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Plastic Welding Gun (Plastruder MK4) by donutman_2000

This is the sixth in a series of posts about ways to get even better print results from your 3D printer.  The prior posts provided information on calibrating hardware, upgrading hardware, calibrating software, maintenance, and finishing by abrasion.   Your hints, tips, hacks, and suggestions have been awesome!  Keep them coming!  Today’s post is about a less common finishing technique, heat:

Heat.

1. Since ABS is flammable gives off a black toxic smoke and PLA will melt at relatively low temperatures I would never use an open flame to improve the look of a printed object.  However, the RepRap wiki has some documentation and information (with similar warnings!) if this is something you want to learn about.  Fortunately, there are several safer ways to use heat to help get a better printed result.
2. A heat gun can apply heat in a relatively safe and controllable fashion to smooth out rough spots on a printed object or even just help spots melt together a little better.
3. You can use a welding gun from the parts of an old extruder.  I have to admit that I’ve actually held two broken parts under a hot extruder to weld them back together.  Effective?  It was once I had the extruder extruding plastic essentially using it as a hot plastic glue gun.  Smart?  Probably not. 
4. Koiti suggested placing a finished object that had been removed from the raft back onto a hot Automated Build Platform to improve the finish.
5. Another suggestion that’s probably not a good idea is molding the printed object shortly after the print job is completed.  I’ve accidentally deformed more than a few prints by removing them too early.¹  Then again, in a few rare circumstances I’ve managed to fix a bad design or bad print by gently molding the still-warm plastic immediately after a print job.  For this I typically use a pencil or pliers.
6. You may also find that you want to try turning the heat down slightly on your Heated Build Platform or Automated Build Platform.  The reason for using a heated build platform is to keep the lower layers on an object warm while the top layers are being deposited.  If the bottom layers cool before the higher layers, the object can curl at the edges as it cools.  However, Nick Starno discovered that applying too much heat could lead to some slight warping in the object further up.  I would point out for any Automated Build Platform users that you might need to run your ABP slightly warmer (by about 1-2C) than a Heated Build Platform due to minor insulating effects of the belt or other materials placed on the belt.

Have you used heat to improve your 3D printed results?  Please share your ideas and tips in the comments section below!

How to get better results from your 3D printer – Part I (Calibrating Hardware)

1. How to get better results from your 3D printer – Part II (Upgrading Hardware)
2. How to get better results from your 3D printer – Part III (Calibrating Software)
3. How to get better results from your 3D printer – Part IV (Maintenance)
4. How to get better results from your 3D printer – Part V (Abrasion)
5. How to get better results from your 3D printer – Part VI (Heat)

1. As in, yanking it out as soon as the print job stops.  I can’t imagine why I don’t have the patience to wait 30 seconds… [↩]