Improve your prints with acetone smoothing
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- čas přidán 24. 06. 2020
- You probably know that ABS or ASA filaments can be smoothed with acetone. But do you know how to do it properly? How does it improve mechanical properties of the print? Are there other alternatives for using Acetone?
Read our article to find out more: blog.prusaprinters.org/improv...
Music: Joakim Karud - Future Funk - Věda a technologie
I know somewhere in the comments this had to be mentioned but industrial safety guidelines state that all electrical components in an explosive environment must be hermetically sealed and intrinsically safe. Brushless or not, unless it’s approved for this type of operation it’s really a big deal and could result in a fire or explosion if the vapors are concentrated enough. I investigated a aerosol recycling plant explosion several years ago. They started to evacuate the propellant and after about 20 minutes realized the scrubber fan was off. They turned it on and blew the roof half off killing three inside. Stay safe out there everyone.
an* 😈
Lol, like someone in youtube would know more than Josef Prusa himself. The dude invented the Prusa printers, I am sure that if he can invent this he knows more than enough, notice he even mentioned about working in a ventilated area and the fire risks of the dangerous chemical Acetone. Im very happy with my Original Prusa i3 mk3, its a beast so i don't have doubts about what he says.
Teresa Shinkansen yes but this is a warning to be wary and safe
if u want put inside a fan, search on internet for ATEX Fans. ATEX is all the thing can put in hazard place like a fan or a motor. bye/
@@teresashinkansen9402 lol, get your nose out of his arse. He may be smart, but does he know everything? Of course not. As if he's the smartest man on CZcams.
2:36 Me and the bois at 9 pm
2:40 Me and the bois at 4 am
me the red one, almost dead but still going strong.
So ya bois inhale acetone ?😄
hahahaha
😂😂😂
The amount of work that went into this video is insane!
So this is kinda like anti-aliasing but for 3d-prints :)
Yeah, but it's not crappy.
@@squirrelrobotics lol hi
the first comment I check i see you xD
@@augiespear8804 Hello!
More like blur
Well yea, kinda
Wow, you guy really took it to the next level!
I can see why your channel is so popular. Thank you.
PLA can be vapor smoothed; ive done it numerous times. The thing is you need a plastic/solvent combination that acts quite fast, so you can hit the surface without melting down the interior. And temperature plays a big role in this. It just so happens that acetone-ABS works fine around room temperature. Ethyl-acetate works quite fine for most PLAs, but you need to do it in a box around 50-60c; otherwise the vapor pressure of the stuff is too low, and you will get similar 'rubberization' problems as with plain acetone+PLA. Playing with heat and volatile chemicals may not be everyones cup of tea; but putting a water bath with possibly a thermostat heater in the bottom of your plastic box is quite safe. Just stay under the boiling point of whatever volatile substance you are working with; that goes for acetone as well.
Thank you for the suggestion. I've had a lot of PLAs lying around so feels like kind of a waste getting other filament materials just to try the acetone smoothing as of now. Will try them.
so for clarification, if I have a PLA model, say the size of a helmet, and have it on a stand in a box with a fan, with a layer of Acetone under the helmet (not touching the helmet) and then have that box in a hot water bath at 50 deg C, after 20 minutes the PLA should be smooth? and how much acetone do you think would be required for such a project?
@@stevoz748 no you need ethyl-acetate for PLA, not acetone; and its boiling point is more like 70C if I recall.
@eelcohoogendoorn8044 thanks for the clarification
The video is about acetone smoothing, so no, it cannot be vapor smoothed using methods in this video.
COOL video! I wasn't aware that the fan would help with this process, prior to watching this video. You've earned my subscription!
Thanks for the sub!
This is a great video. I make lots of huge 3D printable projects and a lot of the stuff covered in this video could make my life a lot easier. Will absolutly try some of this out on some of my future projects. Thanks for sharing, liked and subscribed
Quite well packed video. Before I watched video, I thought that there's nothing to learn from it...but I was wrong..
There’s a seventh layer of hell for people that use unlabeled bar graphs
Apple approves.
