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  1. #1
    Technician
    Join Date
    Sep 2014
    Posts
    51

    Cold Acetone anyone??

    Just wondering how everyone cleans up anything they Print?

    I saw a YouTube clip on Cold Acetone and wondered if anyone on here uses that? otherwise I wonder if using a Wet and Dry Sandpaper with water would achieve the same thing? Just more Elbow Grease :-)

  2. #2
    Engineer-in-Training
    Join Date
    Jun 2014
    Posts
    349
    I try to design stuff that is usable as-is, or at most needs some sanding of supports.

  3. #3
    Staff Engineer old man emu's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2013
    Location
    Narellan, New South Wales, Australia
    Posts
    912
    Acetone is the way to go in order to preserve more surface detail. There has been a lot of discussion here on the topic of Acetone vapour smoothing, which requires the acetone to be vaporised in a "chamber" into which the object is printed.

    Some people have tried applying acetone straight from the bottle, using a paint brush to apply the acetone.

    Would you post the link to video so we can see the basis of your question?

    Old Man Emu

  4. #4
    Super Moderator curious aardvark's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2014
    Posts
    8,801
    is Cold Acetone just acetone ? or is it something different.

    I've used acetone to seal porous prints and a quick rub over makes abs very shiny.

    That said I was impressed with all the pla prints I saw yesterday at tct. And it's something I haven't really printed with. that's naturally shiny and seems to have a naturally better finish than abs.

  5. #5
    Staff Engineer
    Join Date
    Dec 2013
    Location
    Georgia
    Posts
    934
    PLA can be smoothed with Ethyl Acetate in exactly the same ways that ABS is smoothed by Acetone. A lot of folks use clear lacquer on their PLA prints to smooth them, but also to keep them from degrading over time.

  6. #6
    There's a good article on smoothing PLA using THF here.

    Here's the(/a) cold acetone YouTube clip.

  7. #7
    The first time I used cold acetone, I was impressed with the result. Like you, I search for how-to's when it comes to cleaning the printer and ways to ensure that it would last for a long time. There are videos in Youtube that I find really helpful. I think this is where I got the idea of using cold acetone as well.

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