Smoothing the support leftovers

[tasopoulos 40]

Help! I've been trying to print a bracelet, like the one you see in the photo below:

This item can only printed this way (practically on air) because it doesn't feature any flat surface to lay on. After removing the supports, the bottom side of the letters is very rough and no sanding can improve it. On the left is the result after removing Cura's supports and on the right the result with using Meshmixer supports:

Meshmixer looks slightly less rough, but still doesn't look good enough for jewelry. Any ideas on how to make the bottom parts of the bracelet as smooth as the top ones? Thanks in advance!

[Labern 775]

There is no way that you can print it as smooth as the top.

One option is to cut the model in half at the most flat spot then rotate so each end is on top. Then glue each half together.

But if you want it all one piece then It's just a matter of filing it, then smoothing it with chloroform, ethyl Acetate, acetone dip or you can quickly go over it with a blow torch.

Edited November 17, 2015 by Guest

[tasopoulos 40]

I tried Acetone smoothing, and while it helps with the shining of the model (and very slightly with the smoothing of the bottom), it's still far from perfect. I've also thought about splitting the part in 2, but I'm afraid the seam will look bad in the end. But it definitely doesn't hurt to try.

[gr5 2,265]

If you make many of these then I would open it out and print it flat first, then put it in hot water for a minute and then wrap it around a pre-built wooden mold/cylinder. I did that recently with a halloween mask conformed to my face. You want the water around 60C to 80C.

[tasopoulos 40]

 

@gr5 You are a genius, dude! I printed it flat, put it in some hot water, quickly wrapped it around a thin bottle and in a few seconds I had a gorgeous bracelet! Genius, I tell ya! Thank you so much!