They seem labelled to me
Big brain move: leave a customer abs order in the acetone chamber overnight and forget about it, come back in the next day to a flexi print
well if it was a Dildo it might still have use XD
THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT I WAS LOOKING FOR
Thank you for such a detailed video man :)
I appreciate the video, but feel like it's a shame that the hotbed underneath the smoothing station was not mentioned. I built almost an identical box, with a slightly different shaped clear PP container and was so confused when after a couple of hours my prints had not been smooth at all. Turns out, the acetone is actually being heated in this video by the standalone printer bed.
Most solvents don’t really evaporate at a significant level unless heated
the sun works, put it outside
Great video! I bought some FiberSmooth PVB filament and I plan to use this method, except with isopropyl alcohol. PVB is supposed to print like PLA but smooth with isopropyl alcohol.
Making a part stronger would make sense since a smoother surface also means a surface with fewer stress crack initiation sites as increased smoothness reduces stress concentration sites. Although, given that, I'm not sure why the tensile strength would be reduced.
I totally agree with your analysis on crack initiation sites on the surface for Sharpy and adherance tests.
Concerning the tensile strength, this probably have something to do with the orientation of your print. For instance a specimen printed horizontally or vertically don't have the same tensile strength. I assume that printing horizontally (where layer are in the same direction as the force you apply) is much stronger when confronted to tensile stress. Therefore, the melted part might tend to loose the cohesion between layers which result in a lower tensile resilience.
@@dr.hawaske8488 it's actually the exact opposite of this. the tests in the video showed that layer adhesion was increased from vapor smoothing as it effectively fused the layers together which is why you cant really see the layer lines. this is also probably why the samples performed slightly better in the impact resistance, as better layer adhesion would probably have some effect in an impact. however, the parts had worse tensile strength because some of the acetone was likely still in the parts, and the actone itself would weaken the part, I mean it literally melted it which is why the parts were smooth. Hope this answered any questions you had.
I like how you explain diy setup for smoothing with an acetone by using old sheets, simple box... and expensive noctua fan to stir it up.
it makes sense, because cheaper fans usually use abs blades... that does not work for obvious reasons...
also, Noctua fans are made of glass reinforced PBT@@nobodygaming4248
This is similar to Case Hardening with metals. The tests point to that as well. The outer structure has been optimized while in inside remains relatively the same. Try tumbling them in media or a light shot peening and I’d be they get even marginally better.
good job bro. very comprehensive and informative video.
For about a year I was exposed to Acetone and Toluene vapours at work. Over that year I started to become very irritable and angry. My fume hood wasn't working properly, and so I continued to get major doses of this.
Please, be careful with Acetone. It's highly volatile and absorbs quickly. Wear gloves and work in very well ventilated areas. You do not want to experience the personality changes brought about by acetone poisoning.
What about dimensional stability? Can you explore PVB more since it requires just IPA? How does part strength and flexibility compart to PLA, nylon, ASA, PETG, etc?
Thank you for the information!
From what i can see you add acetone on the bottom of the tank,put abs parts on some sort of platform,close down the tank and turn on the fan. You are using acetone vapour to smooth abs prints. Very clever!
In the layer-adhesion test, the better mechanical load capability is clearly due to the changed geometry of the radius. It got alot bigger and thus didn't function as a weak point anymore
Great video again ,😃
The 2k @ 60fps really makes this video pop. Wow!
Its funny to me how many precautions are given regarding acetone in handy work type videos. Yet it goes on the hands, feet and nails of millions of adults and children that paint their nails or use various types of nail extensions
Idea :print extra rough. Throw watery gypsum at it. Works for precise negatives from clay. Gypsum becomes more gooey and less watery over time, so that's for very freshly made gypsum water . Could make big prints look really nice n well, manual, for cheap. You can take sandpaper to it too.
Dude is so rich he uses a Noctua fan for his print smoothing box
it logical since the cheaper fans use lower quality plastic,
which means their easier to get affected and damage by the vapor!
@@g60force wrong. mechanical stability is not chemical resistance.
@@David-cy5zu you've been misinformed
@g60force any fan made of ABS would kinda melt, so its more about the type of plastic than the quality of plastic
Thought I was the only one that noticed hahaha
I’ve been thinking of printing more in ABS just for this reason alone
Tnx a lot u are Print Savior! loks like i need some aceton to buy!
According to wikipedia ethylacetate and pyridine can be used to smooth PLA. In general, just take a solvent which is able to dissolve the plastic (there is always one, but be aware of the safety rules).
