Hey everyone,
I am new to resin printing with my Formlabs machine and could really use some advice on post-processing. I’m struggling to smooth out layer lines and get that polished finish. Any tips or tricks for sanding, polishing, I am also following this https://forum.formlabs.com/t/white-resin-prints-well-black-prints-horribly-whats-wrong/splunk-career/27429 or painting resin prints would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!!
@jacksmithh
I have done a few prints attempting to get visually clear parts with good success. Typically I sand down to 600 to 1000 grit sandpaper and then finish with a clear spray paint, which fills all the micro scratches and leaves behind a smooth surface. Sanding becomes more difficult with fine parts and recessed features. We have sand and glass bead blast cabinets and used those with relative success as well.
We will sand them and then hit them with a media blaster to remove sanding marks
Hi! Sanding and media blasting is a pretty standard workflow that yields good results, I’ve also used spray-on filler primer for joined parts to hide the seams, and for high gloss finishes, we use a two-stage polishing process on a polishing lathe, with a wet cutting pumice substitute on one side to get rid of layer lines, and a dry polish on the other side with a tan high-shine bar. Here is a recent example with Clear, which makes it easy to see the polishing step. Another option is to use something like our Precision Model Resin, which you can print up to 25µm layer height. It’s mainly used for dental applications but does not require the 3B or 4B, and is a great option for miniatures, or parts where the surface finish needs to look perfect. Happy to answer any more questions.
Henry
So to continue this topic here here is some awesome R&D We did with Vapor Smoothing PA12 parts( now these arent Printed on A formlabs machine the process should still the same as they nylon 12.
Exciting R&D underway at Forerunner 3D Printing! We recently tested the strength of standard PA12 (Nylon 12) against Vapor Smoothed PA12 (Nylon 12) parts to determine at what thickness they can stop a bullet. The results might surprise you! Are Vapor Smoothed parts actually stronger than regular PA12? Watch the video to find out.
