.
Do you really need the filler? I have a lathe with a buffing tree, wondering is that combined with abrasive wax could also do the job or does pla not sand down to that level as wel as wood does?
I have tried it after light sanding and could still see the imperfections through the rubber paint. The paint goes into the layer lines which you can see once dried. Next time I will use a primer first to fill any gaps and sand it down to smooth it out.
You use filler primer here, key being that it's different from regular paint primer because it's meant for filling small areas so that you would sand it down.
Honestly I'm mostly looking to get rid of the layered look. I don't care if it's shiney or not. Great job tho! I usually don't have time so I wish there was a fast method
Hi, Im having issues printing a model which uses Boole - i connect and flatten the object in C4d , Cura sees the holes (windows in a building) , but the printer ignores the holes
I tried tumbling some PLA parts and it didn't work that great. I got frayed edges and flat areas wernt smoothed very well. I used a ceramic bead media. Perhaps other media might work better?
if I 3D print an action figure with PLA, and did these steps, would the figure look nice and look like it was manufactured professionally?? like a real store bought figure?
Once you create a mold clamp, you inject PVC plastic. After solidify, you need to sand bleed edge before applying a primer then do paint. I'd be intrigue to know how G.I. Joe figures were mass manufactured ..
Will spraying the filler primer followed by the spray paint make it smooth without sanding? I don't really care about the details, just want it to look smooth.
Hello, I have a question. I am using Cura and an Ender 3 V2 When the printer made a perfect sticking 3 layers raft he begin printing to high. The layers wont stick the 4th layer. How can I solve this problem? Thanks,
Probably as simple as a setting in your slicer. This isn't really a question that can easily be answered on youtube. I would suggest Reddit or a forum.
Just got a 3d printer the file that came with it works fine the file we downloaded and tried is just stringy and not sturdy what do i need to make it not so stringy
The results were near perfect by what I can see, but it IMHO, it is impractical when you're smoothing PLA prints with facets and undercuts, as most of the sanding would, by necessity, be done by hand without the aid of a lathe to speed up such process.
Wow you made a new cap for your spraypaint bottle. Just took 10 hours. Was hoping to see something similar as for ABS instead of way to many labor hours for a simple cap. I'll keep it to just spray in the right color if I aint print it in the color I want. Have a kossel mini like delta printer. Still like it. Much more quiet and gracefully to watch it move. And my object stays still.
I mean id hope it wouldn't take you 10 hours. Realistically if you work on it with any sort of speed you should have it done within an hour and that is including paint drying time. Yeah the printer was loud but has since been replaced by a newer quieter design.
if you spray it, use primer, filler then coat it, no need to sand it with 0.1 layer hight… If you need such a simple part print it with ASA or ABS and Acetone smooth it for 30Min.
Ok Im going to be the one to ask... Im sure there us a reason why you spray in the air with the paint can upside down when your done. Why is that? Built up paint or air? Never seen anyone do that. Thanks great vid 👍
@@flukeylukey6468 up to you, smoothing is a common term for using something to smooth the material rather than filling and finishing. I watched it looking for smoothing tips which to date nobody has found, thought you may get thumbs down for that. The video was well done and I wondered if your dislikes were because of the confusion. Not criticism just trying to help.
@@flukeylukey6468 no worries. You put a lot of time and effort into the video, just thought it might help draw your desired audience. Forget the dumb people that mention it being a cap lol. Have a good one 👍
You'd have to make a chuck jig that would be able to hold the flexible cylinder without deforming it at all, while still holding it tightly enough. I've got an engineers lathe but haven't made a jig to do this yet.
I wouldn't let that hold you back. I just recently did a really big project with mostly square parts and all the sanding was done by hand. Definitely doable without.
Yeah maybe. Although with only 2 coats you can still notice the lines when painted in a gloss. If your printer was better then maybe 2 would suffice but I did more coats to be sure. Thinner coats dry very quickly too and allow for nicer parts.
