Slant 3D Production 3D Printing Service
  • Production 3D Printing Quote
  • Products and Services
    • Production 3D Printing >
      • How to Use Production 3D Printing
      • 3D Printed Part Properties
      • Technology
      • 3D Design and Engineering
      • Product Fulfillment
    • Angled.io
    • Slant Promotions
    • Slant 3D Printing API
  • About
    • Past Clients
    • Contact
  • Blog

Slant 3D Blog

How Smooth Can 3D Printing Be?

7/31/2017

238 Comments

 
We recently had a project where the client needed an exceedingly smooth finish in order to apply a reflective finish. We print in PLA so there is no truly reliable chemical method for smoothing the surface of a print. However, PLA smooths beautifully with a little heat. So we developed a method to smooth PLA prints using heat without warping the print. Here was the result. Does this look smooth to you?
Picture
238 Comments

How Precise are 3D Printers?

7/17/2017

10 Comments

 
When we work with clients on their products there is generally one misconception that comes up consistently. That misconception is the one of Quality. Basically how precise can the parts be? Most people believe that FDM printers create rough parts that need a lot of finishing. This is a misconception brought on by consumer 3D printers. The Printers we use at Slant can print as finely as a human hair.

There are two types of 3D printers commonly found FDM (filament deposition) and SLA  (Stereolithography). FDM printers use a nozzle expelling hot plastic to build up a part. SLA use light moving over a thin layer of resin to create a layer. Due to the fact that SLA uses light, it has the potential for almost infinite precision. But what about FDM?

The standards for FDM are very loose and change from one printer to the next. The main value is vertical resolution, or how thick the layers are as they are put down. Most printers can go to .2 mm in that respect. This is really not very good. The layers are visible and a human can feel the texture.
PictureA part printed in the Slant 3D farm at .3 resolution.
When we designed the printers for our Farm we ensured that they could print as small as .1 mm resolution. This is the width of a human hair. This resolution makes parts almost perfectly smooth.

But now one must contend with horizontal resolution. The size of the nozzle on most FDM printers is .4 mm. Which means that that is minimum width of some part of the part. But this too can be reduced. It is possible to fit a .1 mm nozzle so that very fine details can be created. But this does require that the printer be capable of moving the heavy printer head very precisely. Again this is why we designed our own printers. The SlantBox has a full metal frame and highly tensioned belt system that ensures the head is moving precisely. We are able to create very small gears that are as precise as machined or molded parts.

The primary issue is that many people believe that FDM is an inferior process. This is mainly due to the experience that people have with consumer 3D printers that do provide very poor quality. But in reality FDM printers can be extremely precise and provide very good results. But few people have the time, means and expertise to create that precision consistently.
10 Comments
    Featured Posts
    • Cost of Production 3D Printing
    • Design for 3D Printing
    • Benefits of 3D Printing
    • Print Farm Beta Update
    Subscribe

    Categories

    All
    3D Printers
    Applications
    Benefits
    Client Spotlight
    Design For 3D Printing
    Digital Inventory
    Industrial
    Mason
    News
    Online Buisness
    Services
    Toys
    Video

    Archives

    January 2023
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    October 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    February 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017

    RSS Feed

Services

Production 3D Printing
Fulfillment
CAD Design

Company

About
The Company
Technology
Past Clients
​

Support

Contact
Get a Quote
​


© COPYRIGHT 2021. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
  • Production 3D Printing Quote
  • Products and Services
    • Production 3D Printing >
      • How to Use Production 3D Printing
      • 3D Printed Part Properties
      • Technology
      • 3D Design and Engineering
      • Product Fulfillment
    • Angled.io
    • Slant Promotions
    • Slant 3D Printing API
  • About
    • Past Clients
    • Contact
  • Blog