I put together a simple video of how I polish up my metal filament models. While nothing fancy it should help show that you do not need anything fancy to achieve really impressive results. Sorry if the video isn’t super high quality, I plan on re-shooting it in the future with more information.
A few basic tips are as follows:
Wet sanding helps to reduce sandpaper clogging and reduces heat buildup. Although messy it really helps. Just make sure your using waterproof sandpaper…
Use a hard/flat surface. If you have a piece of granite or a sheet of glass use that. The smoother the surface is the easier it is to polish a flat item. This does not apply for non-flat items unless you want the bottom smoothed out.
Always work your way progressively up the sandpaper grits. It takes longer but the results are worth it. Higher grit sandpapers are not intended for removing large quantities of material and will wear out very quickly. Use the low grit sandpaper to clear as much material as possible.
While optional I like to rub my models down with “Nu Finish” liquid polish. This forms a very nice glossy shine and also protects the model against tarnishing… unless you want the model tarnished then skip this step!
Hope that helps some when it comes to polishing up metal models. While it can be a bit time consuming the end result is well worth the effort! When starting out I highly recommend you use a flat model to practice on as well as make a spare so just in case you mess anything up you have not affected the final model!
In the near future I plan on touching on tumbling models and the various medias you can use and some of the advantages and disadvantages to this method over sanding.
7 Likes
Nikki
2
Thanks for sharing your finishing tips! Great print too!
bdurack
3
Great finish! I’ve been wanting to try some of proto pastas filaments for a while, especially their metal filaments. Did you find it relatively straight forward to get good results with these filaments? And do you use their nozzles? Would be great to get some feedback on the metal filaments before trying them myself (I’m a little worried that I’ll clog up my extruder and destroy my nozzle).
Thanks!
Very helpful indeed! Didn’t get to print with the Proto-Pasta filament yet, but I feel the moment is near 
Thanks! I found the proto pasta stuff was very easy to print with and 0 jams so far! On my UM2 I find the magnetic iron prints great at 200*C while the stainless takes 220*C to get a good print because of the lower heat transfer of stainless steel.
I am waiting on the 3MM version. So far I am using an Olsson block with their nozzles but I really need/want the hardened nozzles as I print a lot of metal/carbon filament and that stuff will eat nozzles! That said if your just printing a little I wouldn’t loose a lot of sleep over it ultimately. In the future I am going to discuss my results printing with the material with general tips and tricks.
Thanks! I feel like a lot of people think that to polish you need all kinds of fancy equipment when in reality some patience and sandpaper is really all you need! If you have any problems or questions when you go to print it let me know and I will do my best to help!
1 Like
bdurack
7
Nice, happy to hear it isn’t a pain to use! Think I will get some of the stainless in and try a few test prints. Thanks for the advice and it’s always great to read through other peoples experience and to learn from their experiences… that’s been a lifesaver for me so far with my reprap, so I would definitely be interested in anything you release discussing your results!
Thanks again
All things considered it prints pretty nicely! One thing to keep in mind is that all metal filaments seem to ooze a LOT so if you see strings don’t worry your stock retraction is fine it is just that is what it does! The strings break off really easy and if there are any more stubborn ones they come off real easy when you start to sand!
If your printer uses 3MM filament I have some ~1/2-3/4 meter lengths of the stainless and iron I believe laying around if you want them for the price of post to you. I have no use for them because of the feed setup of my UM2 but for a beginner they are enough to make a Marvin or 2.
bdurack
9
Sadly I’m using a 1.75mm filament, that would have been great though, thanks for the offer. And right ok, I will consider the oozing when setting prints up with the metal filaments. I assume if the oozing cannot be controlled much, the best thing to do is to ensure you print fast enough to counter the effect of this?
It isn’t a huge issue for me on prints it just leaves little hairs behind but they come off easy so I wouldn’t worry. It is normal for metal prints to seem messy but after polishing their good. I would print the model with 4 shells on sides and ~20% fill so that the model is thick and strong enough for polishing. Plus you don’t have to worry about sanding the model super thin!
if I want a rougher texture, can you give me what type of paper I should use