I was thinking the same thing. I think he should have used a much much finer grade paper for the primer steps. Just smooth out the layer, then spray again smooth out then paint. If you prime then sand down to plastic again it kind of defeats the purpose.
Haha yeah. Might have to skip the lathe. I have always wondered what would happen if you sandblasted detailed models like that. Maybe something to look into.
Why didn't you just keep sanding it with finer grits? I accidentally polished my first ever print by tossing it on a drill and sanding it till it was smooth and shiny. Granted I used micro mesh and decided I might as well finish with an automotive polish to get it as shiny as possible once I noticed how nice it was looking but still that was significantly less effort than this. Also this doesn't work for none cylindrical parts
Wow, such a revelation, a lathe only works for cylindrical parts, amazing. Seriously though, the first part of your comment is interesting and worth sharing. The second, however, not as helpful. I think most people realise that the lathe was just to speed up the sanding process, you can sand non round parts by hand. I had the tool, so I used it. If you dont, use hand sanding.
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Thanks for the great video showing the steps in getting a professional smooth appearance. For everyone out there that is commenting that this is overkill, yes for you it is! but for a commercial service, it is industry standard. Most 3DP parts are for prototypes, one-offs or short production runs to validate or sell a product. What follows is an explanation so please stop reading unless you want to know more and have the extra 5 minutes that you will never get back....
I have 3D printed parts for automotive concept vehicles and you better believe I primed them 6-10 times along with wet sanding between each coat to get a perfect part. Anything less and I would not have a job. I've also done work prototyping action figures and for the longest time we hand sculpted everything, now you can print with a SLA at high resolution and along with post-processing and have something good enough that can't be distinguished from production (which is required for the client)
3DP takes a lot of time and once you move past a few parts needed you would go to silicon soft tooling (Molds). This is where you finish the part once, make a mold from that part, and cast resin into that mold to produce multiple parts. If you need more than a few dozen then it is onto Aluminum molds and injection molding, Aluminum is much cheaper for a mold but doesn't last as long as steel. You go to steel molds when your parts required are over 20,000. These are rough numbers but gives you an idea of where 3DP comes in during product development (I've used Aluminum molds for a 2 million part run, we would cut new molds while using current molds so they could be swapped in as they wore out, not the way to do it but we had no idea the product would be a hit and were scrambling just to keep up with demand).
Hobbyist = Hobbyist quality, which is fine, needs are met.
Professional = Pro-quality, something the client can put on the showroom floor, the product launch or the trade fair.
That was an awesome read thank you! I'm studying production technician and most that I leant about is steel, but for complex parts I had no idea it would also be this difficult with plastic
Do you have trouble keeping finer details/clean straight edges when you have to prime and sand 6-10 times? I'm about to work on parts with sweeping curves, and I'm afraid they might turn into free-hand-looking blobs.
I admit i was discouraged from watching the video due to the like/dislike ratio, but thanks to you I watched it all and learned quite a bit.
Wouldn’t it be easier to print in ABS and do an acetone vapor bath to smooth??? This is a lot of work and I get the reason why but at a pro level I would think PLA shouldn’t be used.
Super explication, vous pouvez faire des vidéos de votre travail pour voir le résultat
Man y’all being so rude in the comments saying it took forever just to make a piece like this. This was obviously just an example showing how it could be applied to any 3D print and I doubt it took him that long to do it either. It was well done and if you want any quality work then guess what, you sand it more than once
Ayyy, thanks mate. Nice to hear someone actually understood the premise of the video.
@@retikulum Because maybe those 0.1% of people would like to see how someone else did it. Not everyone is you, some people may find it helpful even if its just to realise they won't do it the way I did.
Any 3D print? To be able to sand it like this, with a spinner thing, it needs to be a body of revolution. Any other body would need to be handsanded or some other tool
@@melvin3509 Hmm if only we had a specialized organ capable of complex thought and pattern recognition to adapt specific concepts shown in one example to other, slightly different situations 🤔
Oh well, I suppose that's too much to ask of internet dwellers!
