How transparent/translucent is Flexfill Natural?  

RE: How transparent/translucent is Flexfill Natural?

Yes, but it going to significantly reduce and diffuse the light.  

RE: How transparent/translucent is Flexfill Natural?

I haven't used that specific filament, but I have used other transparent filaments and have found the trick is to use the minimum thickness you can. In an old Coleman incandescent lantern, I built a light cone to modify the pattern a LED replacement bulb throws. I had to change the angle 90 degrees.  0.4 mm walls worked well enough. Trying to use thicker walls walls dimmed the light quite a bit - not due to transmission but because of scatter effects. So I had my best result bouncing light off the surface of the plastic and out through a single wall.

RE: How transparent/translucent is Flexfill Natural?

@tim-2

Same here, but they print a little milky.  

RE: How transparent/translucent is Flexfill Natural?

@cwbullet

Not so the stuff I've used. They've printed clear, but because of all the small joints and curves involved, light gets trapped in a house of mirrors.

But considering the final part isn't transparent in any photo-optical sense - calling the end effect milky is probably close enough. It depends on how many layers are involved. I have printed parts tens of layers deep, and yes, those do turn milkish. But are still clear a few layers down. You can see color through several mm of part.

RE: How transparent/translucent is Flexfill Natural?

Cheers, so I'm guessing this print should be fine to see an LED through. https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4731250

RE: How transparent/translucent is Flexfill Natural?

@tim-2

That is pretty much what I was saying.  Parts are "transparent" but not completely transparent.  They will not come out like a pane of glass.  I use it for night nose cones and you can see LEDs through it, but it does reduce the lumens seen.  

RE: How transparent/translucent is Flexfill Natural?

Printing clear to get absolute transparent (like glass) is possible - but it takes very slow nozzle, and every layer must be in the same direction as the previous layer, constant extrusion speed (no linear advance) - and a significant amount of post processing with sandpaper in a series of ever finer grits, ending with wet sanding with extremely fine grit.  

It's less about the clear filament, and way more about eliminating the "house of mirrors" that is mentioned above within the print.

Read the article on the prints forum called "How to print glass".   I have done that method and achieved amazingly clear results (like a window made of glass).  You can look through it and see clearly things on the shelf across the room.  Shown here, a window on the back of a bird house

The main house body was printed with Prusament Carmine Red PETG (which is not clear).  The back of the bird house is a sheet of glass that I printed.  Notice you can see the layer lines and individual sparkles in the carmine red through the transparent window.  The bright spot in the middle is reflection off the surface of the window of a light behind me.

RE: How transparent/translucent is Flexfill Natural?

@dan-rogers

Very good print.  I have seen it on the forum but very few are successful.  You should do a tutorial.  

RE: How transparent/translucent is Flexfill Natural?

Posted by: @cwbullet

@tim-2

That is pretty much what I was saying.  Parts are "transparent" but not completely transparent.  They will not come out like a pane of glass.  I use it for night nose cones and you can see LEDs through it, but it does reduce the lumens seen.  

The term I was trying to use was it acts as a diffuser and not that it reduces lumens.  

RE: How transparent/translucent is Flexfill Natural?

@dan-rogers

Dan - can you point at the post that explains how to achieve your result?  I can guess at it, but would rather read the full article.

RE: How transparent/translucent is Flexfill Natural?

@tim-2

+2.  

RE: How transparent/translucent is Flexfill Natural?

@cwbullet

I get it - describing things we see is always a problem. UFO, AUAP, strange light, bright spot in the fog, halo, street lamp. 

RE: How transparent/translucent is Flexfill Natural?

We've all seen this - science in progress: 

But it comes with obfuscation.  They always show the face upside down.

Here's what it looks like presented normally.

RE: How transparent/translucent is Flexfill Natural?

@tim-2

Yup - 100%.  I just realized that Prusament has a clear PETG I have not tired.  

RE: How transparent/translucent is Flexfill Natural?

Posted by: @tim-2

We've all seen this - science in progress: 

But it comes with obfuscation.  They always show the face upside down.

Here's what it looks like presented normally.

What is this?

RE: How transparent/translucent is Flexfill Natural?

@tim-2

How To Print Glass by Rygar1432 | Download free STL model | PrusaPrinters

RE: How transparent/translucent is Flexfill Natural?

@dan-rogers

Thanks.  I have been trying to do this for months.  

RE: How transparent/translucent is Flexfill Natural?

The article is light on how to do the staged lapidary work.  A lapidary wheel would really speed things up.