Bully v2 plated not painted comparison.

[cloakfiend 960]

Hi folks im back again with another plate n polish test. And my first time with support material since cura 15 and boy what a difference. Much better printing all in one as i only spent about an hour cleaning it up and i forgot to even sand it down lightly to remove the subtle layer lines after the acetone. Slightly annoyed but hey it a test! The other was printed in loads of parts and glued which in time i see it has split and the filler has come away. It took me many hours of filler and sanding to make and a total waste of my time. Ill be printing with support from now on!

 

No pro pics just UM2 advertising lol.

[kmanstudios 1,047]

On 4/3/2018 at 7:20 PM, cloakfiend said:

forgot to even sand it down lightly to remove the subtle layer lines

That just adds character.

 

You are on a roll! This is nice stuff!! What did you use for support?

[cloakfiend 960]

Just the bog standard support! and the usual zero infill. The way the new support system works is MUCH more forgiving that the old one in cura 15. It is actually possible to print with support (unless you have fine details on the bottom that is) and then easily sand it down with 80 grit paper followed by my usual 320 or 400. then a slap of acetone and you're good to go! Im going to be doing a lot more of this unless I have a really detailed model because gluing stuff takes ages, but I've even seen most resin users do this for detailed models so it cant be avoided at times regardless of the printer? well I am doing a nice reconstruction of a fave sculpture of mine at the moment so another few evenings work and it should be finished, I dont have enough time to finish it in my usual two evenings, too much folds in the clothing and not enough reference photos!!!!

 

Plating is going wierd, its giving me a good thickness to buff and polish without worrying too much about going through to the print but its not shiny, Im spending too much time polishing the stuff, but it does look good! I've bought yet more electrolyte and paint to experiment with, so if my next plate goes perfect, then I know it must be the plaster of paris that is ruining my copper sulphate. Before it would last a lot longer and i have notice a lot of bubbles coming from tiny holes here and there in the objects as I dont bother sealing them. I may have to!. Also the primer im using is much better then my old home made one and the conductive coating seems stick to it real well and I have not seen any peeling at all compared to before!

Edited April 6, 2018 by cloakfiend

[geert_2 427]

I looked it up in Wikipedia: "Gypsum is a soft sulfate mineral composed of calcium sulfate dihydrate, with the chemical formula CaSO4·2H2O." So it contains calcium, sulphate, and water. I am not a chemist, but I can imagine that this would interact with a copper sulphate solution. But bubbles might also be coming from the air trapped in the plaster: it is very porous, so it contains a lot of air.

 

If you want to test which is the cause, you might put a little bit of the plating solution in different glass jars, and in one add water, in the other add plaster, in the third add primer paint (dried chunks), and in the fourth add PLA. And see which one gets destroyed.

 

[cloakfiend 960]

Hmmm I'll have to see how much detail i lose in sealing my models as well. every additional coat removes detail, which is why vapour acetone was a nono for me. Too much lost detail. If its gonna be shiny or smooth it needs to be perfect and hold all the detail of the model, which is why i stay well away from the vapour method.

 

Im pretty certain the plaster is doing it. but then again plating larger things could be exhausting the electrolyte disproportionally as well, so so many variable when you are plating, it could be anything really!! Could be my voltage, as I never really change it but i doubt it seeing as its worked for the lasrt two years. Might also need to renew my wires, they are looking worn and frayed!

 

The electrolyte hates organic materials in it. Anything organic will destroy it.

Edited April 6, 2018 by cloakfiend

[cloakfiend 960]

Took some better photos whilst I was doing the hair one...