@@Nawmps Shut up you didn't even invalidate my argument
Thank you! I'm printing masters to create silicone molds out of so I don't mind spending as much time as I need to getting a perfect finish...blown away by some of the arrogant comments on this.
Thanks, glad you enjoyed. I guess poor comments are just part of being on the internet.
@@flukeylukey6468 I'm guessing that 90% of the salty comments are from people expecting a quick-fix to achieving a genuine high-quality finish on their PLA 3d prints. They've been spoiled with the ease of vapor smoothing with ABS and are upset that no one is handing them the right answer!
@@flukeylukey6468 poor comments always follow the best of us
I'm trying to do the same thing. Did you have any success using this method or some other one?
@@vikipoyta pretty much yeah - tried a few different things but really this is what works, lots of layers of sanding and spraying. Not surprisingly - starting with a good print saves time and effort in the long run
Filler primer and paint work amazingly well on PLA. I 3D printed a "shark fin" antenna for the roof of my car to house my rear view mirror camera. I color matched it to the car with automotive paint and 2Kclear coat. Its been in the elements now for 2 years and holding up great. I do suggest using a plastic adhesion promoting primer after the first sanding just before filler primer for long term durability. Of course PLA is a poor choice for a part like this, nylon or ABS is preferred, but it has held up well so far.
you must live in a cool area. In Texas it would melt in the hot sun.
Hell ya! I thought this was going to be a settings video but I am not mad still watched it all the way through! Very cool! Looked very nice at the end!
Thanks for the video! I was wondering what filler primer would be like on a print, guess I’ll have to buy some now!
Thanks for this, great to see the whole workflow here on an example piece.
Thanks, hope it is really helpful
Awesome! You made a cap for your spray can 😊
Yeah. Its a bit of a proof of concept but yeah.
Im trying to refrain my joke.. ;) Once the cap is perfect, does the spray can still have any left to put cap on... ;)
Having worked with printed PLA models, i can say the finish at the end is great. However i will add that the description is a bit misleading because without the sanding part you would have never achieved that smooth finish so its a crucial part of the process and is not mentioned in the description giving impression that you achieved the smoothing with the primer and the paint. (of course everyone is trying to avoid the sanding). all the best
Great video never thought of using automotive filler primer ill have nice smooth prints now, Thanks keep up the good work.
Glad it was helpful
Thanks for showing a way to approach smoothness with printed parts
Wow, this comment section is crawling with people who have never seen finishing work before XD.
Pretty on point demo of some go-to smoothing and finishing techniques, good work.
Thanks
Smart idea. Might have to try this with some figure accessories im working on. Just being able to get some of the lines out for the glossiness will be fantastic
Yeah hope it goes well. You could probably just use the filler primer and leave out the sanding and it would still do a decent job.
@@flukeylukey6468 fair point. Ill try it
I feel like this method would only work for a pretty narrow range of parts - if the part has too many concave surfaces or needs to be dimensionally accurate, I can't see this being super viable
On reason i love being able to print with abs since i built my heated enclosure is the ability to acetone smooth prints. Surprising how well it works
yes, I grab a large plastic container put some acetone, and in the middle, I put an aluminum can put my print close with lid wait a few minutes, and don nice and smooth
nothing ever jumpscared me as hard as the start of this video, love it
Oops haha sorry about that
@@flukeylukey6468 worth it for the final result though, that's *smooth*
Very useful info. Many thanks.
There was an interesting idea about it somewhere on TH-cam. You can take some resin for SLA 3D printers, spray "paint" your model with it and expose it with a UV lamp. The author of the idea used isopropyl alcohol to dissolve the resin and ease the process. After a couple of iterations the model becomes really smooth.
There's just one problem: resin is extremely toxic
@@zekiz774 buy a gas mask it is about 80$
@@sanches2 that'll cost more than the print in most cases.
Man I get so tired of these maudlin safety messages from people who have likely never held a power tool or paint gun in their hand in their lives.
