Improve your prints with acetone smoothing

You probably know that ABS or ASA filaments can be smoothed with acetone. But do you know how to do it properly? How does it improve mechanical properties of the print? Are there other alternatives for using Acetone?

Music: Joakim Karud - Future Funk

[heeder]

I know somewhere in the comments this had to be mentioned but industrial safety guidelines state that all electrical components in an explosive environment must be hermetically sealed and intrinsically safe. Brushless or not, unless it’s approved for this type of operation it’s really a big deal and could result in a fire or explosion if the vapors are concentrated enough. I investigated a aerosol recycling plant explosion several years ago. They started to evacuate the propellant and after about 20 minutes realized the scrubber fan was off. They turned it on and blew the roof half off killing three inside. Stay safe out there everyone.

[HeadsetHistorian]

The amount of work that went into this video is insane!

[eelcohoogendoorn]

PLA can be vapor smoothed; ive done it numerous times. The thing is you need a plastic/solvent combination that acts quite fast, so you can hit the surface without melting down the interior. And temperature plays a big role in this. It just so happens that acetone-ABS works fine around room temperature. Ethyl-acetate works quite fine for most PLAs, but you need to do it in a box around 50-60c; otherwise the vapor pressure of the stuff is too low, and you will get similar 'rubberization' problems as with plain acetone+PLA. Playing with heat and volatile chemicals may not be everyones cup of tea; but putting a water bath with possibly a thermostat heater in the bottom of your plastic box is quite safe. Just stay under the boiling point of whatever volatile substance you are working with; that goes for acetone as well.

[gabrielh]

2:36 Me and the bois at 9 pm
2:40 Me and the bois at 4 am

[maanvis]

So this is kinda like anti-aliasing but for 3d-prints :)

[drinklifeup]

I appreciate the video, but feel like it's a shame that the hotbed underneath the smoothing station was not mentioned. I built almost an identical box, with a slightly different shaped clear PP container and was so confused when after a couple of hours my prints had not been smooth at all. Turns out, the acetone is actually being heated in this video by the standalone printer bed.

[bikepacker]

I can see why your channel is so popular. Thank you.

[AlexJoneses]

Big brain move: leave a customer abs order in the acetone chamber overnight and forget about it, come back in the next day to a flexi print

[robertmiller]

Making a part stronger would make sense since a smoother surface also means a surface with fewer stress crack initiation sites as increased smoothness reduces stress concentration sites. Although, given that, I'm not sure why the tensile strength would be reduced.

[innocentidiot]

Quite well packed video. Before I watched video, I thought that there's nothing to learn from it...but I was wrong..

[trashviewer]

I like how you explain diy setup for smoothing with an acetone by using old sheets, simple box... and expensive noctua fan to stir it up.

[stevenarvizu]

There’s a seventh layer of hell for people that use unlabeled bar graphs

[MCRuCr]

In the layer-adhesion test, the better mechanical load capability is clearly due to the changed geometry of the radius. It got alot bigger and thus didn't function as a weak point anymore

[cierapaige]

Its funny to me how many precautions are given regarding acetone in handy work type videos. Yet it goes on the hands, feet and nails of millions of adults and children that paint their nails or use various types of nail extensions

[raughboy]

From what i can see you add acetone on the bottom of the tank, put abs parts on some sort of platform, close down the tank and turn on the fan. You are using acetone vapour to smooth abs prints. Very clever!

[litewerks]

This is similar to Case Hardening with metals. The tests point to that as well. The outer structure has been optimized while in inside remains relatively the same. Try tumbling them in media or a light shot peening and I’d be they get even marginally better.

[purduephotog]

For about a year I was exposed to Acetone and Toluene vapours at work. Over that year I started to become very irritable and angry. My fume hood wasn't working properly, and so I continued to get major doses of this.
Please, be careful with Acetone. It's highly volatile and absorbs quickly. Wear gloves and work in very well ventilated areas. You do not want to experience the personality changes brought about by acetone poisoning.

[fbmemar]

Wow, you guy really took it to the next level!

[kegelschneckenmett]

pls be advised: it can build up an explosion with air: 2, 5 Vol.-% up to 13 Vol.-%

[HobbyWorld_one]

This is a great video. I make lots of huge 3D printable projects and a lot of the stuff covered in this video could make my life a lot easier. Will absolutly try some of this out on some of my future projects. Thanks for sharing, liked and subscribed