UM3 printing T-glase or nylon for COVID visors

[JohnInOttawa 104]

Good morning everyone.  I'm looking for advice.

 

After a successful test print of a visor 'hoop' (remix of the Prusa RC2 which was the pick of the doc near me) in PLA, I need to print a number of these in a material that can withstand a bleach solution or alcohol spray.  For some reason all of the print recommendations reference PETG.

 

I have some nylon on hand, three rolls of T-glase and of course lots of PLA.  I will stay away from the PLA, just because it's not recommended by anyone, but don't want to waste the filaments I have experimenting and have never used the t-glase (the rolls had just arrived in December).

 

So, I would dearly love input from those who have successfully used T-glase on a UM3.  What print settings work, how should I prep the bed and at what temp should I run it.  I do have some Ultimaker print adhesion sheets, it looks like these have been recommended elsewhere as a way to prevent glass bed chipping.  Open to thoughts.

 

My wife's clinic is already running low on visors so the sooner I can print these up the better.  Thanks!!

 

John

[geert_2 557]

I would at least try a couple in PLA.  I have seen others who made things in PLA for emergency use too, recently. And I have also made prototypes in PLA for single use, to be desinfected with the usual 70% alcohol, or with some sort of chlorine solution (not sure about exact formula).

 

3D-printed tools are never optimal due to the pores, voids, and irregularities that collect "finger-mud". But this is for all materials, even PET and nylon. So you should make people aware that this is only an emergency solution, and that these pores are the draw-backs of this technology.

 

If you would be familiar with ABS printing, you could do acetone-smoothing until it has a high-gloss. (I am not, so I can't give tips.)

 

Acetone-smoothing also works on PLA (most of them), if printed in thin layers, but far less than on ABS. It tends to close some of the tiny gaps, but not bigger ones, and does not produce high-gloss surfaces.

 

The only real disadvantage of PLA is that it is bio-degradable, but I don't know how fast and how much is it eaten by hospital bacteria, if any? At least, bacteria haven't eaten my sifts and tools in my lab, even not the always moist ones in the sewer.

 

The advantages of PLA might outweight the disadvantages here: it prints fast, has good layer-bonding, good bed bonding, well known printing parameters, predictable results with very few failures.

 

If you print in thin layers (0.06mm or 0.1mm) at slow speeds, it is watertight. If printed at higher speeds and higher layers (0.3mm), it is not watertight, in my experience.