Sanding lowers surface quality?
Just a quick question regarding post-processing:
I've attempted sanding surfaces, that were rough from support connections, but for whatever reason, it's very obvious were I sanded. On black PLA, the sanded parts get a withish color. And even on other colors, there's usually discolorization.
Is sanding not possible without further post-processing, or is it maybe related to the filaments? I've been buying the discouted roles online from all the cheap sellers.
Prusa Mini FW4.4.1
RE: Sanding lowers surface quality?
Have you looked at chemical smoothing?
RE: Sanding lowers surface quality?
I find many times that the lighter color areas on sanded dark surfaces will "blend in" NY simply rubbing or burnishing with a light, colorless grease or oil.
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It's always possible to go through finer and finer abrasives and finish with polishing ... but that's a lot of work.
Have you tried varnishing?
Cheerio,
RE: Sanding lowers surface quality?
I use a series of successively finer grit sandpapers. It requires a bit of work but gives a very nice smooth surface that does not look milky. Here's how I do it:
I start with P80-100 to get rid of the roughest parts, but not too harshly to avoid creating deep groves. Then I move on to P120 to remove any grooves left by the coarser paper. After that I continue upward towards finer and finer grit – P240, P400, P800 and possibly even beyond if I want the print to have a glassy shine – making sure to remove any groves from the rougher previous paper before moving on to a finer paper. It takes forever to remove groves with a too fine paper.
This might sound like a lot of work but it also allows me to print with far higher layer height and still get a very nice surface. Smoothing out the roughness and getting a decent polish is generally a lot faster than printing with a really low layer height. A well-sanded 0.35mm print can look just as nice as a 0.1mm, but with a fraction of the print time.
I use a cork block to avoid rounding off surfaces that are intended to stay flat. More complex parts can be smoothed by hand. Be careful if you use any machine for polishing. The heat generated by friction can quickly push PLA above its glass transition temperature, which can mess up the surface as the material begins to melt. Just keep your machine at very low RPM to avoid that and let the surface cool off a bit with short intervals.
RE: Sanding lowers surface quality?
This thread will solve your problems.... Re-melt just the surface.
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