The only thing I know is that PLA is really soluble in organochlorides like dichloromethane or trichloromethane (Chloroform). They are even videos on CZcams of people using them to smooth PLA. But of course organochlorides are all pretty toxic and should be handled with coution although DCM is a little bit less toxic then the rest.
Very nice, I like. I very happy Kazakhstan use the 3d printers now.
pls be advised: it can build up an explosion with air: 2,5 Vol.-% up to 13 Vol.-%
Nice video clip, keep it up, thank you for sharing it :)
we even made a acetone 'baker' out of an discarded crockpot with a stand in it to put the things on.. a little acetone in the bottom, then the vapors would atomize and smooth.. did this couple years back.. everyone was asking us how we got the finish so smooth... too bad doesn't work on the new pla plus stuff..
Trying it now. Thanks for the video/
fifteen second exposure to acetone in a double boiler (outside) works great too. Don't insert your hand into hot acetone vapor.
Kabooom!!!
Well there goes my weekend, my immediate thought was that I'd try this and insert my hand into the hot acetone vapor. I guess I'll have to just make do with ordinary water steam.
super video, thank you
I've done smoothing of PETG with Acetone and it works great. I think it's important to get the part in the smoothing box right away after printing though.
Why's that? I'm curious. I figured there would be no difference.
What's model equipment did you use for tensile and strength testing?? So cool!
I imagine it's forcing the imperfections to mould together making a tighter hold, the same way they treat glass on smartphones to make them stronger or like the old German glass that never breaks just without the heat.
i love this.
PVB seems really neat. But just by quick search PVB seems to be, at least in the US, a unicorn. Wonder why this type isn't more widely used. It says that it has alot of print characteristics of PLA when printed but can be smoothed with IPA as you said
If you want a shiny PLA print just put a layer of superglue , I put a drop of superglue on the print and spread it with my finger works for me
Love this! Would this also work with Resin prints?
Better than a bead blasting cabinet
I smoothed PLA topologies with dichloromethane. Worked pretty nicely, though not quite as good as ABS with acetone. For referece: Printed in REAL PLA silver and red.
Though I understand that DCM is not easily available.
Beware DCM gives cancer
@@CambridgeSuper8 I'm a chemist working in a lab, only using it with proper safety measures is a given. The carcinogenic properties for DCM are established in animals but not humans, meaning if it is indeed seriously carcinogenic in humans we would have known so for a long time.
@@Doping1234 i am a chemist in the lab as well! it is serious for human, it is being established in mammals! Banned in many labs unless no alternative solvents, normal gloves dont protect with DCM. Not available for the untrained people and very bad for the environment. This solvent and DMF should not be recommended for work outside a ventilated fumehood.
@@CambridgeSuper8 ofc it is for use in professional context alone. The fact that carcinogenity is likely alone is not particularly relevant because it is qualitative, if the effect size is so small that finding conclusive evidence is hard that is relevant in assessing its danger, too. Or would you equate ingesting alpha emitters with dcm?
Are we going to see a video like this but more in depth for PVB?
Nice sample size
How did you build that hot plate? any Ideas for a simple DIY?
that tarkov medkit sold me haha
Does the acetone warp the plastic container you put it in? I would be afraid it would eat through it. or at least warp it. Also does 10-15 minutes of acetone vapor cause deformation or do you have to keep it in a lot longer (ASA I'm talking about) ?
With regards to mechanical properties, on tensile the strength was lower, but how did the elongation compare?
tutorial on how to make the smoothing box?
thx!!!!
Cool, I could make my own handheld electronic game case designs.
how come you only have 159K subs...
you should totally ask other printing channels to help out :)
ok dumb question maybe but what are those magnetic things you used to set up that elevated platform?
Cool how about details on the vapor box you used in this video please?
We used a PP (Polypropylene) storage box from IKEA. It's mentioned in the article linked in description - there you can find out more information about chemical smoothing various materials.
Was the fan a noctua?
Really nice video. Dont you fear your fan could cause an ignition of the vapors due to electric arcs in the dc motor? or do you use a brushless fan? i would like to build such a box but i am very uncomfortable with a dc motor and combustable vapor
I was wondering the same thing when I saw that.
