Acetone smoothing PLA technique

[Cloakfiend]

ULTIMAKER 2
LAYER HEIGHT 0.06
Standard BLACK COLORFABB PLA
SPEED 35-70 MM/ps
TEMP 210-230 deg C

Hi guys,

After trying the acetone ABS method for ages, I came to the conclusion that acetone simply destroyed waaay to much details in my prints so i experimented with acetone and different spools of PLA. I found that at 0.1 layer height was also too much of a step to smooth, but 0.06 worked almost perfectly if your print is uninterrupted and no nozzle blocks, but with a touch of sanding it was litereally paint ready. I made two vids, one has an organic shape of a t-rex skull and the other very square geometric shapes.

I used tons of acetone ill admit, but just to fill one container that i leave in my garden and open to dip now.

Any ways here are the vids and to all those that really hate lines and dont mind waiting 27-33 odd hrs for a nice high res print this is in my opinion the easiest way to achieve VERY nice surface finish on your objects. All the detail is preserved and a slight gloss is also attained, but not silly melted glossy like the acetone vapour method.

Take care handling large amount of acetone, but once you have youre tub, you just keep reusing it.

I do things much safer now BTW. Results are the same.

Links:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-K3E9TU77pE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkSwGwWkZVc

good luck.

[truly_bent]

Saw you had some trouble with the acetone melting your gloves.

For a time i helped a friend epoxying recycled barn-board tables and we used acetone extensively for prepping each epoxy pour and clean up. I didn't wear any gloves initially and developed an allergic reaction to the acetone, which caused rashes. I presume the level of acetone was building in my system. After that we always used surgical gloves and masks. Highly recommended.

Here's a table showing glove material chemical resistance.

[Cloakfiend]

The gloves are all good mate, just got real slippy with the pla melting. I always wear gloves and a mask against the fumes now and do it in the garden. Just needed to share my results as everyone was saying acetone has no effect on pla, which is clearly false, when it comes to certain types of pla.

thanks for the info ive received plenty of it lately, but as someone who has handled mercury with his bare hands, when i get excited i tend to thrown caution to the wind.

im safe now though. Lol. No more mercury games for me.

[King_Alistair]

Oh, man... you're braver than I. Sometimes I wear a surplus gas mask while I work with chemicals like that. Impressive results, though; I've mostly been smoothing my prints with repeated applications of paint and fine sandpaper.