Anyone have any bookmarked guides for smoothing out prints, w/out losing detail? …if possible. I’m using an Afinia H-Series Printer, and standard ABS.
Thanks in advance!
The trick using the vapor method is not to leave your part in for a long time. Do it in short spurts and you’ll end up being able to maintain a lot of the detail. It takes some experimentation.
K… I’ll give it a shot. Acetone in a metal container? Or some other setup?
Yeah, acetone vaporizes at room temp. You speed up the process by heating it. Any of the guides should be a great place to start. You’re best off experimenting to determine what suits your needs.
Be careful, acetone vapor is very flammable (IE - explosive).
Understood… I have a fume hood for the job.
Thanks!
@Shachar_Weis , it’s really not. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJWhfpWlGFg - Really the worst you could do is singe some arm hair.
@Shachar_Weis @ThantiK , acetone could be explosive IF the conditions are proper, but if you are trying to make a vapor bath, you are inherently trying to keep as much vapor in and that pushes out the oxygen. If you were to make an air tight seal, then I would be concerned.
Note: do not make an air tight seal and then pressurize any containers without proper care.
acetone vapor is not explosive, it has a very low flame propagation speed even at ideal air/fuel ratio.
I have been experimenting with vapor polishing. its a bit of a tricky procedure, getting the acetone to vaporize and fill the container evenly without stratifying. my parts tend to have more smoothing on the lower portion than the top because of this.
I use a 2 gallon glass jar with a container of acentone on a hotplate in the bottom, varying between 50-70c or so. also, placing the part into a refrigerator and letting it cool down first can help the acetone condense on it faster.
Thank you Jason… That setup sounds like a good place to start for me; I have a 2gal glass container and hot plate readily available. Will share my own tests.