From the course: Additive Manufacturing: Troubleshoot 3D Prints

Tips for creating transparent prints with filament

From the course: Additive Manufacturing: Troubleshoot 3D Prints

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Tips for creating transparent prints with filament

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- [Women] If you want to create a transparent 3D print on your printer that uses filament, you might think that all you need to do is buy transparent filament. However, 3D prints have a fairly complex structure of inner and outer walls. Usually, with some differences for the first layer. The gaps between layers or the internal structure will be visible unless you take active steps to prevent it. - [Man] Because infill will always show through on a transparent print, your choices for real transparency are either to print completely solid or completely hollow. Not every print is possible to print hollow. So the geometry of the print may drive that choice. While printing thinner layers often results in a smoother surface, thicker layers often retain more of the material's transparency. The pieces here were printed at 0.1 and 0.3 millimeter layer heights. You may also want to smooth the surface. This print has been coated with clear resin to fill in the layer lines and make it smoother. - [Women] If the print has to be solid though, that's a little more subtle. If you print with 100% infill, Ultimaker Cura will treat all layers as if there were solid layers like the top and bottom of the print. You can get the same effect by setting the top and bottom sickness settings to a much larger number. Some slicers seem to handle this method better compared to setting infill to 100%. When printing solid, thin layers should make it easier to avoid capturing bubbles of air. In order to fill the space of the print entirely with no small air gaps inside, you may need to raise your flow multiplier by 10 to 15%. Here, we can see the difference in transparency between not quite enough plastic, the right amount, and too much. A shiny print surface will produce prints with a glassy bottom surface. If your build platform is textured or if you use a build surface with texture like blue tape, you need to orient your print accordingly or sand it after the fact. - [Man] You may need to sand or chemically smooth the surface of your print to get true transparency. The smoother surface left by printing within layers will be easier to smooth after printing. PETG can be very clear when printed at the higher end of its temperature range. Lower temperatures often result in more of a frosted matte finish. Some other materials may appear more frosted at higher temperatures, especially if they have moisture absorption issues. - [Women] Along with using high temperatures, printing slowly is important when printing solid for transparency. Doing so gives the plastic more time to flow into all of the cracks and for air to escape before being trapped inside. - [Man] High temperature, low speed printing is also useful for making a print stronger and more isotropic. Prints created this way often don't fail along layer lines when they break. These settings aren't optimal for overhangs however. So you'll need to strike a balance for different types of prints. - [Women] Finally, to maximize the clarity of solid prints without post-processing, you want your top surface to be as smooth as possible. Cura and PrusaSilcer both have an option called ironing that uses the hot surface at the end of the nozzle to remelt the plastic and smooth it out. Creating a truly transparent 3D print with the film and printer can be tricky. With some experimentation and patients, the results can be impressive. Some tweaking of your slicing settings and perhaps a bit of post-processing may be required if your expectations are high.

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