Noctua fans use brushless motors
Having a fan inside the box could be a fire risk. When a dc motor ins it can create sparks on the brushes. There is a motor rating in chemistry to prevent motor ignition of flammable chemicals
Hi, I'm curious to know if I intend to vapor smooth PVB (or any oter filament), is it better to align the seams, or to choose a random pattern ? Because I wonder if the rim created by the aligned seem will also be blended evenly as the rest (my intuition says no...)
You should show how to diy build the electronic one.
Do you wash it immediately after? using PLA and will get isopropilic alcohol. How many hours should work? as you say it takes longer? thanks
As beginner been looking for some advice. And now have even more questions. So: fan most of them are made of abs how long they last? Hi concentration vapours can ignite easily with electrostatic discharges which sometimes occurs on fast moving plastic parts, also even brushless motors can generate tiny sparks, heat, and magnetic field all of them can ignite vapours off different chemicals. Box how long it lasts for? And another I had a a lot of occasions to play with the strength tester. With numerous different materials and there is some behaviours tendency especially characteristic to plastics I never had situation that piece was weaker to pull force than twist or share. Are you sure that tested piece wasn't faulty?
Dipper you dig more things to learn you find.
Here is an idea, use an air assist nozzle like commonly used on small lasers, but put the air pump in a container with acetone in... so the air it blows at the "welds" contains the vapor as it prints...
fan in a push or pull positioon sooo doing this
Every filament with an S (styrol) in the name can be solved or smoothed in acetone.
Will this work with resin? I used to clean with acetone during the ipa shortage.
Where can I find the CAD for those chess pieces?
What if I use ABS, but for functional parts? with vapour smoothing screw up the clearances?
I sit in the same room as my 3d printer all day, is PVB safe to sit near while it's printing for long periods of time?
I wander your box I have a heat bed under your box and do you have a video for how doing your box and heat bed ?
So we brush it acetone or ipa add to container leave a little open and turn the fan on inside?
will it work on metal 3d printed green parts?
I wish I understood what I was doing. I cant even get my fdm printer to print. hahahahaha This smoothing stuff comes waaaaaaaay after the stage I am in now. Cool video none the less
Can you show how to make the fan part of this box?
Does smoothing change the permeability of the print? If so, it might be useful for metal casting.
It will but only for the outer surface properties
Do you use fans with brushless motors since you are placing the fan inside a box full of alcohol or acetone fumes.
Wow it work perfect for me,using pla f
Will is slowly dissolve the plastic container?
I need a perfectly smooth finish because I'm making molds out of a 3d printed dice.
you need a resin 3d printer for that task, not a filament one
Next up, lets improve the acitone!
*prusa: so lets try some acid.
I'm making the chess pieces. Tried a knight yesterday. Came out great with no stringing.
If i am not mistaken, many of theese fans use comutated brushed motor, a potential source of sparks. I am not sure whether it is safe tu use in flammable atmosphere. Otherwise i enjoy the video, thanks for the content of such a quality.
PC fans use brushless motors , and have done for many years. Depending on the plastic used in the fan, there may be some effect from the acetone vapour, but ignition risk is likely to be very low.
Do you think this method could work on a resin-printed part? Maybe not with acitone tho 🤔
Will this work with nail polish remover?
Must the fan blow towards the object? Or backwards like an exhaust fan ?
1:47 what a masterpiece :D
Will this method work for PETG?
do they work for 3d pens? i mean smoothing them a bit?
At the 44 second mark, what are the red slots in your box? are they just more vents? or do they actually act as supports for the shelf?
Yes and what are they made of? Not PLA or ABS?
I have problem, if i try smoothing ASA filamentum then surface will not change.
It just softens the entire printout :/ Can you help me?
I don’t own a 3D printer .....have no clue what he’s talking about but I’m interested
I got a crested gecko articulated print that is very scrappy, I need to know how to smooth it without getting rid of the bumps. And I don't know what to paint it with. Please help me.
Does this work for resin 3d printers?
ive seen a video of how to smooth pla with acetone that involved an induction cooktop, a steel pot, something to hold the model, and some acetone.
the acetone is heated up till it evaporates, and the model is kept in the pot for 2 minutes at a time. just wanted to know your thoughts on that.
We also heated the acetone to create acetone vapor @2:18, no effect on any of the PLAs we tested. -Mikolas
Should i mix acetone with water? to fill a little the mesh