Easy Method of Vapor Smoothing ABS

hey there I am back today to show you guys how you could take an ABS print and vapor smooth it so it comes out like this I have a video up on our wham-bam channel showing how to print an abs with success so I'll let the link I'll put the link in the comments below but now I'm gonna teach you how to vapor smooth so a few things you're gonna need you're gonna a heated surface you could also use the bed of your 3d printer you could use your stove I have a portable little hot pot whatever you call this a little electric stove unit you're gonna need a big boiling pot crab pot whatever you want to call it I just got a cheap one from I think TJ Maxx or something I taped the vent hole so that nothing escapes you're going to need something to lift the model off the ground so I just got some cheap brass it might even be aluminum but brass-colored messin from Home Depot and bent it to make a stand okay and you're gonna need acetone common acetone from the hardware store don't use nail polish remover as that might have some additives but use acetone now a word of caution we're working with acetone and we're actually vaporizing it which is very bad for you to breathe so use it in a well vented area and use a respirator mask if you're working right above it use gloves for protection and acetone in the heat do not mix you do not want this on while you're pouring this is an acetone is flammable possibly even explosive so please use this with caution so here are the steps first thing I'm going to do is I'm going to pour about two tablespoons of down into the bottom very little that's about it can you see that move to the edge so you can see a little teeny maybe two three tablespoons then okay the Rays are in there I will put this on the hot pot and turn it up to close and medium heat and then I will get my model into that and close it so what's the point of this the point is we're trying simply to make the acetone evaporate fill up this chamber in a vapor and deposit on the outside the ABS acetone is a solvent for the ABS so that means that it's going to melt the ABS and by melting the ABS is gonna smooth out some of the layer lines and blend them together and it's gonna create a nice shiny finish a word of caution this isn't an exact science so if you leave it in too little you might get not get enough smoothing if you leave it in too long the thing might become overly melted and drooping you'll lose some of the details and features it's it's a big experiment if you're leaving in way too long with way too much acetone you're actually getting get a bubbled surface that just looks like a piece of crackly bacon so you want to make a few pieces in experiment 2 you get the the system right I usually heat for about 2 or 3 minutes just until I see the acetone on the bottom evaporated and not on the bottom anymore then I completely shut off the heat and I'll leave it in there for like 20 minutes so if you could see already at the bottom the acetone is diminishing there's very little down there it's almost all gone I'm gonna shut off that heat in a second then we'll let it sit for about 25-30 minutes and we'll come back to it ready yeah okay it's been about a twenty minutes half hour I could already see through the top that the piece is shinier this should be done outside I'm gonna take it out here but I'm gonna run the part outside to what it rated not harm the employee he's and myself in the studio but I'm going to take this off the lid will have some vapors on it want to be careful that the base might be a little bit hot you don't want to touch the model and we want to let that sit for a good 10 20 minutes so that the outer surface hardens now because it's actually soft if you touch it you'll get fingerprints and dirty it up but you could see the wonderful results if you want it shinier use a little more acetone leave it a little longer if you want it more detailed do it a little less like I said be careful if you do too much acetone or too much time you're gonna have bubbling I don't think this is an exact science I'm not sure exactly how to recommend be sure that you're gonna get the results you want other than experimenting on your own so hopefully this just opens the door and gives you the information you need to get started so good luck and post your comments in the video below especially if you have other tips to add to this if you liked it let me know thank you

Channel: Wham Bam Systems

Views: 72,484

Keywords: vapor smooth, abs prints, 3d prints, 3d printing, 3d print tips and tricks, acetone smoothing, abs vapor smooothing, wham bam, wham bam systems

Id: d386HlCz8SQ

Length: 5min 35sec (335 seconds)

Published: Fri May 03 2019