3D printed parts

[A-10 LOADER]

I'm wondering if you need to wash these parts before priming/painting ? I do but ....

I've always washed my resin parts in a soapy solution but, I'm curious what others do.

Steve

[southwestforests]

Yes, 3D printed parts do need to be cleaned before painting. 

As I understand from looking for info about the 3D printed parts I have purchased and used there are a couple "it depends".

 

One of those is that what exactly is used to clean them can vary with what material the parts are made from.

 

It may also depend on specifically how they were printed and what kind of support medium was used.

 

At this point specific details escape my memory & best I can do is say to play in your favorite search engine and maybe on YouTube.

 

I recently got some3D printed  1/72 scale submarine parts from a vendor on Shapeways and neither vendor nor Shapeways provide cleaning info for the 2 different materials used.

[A-10 LOADER]

21 minutes ago, southwestforests said:

Yes, 3D printed parts do need to be cleaned before painting. 

As I understand from looking for info about the 3D printed parts I have purchased and used there are a couple "it depends".

 

One of those is that what exactly is used to clean them can vary with what material the parts are made from.

 

It may also depend on specifically how they were printed and what kind of support medium was used.

 

At this point specific details escape my memory & best I can do is say to play in your favorite search engine and maybe on YouTube.

 

I recently got some3D printed  1/72 scale submarine parts from a vendor on Shapeways and neither vendor nor Shapeways provide cleaning info for the 2 different materials used.

Like I said earlier, I'll continue to clean mine but, was curious about it, thanks.

Steve

[Dave Roof]

54 minutes ago, southwestforests said:

Yes, 3D printed parts do need to be cleaned before painting. 

As I understand from looking for info about the 3D printed parts I have purchased and used there are a couple "it depends".

 

One of those is that what exactly is used to clean them can vary with what material the parts are made from.

 

It may also depend on specifically how they were printed and what kind of support medium was used.

 

At this point specific details escape my memory & best I can do is say to play in your favorite search engine and maybe on YouTube.

 

I recently got some3D printed  1/72 scale submarine parts from a vendor on Shapeways and neither vendor nor Shapeways provide cleaning info for the 2 different materials used.

. 

3 hours ago, A-10 LOADER said:

I'm wondering if you need to wash these parts before priming/painting ? I do but ....

I've always washed my resin parts in a soapy solution but, I'm curious what others do.

Steve

 

 

No, they do not need to be cleaned as they already have been. Regardless of what was used to clean them, which is almost always IPA or Denatured Alcohol, 3D printed parts need to be cleaned and cured under a UV light prior to packing and shipping. 3D printed parts are made from a liquid resin and you would receive a wet and sticky mess if the above steps weren't followed.

 

Sorry, but there is no different kind of 'support medium' used. The rafts, supports and parts are all the exact same resin and all are cleaned the same way. Unlike most other producers of 3D printed parts, I remove all of the supports from my parts prior to curing. Other than a light sanding to remove any remnants of support 'nubs', everything I produce is ready to use right out of the package. For almost all others, you just need to remove the supports, clean the 'nubs' and you're ready to paint, assemble and install. 

[southwestforests]

5 hours ago, Dave Roof said:

Sorry, but there is no different kind of 'support medium' used.

 

 

Hmm, how does that intersect with this, which, granted is from 2019 and technology does evolve,  sometimes quite quickly,

Quote

3D printer support material is simply the material in which these supports are printed. Different materials offer different balances between price, ease of use, and print quality, so picking the correct material for your models will make your printing experience much more enjoyable.

https://all3dp.com/2/3d-printer-support-material-which-one-to-use-for-my-project/

 

See also:

Quote

Our MatterHackers Pros take the time to compare various support materials so you have all the knowledge you need to get started with them.

https://www.matterhackers.com/articles/lets-compare-3d-printing-support-materials

 

Oh, and this too may be of interest,

Quote

After a part is printed, there are steps that must be followed before it can be considered finished. Following these steps will ensure a successful and usable part.
... 7. Place the entire basket in a 70°C (158°F) warming oven for 30 minutes or until the wax support material has melted off.

...