@@sanches2 or, save some money and print with abs or PVB.
Thanks for sharing this with us mate. I'm wanting to do this with batman that I have finished printing. Wish me luck
Sounds very cool. Hope it goes well.
That’s the sweetest rattle-can top I’ve ever seen!
I am impressed, I really am, but the form of the component here lends itself to sanding using automotive finishing methods and materials. It could get quite fiddly if your part has small details just as channels, grooves, holes etc.
Nice work, thanks for the video
I'm really curious which grits you were using when sanding back the primer please?
Thanks,
I mostly used 180 240 and 400. Didn't go much further than that. You might want to adjust those values depending on how fast you want to get things done or how smooth you need the finished surface.
@@flukeylukey6468 thank you!
Good job sir 👍 what kind of spray paint did you use? Thanks
Was just regular spray paint from the hardware store. Squirts, rustoleum, white knight or any spray paint will be fine.
Thanks for the video. Just got my first printer, and am about to try my first sand and paint, with this method. Just in case you respond before I get to the store :) what sandpaper grits are you using? You mention 120 at the start, but I assume you're going to higher grits as you use the filler? I would like an idea of the progression.
You can go as far as you choose. I would probably do 180 then move onto 400 to finish. Since doing the video I have found that wet and dry sandpaper is a must. Lasts way longer. 400 grit or maybe 600 should be far enough.
@@flukeylukey6468 Using wet and dry paper while wet can be a good way to cut down on the dust. Just keep dunking the paper into a small tub of water to remove the grit and dust that may accumulate in the grains of the paper.
Something to try in any case.
I wonder if it would be faster to skip the initial sanding and jump straight to the priming, perhaps with a couple of coats before first sand. Interested in your thoughts!
As someone who's tried, the sanding both helps to flatten out that top layer a bunch, allowing you to use less of the primer, but it also gives a nice grippy texture for the primer to adhere to. It's much easier and looks cleaner if you just sand first
Mate im a newbie at 3d printing, and was looking for this type of video. Once I heard bunnings....auto Subbed gotta help out our Aussie bros. Thanx for all the effort you put into this video for newbies like me. You should go back to bunnings for a snag!
Haha thanks. Appreciate the support.
Your printer is cool, very retro industrial
Genius at work in the Aussie back yard shed. Spend most if my life in such a place. Best place on God’s earth.
unless you want to defend you, or your shed against a violent criminal. Then it would be much better to be on American soil, where you can use your firearm and not be prosecuted for defending yourself on your own property.
@@HoodrichShinobi Not an issue there, all the violent criminals and school shooters they would have are busy fighting off snakes and giant spiders... and emus.
@@deskclaw…and the deadliest of all GOD’s creatures, the ‘Drop Bear’.
Can you use this technique on welded pieces? Or do you suggest using a heavier primer coating before painting?
Good tips mate 😊👍🏽ty
Okay, so what do you suggest for something that isn’t just a cylinder? Most of the things I print would be damn hard to sand
Yeah that's a great question. Normally I try keep the parts I want to smooth either round or rectangular for ease of sanding.
Generally the filler primer can do a decent job of smoothing parts without sanding if you do enough coats, the sanding definitely helps a lot though. One day I think it would be cool to try a gentle sandblast over the filler to see what that does. I have no idea if that will work at all but just something I think would be cool to experiment with.
@@flukeylukey6468 I know there are several types of media blasting I’m not sure any would be gentle enough to use with PLA and alike. I was curious if you have ever tried any type of self leveling seam sealer or other automotive type resins that you could possibly dip the part in. I would be seriously interested in seeing a video on this.
@@flukeylukey6468 I've blasted a white ABS skull for a customer with coal slag and it helped get ride of the layer lines and added a beat up, aged, and weathered effect to the skull. It looked very convincingly real. This was straight from the printer to the sand blaster. So no processing in-between. Customer was happy.
How does you print stay so well on the plate!? I always need to do a raft!
hairspray!
