Fine Plastic "Hairs" after printing

[bharder27]

One issue that I am having is fine plastic hairs after printing. under 10x or 20x magnification I can clearly see these, and don't want them to become contamination during mainspring winding. I have been able to remove most with tweezers, and even hit the winder with a quick bit of heat, to melt them in. It seems to have worked some but I can't apply that heat for more than a second or two. Also some sanding with 3000 grit where possible. Also it is pretty tedious work.

I printed these on a very good quality printer, a method x printer. https://store.makerbot.com/3d-printers/methods/method-x
Also followed guidelines such as .1 mm layer, and 20% infill.

Any advise to cleaning up the surface in order to avoid plastic contamination? Thanks again for such a great project.

[appumaster]

ABS smoothing?

[vishnu350]

Recommended methods:

1. Use a heat gun or a hair dryer. Very carefully, and it requires practice.
2. Print with ABS, and then use an Acetone bath.
3. Print with an SLA printer using UV resin.
4. Just keep using it on a practice mainspring until it becomes "seasoned", wash the little bits away.

Smoothing/finishing would only be required for the points that come into contact with the mainspring. I don't recommend sanding.

[bharder27]

Thanks for the feedback! I will try some heat very carefully.

[vishnu350]

You're welcome, good luck on your project. If you live in a humid environment, you may need to use a filament dryer to fully resolve stringing. I built and use this.

Personally, I think any impact from tiny bits of invisible microplastics on a high torque part like a mainspring is highly negligible. The 820X grease we put on it which is made out of unspecified vegetable oils and polymers (microplastics!) is of more concern.

It would be diminishing returns on the time/effort of a hobbyist. Unless you are a jeweler working on a skeleton movement.