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Polishing / smoothing a finished object

Posted by appjaws1

appjaws1

Polishing / smoothing a finished object
April 08, 2014 06:41AM

Registered: 10 years ago
Posts: 780

Hi all,

What is the best way to polish / smooth a finished object printed in pla?

All suggestions welcome.

appjaws - Core XYUV Duet Ethernet Duex5
firmware 3.1.1 Web Interface 3.1.1
Ormerod 1-converted to laser engraver, Duet wifi
OpenSCAD version 2020.07
slic3r-1.3.0, Simplify3D 4.1.2, Cura-4.4.1

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redblunt

Re: Polishing / smoothing a finished object
April 08, 2014 10:04AM

Registered: 10 years ago
Posts: 112

well 2 methods here:

1. take a lighter and heat your plastic, then quickly but firmly push it against a window / very slick surface - you can mess up pretty easy but get nice results if your are patient

2. take sanding paper wich is used by carpainters 1200 something around - takes long tough

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onno

Re: Polishing / smoothing a finished object
April 08, 2014 11:05AM

Registered: 10 years ago
Posts: 58

Sanding it usually does it, work your way to finer sanding paper, starting at 180 or 240, and end with 1000 or higher. For blobs of PLA you might want to use a Dremel with the sanding drum (for instance the Dremel 430 1/4" sanding drum) on it to get rid of those before sanding the entire object.

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jy_oc_hx

Re: Polishing / smoothing a finished object
April 08, 2014 11:28AM

Registered: 10 years ago
Posts: 42

I think you can use TetraHydroFuran or similar and vapourise it in the same way you would use Acetone for ABS. But i'm definately not a chemist hot smiley