What is the name of that filler? Acrylic primer???
Great video, kind of too much work for me. I've seen acetone vapor techniques that seem to get a similar result without heavy equipment and spray paint.
Question, I must've missed it but what exactly did you print out here? Looks like a cap or bottle of sorts. Wonderful end result btw.
Thanks. It was just a part that I was making for someone. It was a cap for some antenna module or something. Nothing of particular significance except that they wanted it smooth.
hey man just came across this video awesome example I'm fairly new to 3d printing and slowly getting there, as someone who uses 3d printing in a professional manner you would have used different brands of filament what would you recommend I have found just going to jaycar and getting their generic stuff well it is that generic so not great quality but does the job
Professional might be a bit generous. I do offer 3D printing on gumtree but it is as much a hobby as a business. As for filament, Jaycar is somewhat expensive. I use filament from a place called CCDIY. I think their stuff is great. I regularly use fairly generic plastics, they are often fairly cheap and the main downside is a lack of colour choice.
Do you really need the filler? I have a lathe with a buffing tree, wondering is that combined with abrasive wax could also do the job or does pla not sand down to that level as wel as wood does?
Wood grain is a lot more fine than pla
try liquid plastic (Smooth-on by TASK4), you will be surprised at how durable and comfortable it is. and do not need polishing!
Ok, I will have a look into it
I have tried it after light sanding and could still see the imperfections through the rubber paint. The paint goes into the layer lines which you can see once dried. Next time I will use a primer first to fill any gaps and sand it down to smooth it out.
What layer height and heat did you use for that? My stuff is printing but seems at 0.2mm height makes layers that look separate like a log cabin.
it was mostly 0.3mm with some 0.1mm on the threaded areas.
I've heard 0.12 mm gives his results.
Cool lathe setup! What kind of lathe is that?
An old Hercus lathe. Don't have it anymore though.
@@flukeylukey6468 I have the same lathe. Instantly recognised the tune it was singing in those bushings... nice work
thank you, nice ❤️
I wonder how well using a buffing wheel would do.
BlueDog Graphics I can smell the burning plastic rn hahaha
The answer is.......you just ruined your part lol
that's the jankyist printer ever... i love it!
Nice
nice vid,1question tho. Why would u sand the primed part when it can peel the primer off? been wondering why others do it too, thanks bro
Sanding it just helps remove the layer lines and makes for a better finish. It doesnt peel layers off it only smooths them down a bit.
You use filler primer here, key being that it's different from regular paint primer because it's meant for filling small areas so that you would sand it down.
very helpfull thank you
Glad it helped
Honestly I'm mostly looking to get rid of the layered look. I don't care if it's shiney or not. Great job tho!
I usually don't have time so I wish there was a fast method
There isn't one. Any good product requires alot of work. That's what craft work is about
Though i don't even own a 3D-Printer, i understood the Intention of a pro-quality finish. Arrogant comments of hobbyists may be envious, i guess.
Hi, Im having issues printing a model which uses Boole - i connect and flatten the object in C4d , Cura sees the holes (windows in a building) , but the printer ignores the holes
could you use a small motor (with a lathe like attachment) to spin/sand the part?
Rotary table?
@@lucusdemaree5556 yep also can you replace the handle with a pwm motor?
omg, a lathe, great for round objects....
That better cost at least 80$ for how much work you have to put in it!
Yeah thats about how much it did cost actually. Just slightly more.
Pfff aint worth even 2 bucks.
@@SMGJohn can you make few for 2 bucks? I will buy some
@@douacuvinte
Plenty of 3D printing services in China that will do it for you for next to nothing.
@@SMGJohn China buy china get... I'm sick of these products from China that are only 10% quality you pay for.
Have you ever tried to flock your parts after printing? You will get a smoth velvet like surface.
That printer sounds angry AF... I'd like to imagine thats what the first terminators will sound like. But jokes aside nice video
Thanks
How about tumbling it instead of sanding for the initial stage?
