ABS/ASA Vapor Smoothing
1. Prerequisites
WARNING: Acetone vapor is unhealthy and is flammable! Always work in a well ventilated area and be careful with fire and electricity!
The following items are necessary for vapor smoothing ABS/ASA parts:
- Air-tight container (~20L). Transparant if possible.
- Paper towels, to fill the bottom of the container.
- Magnets. To hold the paper towels in place
- Acetone (20 ml for a single smoothing cycle)
- Syringe (with > 20 ml volume), with a long (flexible) straw or thick needle
- Optional: Heating pad for underneath container to accelerate vaporization of acetone.
- Fan(s) with fan controller for circulating acetone vapor through the chamber.
WARNING: Fans must be brushless, otherwise the sparks from the brushes may ignite the acetone vapor!
- Power supply for fan controller
- Drying rack: A rack on which the parts can be suspended inside the container. After smoothing this rack can be removed from the container to let the parts dry, without having to touch the parts.
ATTENTION: Rack must be made from a material that is NOT affected by the acetone vapor (like PETG or PLA)!
- Solid core electrical wire (~1.5mm2), used for suspending parts from the rack.
ATTENTION: Electrical wire insulation must NOT be affected by the acetone vapor (like PVC, PE, PP)
2. Workflow
Use the following guideline depending on the type of part.
3D print parameters
- Layer height: <= 0.125 mm
- Shell thickness: >= 1 mm
- Infill density: >= 20%
- Infill pattern: Cubic or Gyroid (Isotropic patterns)
TIP: Add a small hole (if not already present) in the geometry to put the electrical wire through. Ideally at a location which is not important for vapor smoothing.
Vapor Smoothing parameters
| Small/Delicate part | Normal/Big part | |
| Acetone liquid volume | 1 mL / Liter | 1 mL / Liter |
| Smoothing time | 30 min (cold) | 60 min (cold) |
| Number of cycles/repetitions | 2-3x | 1-2x |
| Active vapor circulation | Yes | Yes |
| Dry time | >= 1 day | >= 2 days |