Hi, Welcome to Tinkerine Experiments. This is a new series where we will take different
myths and rumors around 3D printing and test them out for ourselves.
Today we are going to start things off with something simple. We will take these PLA prints
and some sandpaper to try to polish the surface. We have 320 grit sandpaper which is very fine
and 100 grit sandpaper which is very rough. Since we know PLA starts to soften around
60 degrees celsius. We will be trying out a few methods. First of all, sanding non-stop
and sanding periodically which is every couple seconds to let it cool down and
see if there is a difference. We will also be trying dry sanding and wet sanding to see
if the water will help cool down the temperature on the PLA model. Here are the PLA prints before the post-processing.
I can feel the PLA heat up on both methods but it is less hot when periodically sanding.
I can also feel the PLA soften under the heat. This is the same when using 320 grit sandpaper.
Let's take a look at the results. 100 grit non-stop sanding looks rough but it is actually
smooth to the touch. You can see the PLA smudge and the surface is very stringy. The same
can be seen in 100 grit periodically sanding, not much of a difference.
320 grit non-stop sanding looks smoother and less PLA smudging and the stringy surface
that we saw in non-stop. 320 grit periodic sanding looks relatively
the same as non-stop. Surface is very smooth. Let's move on to wet sanding.
For wet sanding non-stop and periodically, I can't tell if the PLA is smudging on the
surface or not but there is definitely no heat in sanding with both techniques.
The same is seen in 320 grit sanding. We will just have to see with the results.
Moving to the results. 100 grit non-stop wet sanding is a bit scratchy
but the surface is really smooth. 100 grit periodically wet sanding achieved
the same results as non-stop. 320 grit non-stop wet sanding is very fine
and smooth, and we don't see the stringy and smudging on the surface like dry sanding.
Last in line, 320 grit periodically wet sanding achieves the same results but it takes a bit longer.
Here is a summary of all the sanding.
Well there you have it, we post processed these two PLA prints with dry sanding and
wet sanding. From our observation, it seems like wet sanding produces a better surface
finish than dry sanding. 320 grit sandpaper also produces a finger and smoother surface
than 100 grit. Therefore if you are looking to post-process
your prints with sanding, I would recommend wet-sanding.
If you liked our experiment, like and subscribe below and leave a comment on what experiments
you would like us to try in the future! Thank you for watching.