Material identification

[joshuac]

Hi everyone,

In the context of a personal project I would like to reproduce the appearance of a commercial product of which I send you a cropped image.

I would also like to point out that I do not have the object in question, but it would seem that it is made from a polymer.

I therefore rely on your expertise in the field of 3D printing to try to identify the material used.

Thanks

material.jpg

[curious aardvark]

looks like gray plastic :-)
so use gray plastic :-)

[fred_dot_u]

This fellow appears to have posted a nearly identical question to Stack Exchange for 3D printing. The part is likely printed in nylon via SLS. I have a part that I know is created in this manner and the surface is identical to the one in the image.

[curious aardvark]

it's an injection moulded commercial product.
he says it's commercial - so highly unlikely to be 3d printed.

[fred_dot_u]

The part that I have is also commercially produced and is, as noted, SLS printed. I don't think that the "commercial" aspect is a valid reason for rejecting the process. The surface grain is quite clear in the larger image on StackExchange. SLS printing is practical in larger volumes than smaller, due to the desirable objective of filling the print volume, making it more suitable for commercial purposes than FDM/FFF

[TommyDee]

There are a lot of commercial plastic products out there that have a coating added to give it that silky feel.
It also hides all kinds tooling imperfections and could even justify negating aesthetic features in the mold.

[joshuac]

This fellow appears to have posted a nearly identical question to Stack Exchange for 3D printing. The part is likely printed in nylon via SLS. I have a part that I know is created in this manner and the surface is identical to the one in the image.

Do you have some pictures of this object ?

I also think it is a nylon printing by the SLS method, but when I go through image galleries, I find so many different renderings, then I'm not convinced of what I need to do to get the same result as on the FLTER...

[joshuac]

There are a lot of commercial plastic products out there that have a coating added to give it that silky feel.
It also hides all kinds tooling imperfections and could even justify negating aesthetic features in the mold.

Silky ? There, I have the feeling that it is a slightly granular texture.

[fred_dot_u]

Having held a couple SLS printed items, I can attest that the surface appears granular, but the "granules" are so small that it's challenging to sense this with fingertips. Perhaps under a magnifier or low power microscope.

[TommyDee]

I've seen that on nylon SLS too, Fred. Takes quiet a bit of work to get a shine on it... if ever!