is it possible to smooth ABS-GF with aceton,
or any reinforced Filament?
while I doubt it’s impossible I find GF to have a nice texture when printed. I would think if it smoothed at all it would be an uneven surface.
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Here is a part printed with Bambu ABS-GF and half dipped in acetone. The texture remains but the area is glossy and feels smooth compared to the rougher non dipped area. This is currently my favourite filament to print with.
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looks promissing,
i dont care so much for the looks, i hope it will be al bit more watertight when smoothed.
That looks neat.
Have you noticed any excessive Z layer brittleness with the ABS GF?
I was initially really happy with it, but a few parts I tried were very brittle and easily broken. I attached a screen grab of the bracket I had tried to print- the red mark was where it snapped very easily. Printed in the orientation the pic shows
That will be the weakest point of any print as it’s parallel with the layer lines. I haven’t had any issue with ABS-GF with parts breaking but I don’t have parts that load in that orientation. They are very strong then the force is applied perpendicular to the layer bond.
I agree- but it was incredibly weak.
Just curious if it’s a limitation of the material- or if settings could increase the z strength a bit
I haven’t seen this. I use the standard Bambu ABS-GF settings.
Yep, me too.
Maybe I’ll print another test and post more info.
I’ve wondered the same thing! From what I understand, acetone smoothing works well on standard ABS, but when it comes to ABS-GF or other reinforced filaments, the results might not be as smooth due to the added fibers. It might be worth experimenting on a small piece to see how it turns out.
I think it’s because of the substantial change in the layer print time at that point, It is the same reason the benchy has a glossy layer line on the hull that suddenly disappears. There is a setting somewher to change the layer print time that could help.
Print it the other way down so you get better strength in the direction of stress. Since the part on the bottom (top in picture below) is bolted onto something, it doesn’t need as much strength as the other part. Print with this orientation.
Printing it with the front part down would make the weak part stronger than both orientations above and will also strengthen the other part. The only problem is the curve on the one part would require supports.
Otherwise you can anneal it, it will fuse the layers better and it won’t be so weak. You will probably get some additional shrinkage, so after testing, measure it and adjust the dimensions for shrinkage.
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Good point, I might try it.
We had printed this part at work on a Markforged X7 using Onyx material, and it was pretty flexy. We all agreed it needed a redesign/reprint. ( it holds a barcode scanner)
I had bought the ABS GF recently- and thought it would be a good thing to try- I was just a bit surprised at the brittleness. It’s definitely strong and rigid in the XY from the few different test prints I’ve tried.