Hi! Lately this days I've been thinking how to polish prints after printing.

3D Printing
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Hi!

Lately this days I’ve been thinking how to polish prints after printing. I do some research and I found the same over and over, the combination of sanding + vapour.

I’m printing with PLA and after sanding, the part lose colour and feels dusty.

So, my question is: How do you remove the sanding dust from the part?

Greetings

2

PLA doesn’t sand very well. Flame-polishing works better. Hit the surface very briefly with a hot flame, like a butane torch.

3

@Ryan_Carlyle kindy drastic hahaha will try

4

I’ve seen a video on YouTube using hot air gun. Didn’t try yet, but I’m planning to.

5

@Benjamin_Santalucia I’ll try! Thanks!

6

I sand PLA. Then I wash w dish soap and water. Then I hit it with a heat gun. Use a very light touch. W practice you can get an even sheen. Sometimes I go further all the way to primer and paint. I’ve used bondo a few times too

I also have gotten pretty good with plastic welding using a soldering iron. It’s quite hard and smells terrible (ventilate properly!!) but I have filled and fixed huge prints that look beyond repair. I’ve gotten where I can save prints that warp by “un-warping” them. Btw, it’s the Big-E printer that requires this type of repair… two feet tall spiral prints with a 1.4 tip… no heatbed, no enclosure. So after 8 hours of printing and 4 pounds of filament… I kind needed to make it work :wink:

Brook