Hello everyone.
I have had a Fuse 1+ for a while now and have already had to deal with a Fuse 1 at work. Now I have started the first print and I have noticed that the parts come out very bright. With the Fuse 1 I was working with, the parts were much darker. I cleaned the parts with the blast, regardless of whether I was using a Fuse 1 or 1+. Here are some pictures of my first print on the Fuse 1+. The parts came out as light again on the 2nd print.
I use PA12 and 30% refresh rate.
Has anyone had such parts or differences in brightness? Can it really only be the powder or could it also be something to do with the temperature?
Thank you, that could be a reason. However, I also blasted the parts by hand and only after blasting for a while did the surface become darker but also relatively smooth and as if washed out.
It also seems to me that the parts are already relatively light after the sandblasting. But I could be wrong.
I probably need to clean the drum and possibly use a different glass blasting medium
All those residue issues were from running glass bead and it breaking down very fast I believe…After Formlabs sent me a new tumbler liner I switched to their plastic bead and polisher upgrade and I have not had any residue or issues since. Blast is working beautifully now and I would never try hand blasting ever again…
Owning both a Fuse and now a Fuse 1+… I will say I did recognize a difference in parts in color but this is most likely from chamber temperature offset differences and having a much stronger laser. I have a pretty solid Blast polishing and Dye tank workflow now though so they all come out a nice Graphite/Black color in the end.
I will say a lighter part to me would be a lower temp part… but I can typically tell my temperature offset by how the powder/surface armor comes off the part when post processing… if its hard or still soft.
Yes, I have already carried out the temperature test.
It’s due to the blast, as you said. At the moment I still suspect that the ionizer is defective or at least not working properly.
I’ve also tried dyeing, but the parts don’t turn a really deep black. I use RIT coloring agent in an ultrasonic tank. Would you have any tips for me? How much RIT : water mixture do you make? Do you have any additives in it? Temperature and how long would also be interesting.
I suspected the ionizer when I first noticed this problem too, but it turned out to be media breakdown. Has this light color occurred when using fresh glass bead media? I battled this problem constantly until switching over to the polisher upgrade, but using new glass media resolved the issue temporarily. I’m sure you’re purchasing the right stuff but just to be sure, glass media should be beads (smooth, spherical) vs. crushed.
The broken glass media wasn’t a huge issue until it came time to dye. Parts would never reach a deep black if that white residue was present.
I use black Rit ProLine powder and mix at about 1-2% dye to water by weight (~3 tablespoons/gallon) and I also add about a cup of vinegar. This is mixed in a 10L tank, heated to 180F, and parts are dyed for 35 minutes. I’ve noticed my dye bath oxidizes within 10 days and gives a poor finish with a blue tint, so I empty the tank and mix up a new batch at about that interval.
