Jump to content

Smoothing PLA with nail remover


emferon

Recommended Posts

Posted (edited) · Smoothing PLA with nail remover

Hi all,

I tried to smooth PLA with nail polish remover of my wife. I was surprised of the nice result obtained so easily.

Composition of the nail polish remover:

- Ethyl acetate

- Alcohol

- Water

- Polysorbate 80

- Cetyl acetate

- Oleyl acetate

- Searyl acetate

- Acetytaled lanolin alcohol

I just leave the pieces to smooth a couple of minutes (5-10) in a jar on the heated bed of my printer at 70 deg.

Surface becomes smooth and glossy.

I hope it will work for you as for me,

Best regards,

Emi

Edited by Guest
  • Like 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

Posted (edited) · Smoothing PLA with nail remover

Noted, but I've tried A LOT of nail varnish removers... in the UK forget it, in the states maybe seeing as nail varnish remover tends to be 99% acetone. So if this nail varnish remover does anything then it must either be very high in acetone, or has other chemicals that do the job. Many things I have found smooth PLA, but its the AFTER period which is the time when things split or shrink. I have no issues with acetone, other than warping on thin surfaces but then again anything that smooths will warp, its the nature of the beast. Acetone alone will give good results and I can almost guarantee that it will be cheaper than anything else.

But then again what my idea and someone else's idea of smooth could be very different.

....Why no photos??? If its so good. show me. Lol.

But I always try to explain in my hysteria over acetone, that post work is essential for a perfect result. But not very much, thats the whole point. Sticking something into a vapour chamber will give poor results compared to a controlled dip or a specified brush application on delicate parts.

I am in the middle of a Galvanising Tutorial, but my work hours changed half way and have not had the time to finish it. I have the next two days free, I may try a methyl chloride and acetone mix to see what happens seeing as I've not see anyone posting results.

But yes.....as always, we all want to see close up macro photos of detailed areas if possible!

Vapour will make it shiny, that does not necesarily mean smooth. Smooth means if you gloss it afterwards, then the reflections are also smooth and uniform, not blobby and distorted.

Either way post a picture.....at your own peril. I expect near perfection, otherwise I have my own effortless techniques that garner me the results I require. Currently I need a new coupler and have to install the old nozzle for maximum quality as the OB is slightly less sharp when compare to my old nozzle as its larger and holds a bit too much heat for my liking. Thinking of getting those smoothers as well, as after a dip, those lines are all I see.

As usual, sorry for the long rant....

P.S. You also forgot to name the brand of Nail varnish remover, seeing as I doubt people are going to get the individual chemicals and mix it up themselves. lol.

Edited by Guest
  • Link to post
    Share on other sites

    Posted · Smoothing PLA with nail remover
    I am in the middle of a Galvanising Tutorial, but my work hours changed half way and have not had the time to finish it. I have the next two days free, I may try a methyl chloride and acetone mix to see what happens seeing as I've not see anyone posting results.

    That will be interesting......

  • Link to post
    Share on other sites

    Posted · Smoothing PLA with nail remover

    I have lacquer thinner, enamel thinner and acetone and will be doing experiments myself and posting pics as soon as I can get a space that will not endanger my health and such. Not too far off. I may try brushing them on failed prints just to see what happens and different filament types just to round out the 'science aspect' of things.

  • Link to post
    Share on other sites

    Create an account or sign in to comment

    You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

    Create an account

    Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

    Register a new account

    Sign in

    Already have an account? Sign in here.

    Sign In Now
    • Our picks

      • UltiMaker Cura 5.7 stable released
        Cura 5.7 is here and it brings a handy new workflow improvement when using Thingiverse and Cura together, as well as additional capabilities for Method series printers, and a powerful way of sharing print settings using new printer-agnostic project files! Read on to find out about all of these improvements and more. 
         
          • Like
        • 18 replies
      • S-Line Firmware 8.3.0 was released Nov. 20th on the "Latest" firmware branch.
        (Sorry, was out of office when this released)

        This update is for...
        All UltiMaker S series  
        New features
         
        Temperature status. During print preparation, the temperatures of the print cores and build plate will be shown on the display. This gives a better indication of the progress and remaining wait time. Save log files in paused state. It is now possible to save the printer's log files to USB if the currently active print job is paused. Previously, the Dump logs to USB option was only enabled if the printer was in idle state. Confirm print removal via Digital Factory. If the printer is connected to the Digital Factory, it is now possible to confirm the removal of a previous print job via the Digital Factory interface. This is useful in situations where the build plate is clear, but the operator forgot to select Confirm removal on the printer’s display. Visit this page for more information about this feature.
          • Like
        • 0 replies
    ×
    ×
    • Create New...