Oh yeah, thats not a bad idea. Might have to look into that.
I tried tumbling some PLA parts and it didn't work that great. I got frayed edges and flat areas wernt smoothed very well. I used a ceramic bead media. Perhaps other media might work better?
Your printer makes crazy sounds ;-)
Yeah its been really annoying me lately. Am working on a new silent printer at the moment. Silent fans, drivers and bearings.
But it works :)
it sounds like a grown adult thrashing around in a fisher-price children's play house, while trying to start a lawnmower
if I 3D print an action figure with PLA, and did these steps, would the figure look nice and look like it was manufactured professionally?? like a real store bought figure?
Once you create a mold clamp, you inject PVC plastic. After solidify, you need to sand bleed edge before applying a primer then do paint.
I'd be intrigue to know how G.I. Joe figures were mass manufactured ..
You could also do chemical smoothing with chloroform
Will spraying the filler primer followed by the spray paint make it smooth without sanding?
I don't really care about the details, just want it to look smooth.
Yeah it will smooth it eventually. It will just take a few more coats of primer. The more you sand off the less primer you will have to use.
How do you smooth 3d with square geometry?
Using sandpaper on a flat surface, ideally glass. I dont really know if this is a serious question tbh.
can you do the same to a square part?
Hello, I have a question. I am using Cura and an Ender 3 V2 When the printer made a perfect sticking 3 layers raft he begin printing to high. The layers wont stick the 4th layer. How can I solve this problem?
Thanks,
Probably as simple as a setting in your slicer. This isn't really a question that can easily be answered on youtube. I would suggest Reddit or a forum.
@@flukeylukey6468 Ok I'll try that. Thanks for your answer
How do you smooth small parts
You have the same computer monitor and speakers as me. haha
Hahaha
Hi what is the spay you use?
Just got a 3d printer the file that came with it works fine the file we downloaded and tried is just stringy and not sturdy what do i need to make it not so stringy
You need to adjust the bed temp and extruder temp. Your running it to cold.
The results were near perfect by what I can see, but it IMHO, it is impractical when you're smoothing PLA prints with facets and undercuts, as most of the sanding would, by necessity, be done by hand without the aid of a lathe to speed up such process.
Now that you know that is how it is done are you going to do it? You've really gotta want a smooth pot to put in the effort.
Yeah it takes some time. Some people are motivated some arent.
Wow you made a new cap for your spraypaint bottle.
Just took 10 hours.
Was hoping to see something similar as for ABS instead of way to many labor hours for a simple cap.
I'll keep it to just spray in the right color if I aint print it in the color I want.
Have a kossel mini like delta printer. Still like it. Much more quiet and gracefully to watch it move. And my object stays still.
I mean id hope it wouldn't take you 10 hours. Realistically if you work on it with any sort of speed you should have it done within an hour and that is including paint drying time. Yeah the printer was loud but has since been replaced by a newer quieter design.
It sounds like a very labor-intensive process to me.
Yeah it takes a little bit of sanding. Generally nice quality stuff will take some work.
@@flukeylukey6468 I agree
Everyone complaining about time and resources being spent to finnish this are scared of doing work.
Thanks
Pyrrhic victory.
Maybe, but for some special parts it can be useful. Have been considering sand blasting or similar to make the process easier and faster.
Push on the lights !🧐
if you spray it, use primer, filler then coat it, no need to sand it with 0.1 layer hight…
If you need such a simple part print it with ASA or ABS and Acetone smooth it for 30Min.
Ok Im going to be the one to ask... Im sure there us a reason why you spray in the air with the paint can upside down when your done. Why is that? Built up paint or air? Never seen anyone do that. Thanks great vid 👍
Cali_e90 BMW He does it to clean the nozzle
Yeah thats it. It cleans the nozzle so that the paint doesn't clog it.
@@flukeylukey6468 I noticed that you did that and thought "wow, this guy's a pro, you don't see newbies doing that"
If you read the instructions on spray paint it says to do that when you are done spraying.
