Here is one pic the polishing is taking ages as i can't get in all the gaps and i keep chipping the copper off with my fingernails when i get irritated at how long it all takes and try to go super fast. some things can't be rushed or you need the right tools, but its hard with plated aka because if you use a dremmel you will ruin your model as i simply spins way to fast.
That is nice. A friendly Medusa? But you continue to impress with your sculpting skills. 
Thanks. I guess it looks a medusa but thats just how I draw my hair. Its looking much better polished already!
Here it is almost polished, need to make a thinner polishing rag as my fingers are too big for the small bits in gaps I just cant reach. Two spots are chipped as a result of my aggressive polishing, but I was getting tired of it after an hour. I may just leave it as is, I already printed another bigger one that stands better and is a bit more refined.
Concerning your photography setup: what about modeling and 3D-printing a stand to hold your lights?
I dislike hand-polishing too. So, for the polishing, have you tried a Dremel tool with very soft polishing disks? Or dental polishing disks or cones? They come in very fine shapes too. I guess it would have to be some tool that runs a lot slower than a Dremel, and a very wet polishing disk, to avoid overheating and melting of the PLA.
For example the kind of wet polishing paste and slow running motor in the first video, combined with the fine tools in the beginning of the second video? (But definitely not the speed in the second video, that would melt everything.)
Thanks for the vids, and yes hand polishing is a real pain! but my electrolyte is kaput! I tried using a dremmel on a few occasions and you can use it sparingly, but again I get bored if something takes too long and just forget that its PLA underneath and have ruined a few models because of this. The adhesion of the conductive paint to the primer or direct PLA is a big factor here. I use 0000 wire wool or the finest available that i can get hold of along with metal polishes of varying types and any other abrasive stuff I can get hold of. I have just got some renaissance wax recently to clear coat the metal after so it doesnt tarnish like my old stuff. I want to look into polishing rags. and utlra soft dremmel tips, but the downside of soft dremmel tips is that they ten to need replacing VERY often as they wear down FAST.
Edited by cloakfiendThese are the ones I showed you last month, the brand is Habras, and used for dental stuff. The red blue and yellow are the 'coarse' ones, the mint and salmon for polishing.
They are nylon infused with something and very durable, although I had a mint colored one lying around for a long time and the hairs became brittle and fell apart..
Best is to use a motor with adjustable speed, to slow it down, and even then, be careful.
Thanks, Yes I remember you showing me at the print house!. Ill have to experiment with these because doing this by hand is near impossible in all the tiny hard to reach areas and under the overhangs and such.
@peggyb: I have seen these in Youtube videos, but I never saw them in real life.
Are these brushes ment for metals? Or would they work well on plastics too, without melting them, and without cutting through them (of course at low speeds)? Do you have any experience with this?
9 minutes ago, geert_2 said:@peggyb: I have seen these in Youtube videos, but I never saw them in real life.
Are these brushes ment for metals? Or would they work well on plastics too, without melting them, and without cutting through them (of course at low speeds)? Do you have any experience with this?
Would @cloakfiend's metal encasement make a difference in tolerance?
If you look at my you tube video of copper plated prints, I show you the problems of the plates coming loose, but on my recent plates I've used a different primer and the plate seems real solidly stuck on so when I polish it it doesnt move. If you have a gap in the plate and air gets in and you start polishing, theres a good change you might massage the air into the gap between the model and plate and then force the air into new parts slowly separating the plate from the surface, resulting in bubbles and delamination. Also if you acetone PLA like me, then the shrinking will affect the plate as teh acetone does its thing. But filling it with plaster first does slow this somewhat, however it also contaminated the solution, so you need to make sure the electrolyte does NOT come into contat with ANY plaser of Paris!
Heres the vid:
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@geert_2 slow speed is important with plastics of coarse. I use them for the metal filled filaments, like bronze, copper, and they are great to get into the deeper areas where it is impossible to get in with fingers and sandpaper.
Don't expect wonders from a rotating tool on a flat surface, you're only touching a small piece of the surface making it hard to get it flat and straight.
I prefer the yellow (80-most course) bigger in one piece, the other option is smaller with a reusable shaft.
In the photo I tried to demonstrate the effect on PLA ,hope you can see the difference, on a very bad print from very old filament. Left side original, right side a few minutes with the yellow tool. Using a hanging motor, flexible shaft and foot paddle for speed, so I can control the speed while working.
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Nice,
Looks good, but my main concern as you said is the speed of the device I use the polishing heads on. I may just end up using a standard drill which tends to spin a lot slower than my dremmel and has trigger pressure sensitivity also unlike the dremmel. The dremmel should have a speed setting all the way down to zero! I wish i could have a hanging device, but then again, my house is crammed full of 'stuff' and if i cna get aay with repurpoing a drill ill go that route.
M
I have a very old Dremel (ca. 1980?) without speed control, so it always ran at 28000 rpm. But you could buy an external speed control back then. Originally this went from ca. 10000 rpm to 28000 rpm. But I opened it and changed the settings of the potentiometers (=variable resistors), so now it goes from zero to 28000 rpm. One big disadvantage: at low rpm the Dremel has not enough cooling, since this is provided by the internal fan which does not run fast enough at low rpm. So it gets very hot and requires frequent cooling pauses. Also, at low rpm it has very little torque, but that may be an advantage here: then it is less likely to cause damage when getting stuck.
Google for the words: dremel solid state motor speed control
And then view the images. Be careful if you buy a second hand one, since a lot are for 110V AC, and most have an American plug (even the 220V models).
Or maybe you could buy a simple universal motor speed control? Put the internal speed control of your Dremel to maximum, and place the universal speed control in the 230V mains cable. This will probably be a lot cheaper. Just expect the neighbours to complain about "snow" on their TV, or noise in the radio.
Google for: 230V universal motor speed control
Ill just use my drill, it will be a truly multi purpose drill. I already use it for very slowly rotating my turntable to film my models. I attach a large buffing pad and press it against the side of the record player and put it at the minimum speed. This is another ghetto setup that looks pretty good. I have technics SL1210s. That come in very hand for this purpose! Ill make another vid about how i do it! i made 3D printed supports for the sacrificial record I put on top of it to raise it above the centre needle that the models go on!
Edited by cloakfiend
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Wow the hand turner out Nice that we'd been talking about on that video jou made 
Once i get mine redone I'll post a pic but these all look great!
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Heres a pretty photo, took way too many again!!!
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That is really sweet! Very, very well done with nice vision to start with
Thanks Kman, a good hour or two of polishing on this one, I'm going to plate a t-rex skull next, I have hd two laying around for ages and one is painted badly, I've been meaning to chuck it out or do something with it for ages.... heres a few more pics for the hell of it as photos are my way of signing off. Once i've taken the photos thats marks the end of my effort with it, time to move on to the next. Tag, Document, Learn, move on!
a few more pics.....
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I sometimes use two lights (two mobile phones, but then need to use my nose or tooth to take the photo! lol. sometimes it takes a few attempts! Ill post the pretty pics when I get back!
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