Fine Wax Removal
1. Place parts in a clean warm mineral bath (approx. 65°C (149°F) ) or EZ Rinse-C for 30 minutes.
2. After 30 minutes removal from heated bath.
3. Rinse parts with warm water and pat dry. Parts are now ready to use.

http://infocenter.3dsystems.com/projetmjp3600/post-processing-guide/post-processing-part

 

And if you happen to be in Europe and need to buy in bulk some of that wax support medium/material for your 3D printing, here is one supplier,

Quote

 

3Dresyn IJ Wax Support SX00 has these features and benefits:

eco-friendly, hands-free dissolvable wax support for supporting 3D printed models during printing. Affordable and easy to remove. 

easy and fast removal in isopropanol IPA at 37ºC

similar to Visijet M2 SUP and Visijet S400 M2 SUW

melting and solidification temperature 60ºC

ideal universal wax support printable by most commercial and professional photopolymer and wax inkjet 3D printers

3D Systems: ProJet MJP 2500, 2500+: Plastic series

3D Systems 2500W: Wax series 

100% biocompatible, ultra safe with to risk phrases

excellent support which provides excellent dimensional stability and resolution

very low viscosity <15 mPas at 90ºC

 

https://www.3dresyns.com/products/3dresyn-ij-wax-support-s300

 

While my defective body is being difficult to get along with and has me awake and in pain in the middle of the night, lets pass a few moments adding one last reference,

Quote

 

Today, there are two popular types of support material technologies used by the majority of 3D printers; one type is broken or cut away by hand like a kit-kat bar (HIPS) and the other in which the material is soluble (see below) and dissolved in a chemical or water-based bath. FDM, SLA, DLP, and material jetting all rely on support structures for complex architectures, each with slightly different processing and support material availability.
Soluble Support Materials

PVA (used with PLA), HydroFill (used with ABS), Infinity (3D Systems) and SUP 706 (FDM & PolyJet) are among the most popular 3D printing materials that easily break apart after exposure to water. Soluble support materials enable the hands-free removal of support material with minimal manual scrubbing or abrasive brushing. The advantage of soluble support material is dually functional: it does not require extensive human labor, therefore it not only saves time, but it extends the design freedom by standardizing the delicate processing of complex parts with internal cavities, lattice structures, and microstructures. It is soaked in warm water, and then the support material rinses off.

 

https://blog.gotopac.com/2018/02/28/how-to-remove-3d-printing-support-material-faster-and-improve-final-quality/

 

Edited September 26, 2022 by southwestforests

[southwestforests]

9 hours ago, A-10 LOADER said:

I've always washed my resin parts in a soapy solution but, I'm curious what others do.

Found a few pages which look to do a good job of covering what I was thinking earlier.

They do lean a bit toward doing the original cleaning on parts you have printed yourself.

 

https://www.fictiv.com/articles/methods-for-cleaning-3d-parts

and

https://printingit3d.com/how-to-clean-up-your-3d-printed-miniatures/

and

https://all3dp.com/2/cleaning-3d-prints-post-processing/

[Dave Roof]

3 hours ago, southwestforests said:

Hmm, how does that intersect with this, which, granted is from 2019 and technology does evolve,  sometimes quite quickly,

 

2 hours ago, southwestforests said:

They do lean a bit toward doing the original cleaning on parts you have printed yourself.

 

There are a couple problems with all of what you posted.

 

First, and what should have been the most obvious by simply reading it all, is all of those links discussed the cleaning of the parts after they were produced. A couple of them quite literally mentioned cleaning the parts to make them usable. Once that process is completed, the end user does not have to clean anything as it's already been done. I also mentioned this in my first response.

 

Second, most of the 3D printing technologies discussed in your links are completely different than what most of us are using to produce the parts we sell. One example is there is no wax involved at all.

 

Again, and regardless of the technology used, the end user should not and does not have to clean anything as it's already been done prior to the part(s) leaving the manufacturer.

 

 

[A-10 LOADER]

Very good, thanks for the clarification Dave.

Steve

[niart17]

I'm gonna have to go with the "it depends" answer. True, a good number of parts on the market now are being produced by liquid resin 3d printers, but that's still not always the case. Shapeways does offer parts that are still supported with wax and while yes they do say they "clean" the parts before shipping, as many can attests, their cleaning process isn't always so complete and the dreaded "wax ghost frost" still can pop up. I'd recommend getting in contact with who ever sold you the parts and finding out for sure what processes were used to print them. Also, even some FDM prints of certain filaments I find are left with a slightly filmy texture that needs a good cleaning and/or sanding before painting. But yes, resin parts you buy should have been pre-cleaned and fully cured.

 

Bill

[Hajo L.]

What`s so bad about cleaning those parts anyway? 😁

 

 

HAJO

[Dave Roof]

17 hours ago, Hajo L. said:

What`s so bad about cleaning those parts anyway? 😁

 

 

HAJO

 

Now, I am only referring to my product line. There is nothing 'bad' about cleaning them, you'd just be wasting your time. All you would be doing is getting your parts wet, then spend time drying them, but you wouldn't actually accomplish anything. They would be in the exact same condition they were in before you 'cleaned' them.