Pfft and do you do it with figures or complex prints?
nope
You may want to change the name as this is not smoothing but painting. Smoothing is like acetone on abs, just a thought.
The part went from rough to smooth. I think that is accurately described by the word smoothing.
@@flukeylukey6468 up to you, smoothing is a common term for using something to smooth the material rather than filling and finishing. I watched it looking for smoothing tips which to date nobody has found, thought you may get thumbs down for that. The video was well done and I wondered if your dislikes were because of the confusion. Not criticism just trying to help.
@@zincyellowmach1523 Yeah I think you are right. Thanks for the feedback.
@@flukeylukey6468 no worries. You put a lot of time and effort into the video, just thought it might help draw your desired audience. Forget the dumb people that mention it being a cap lol. Have a good one 👍
Why not use ABS?
ABS / ASA + Acetone sounds much easier.
Simple
You sound like "Marty" from the "Mighty Car Mods" lol -- also, wish you did some wet sanding too, would have helped
Yeah I do sometimes do a bit of wet sanding too. The person who wanted this part wasn't paying enough to bother though.
MAAAAAD
Is you printer a diy one
shooting the can once upside down before putting it away... shit why is that a trick I never learned.
Its mostly drawn on the cans as part of instructions, but heck I never thought people follow that
7:18 is about where I would have dropped it into the dirt.
Great, where do I get a Lathe?.
You don't need a lathe at all. As I said, i had it so I used it. I have done many more parts without it.
3D print one... ; )
thats a lot of work
And how much did that cost ur customer
Nice trick ... A pity that only works with circular objects.
Yeah it is definitely easier with round objects. The simpler the better. I have done various boxes too.
Try acetone vaporizer?
that doesn't work for PLA
Why not use the lathe to knock the layers down? Plastic machines nice
You'd have to make a chuck jig that would be able to hold the flexible cylinder without deforming it at all, while still holding it tightly enough.
I've got an engineers lathe but haven't made a jig to do this yet.
@@Hoobz01 ya you are right
Great video
but, I'm thinking you should have just sent the customer the lid off the spray can.
He wouldn't have known :)
Cool, so step 1 is to buy a lathe
Yea. It's pretty easy when you got a lathe.
I wouldn't let that hold you back. I just recently did a really big project with mostly square parts and all the sanding was done by hand. Definitely doable without.
You sprayed primer and sanded it back off like 6 times, 2 coats is enough then paint it
Yeah maybe. Although with only 2 coats you can still notice the lines when painted in a gloss. If your printer was better then maybe 2 would suffice but I did more coats to be sure. Thinner coats dry very quickly too and allow for nicer parts.
I was thinking the same thing. I think he should have used a much much finer grade paper for the primer steps. Just smooth out the layer, then spray again smooth out then paint. If you prime then sand down to plastic again it kind of defeats the purpose.
Try it again but with a dragon......
Haha yeah. Might have to skip the lathe. I have always wondered what would happen if you sandblasted detailed models like that. Maybe something to look into.
Why didn't you just keep sanding it with finer grits? I accidentally polished my first ever print by tossing it on a drill and sanding it till it was smooth and shiny. Granted I used micro mesh and decided I might as well finish with an automotive polish to get it as shiny as possible once I noticed how nice it was looking but still that was significantly less effort than this. Also this doesn't work for none cylindrical parts
Wow, such a revelation, a lathe only works for cylindrical parts, amazing.
Seriously though, the first part of your comment is interesting and worth sharing. The second, however, not as helpful. I think most people realise that the lathe was just to speed up the sanding process, you can sand non round parts by hand. I had the tool, so I used it. If you dont, use hand sanding.
Step 1: Have access to industrial machinery
Or a brain, sandpaper and hands
Step 1: Own a lathe LOL but nice one
Now I know why people use acetone method.
Yes the acetone method is good but only for ABS
Man that’s a lot of work to make a spray paint can lid 🤣