DIY: Crystal Clear 3D Prints with Acrylic

[@juliusmakes]

To go more in-depth, you can find some additional details in the hackaday article: hackaday.io/project/198058-crystal-clear-3d-prints-with-laser-cut-acrylic

[@josephpk4878]

Holy crap! This is an awesome application for 3D printing an just opened a lot of doors for future projects. Thanks so much for passing this on.

[@brucewilliams6292]

Thanks for the idea! I hadn't thought of doing this sort of thing. Thank you! A part 2 would be welcome.

[@EC-gy9pv]

Thank you for experimenting and sharing! And please make another video on this subject!!!😍

[@1974UTuber]

Finally a 3D printing video I actually see as a useful application for 3D printing. Im so sick of seeing Benchy prints and reviews of printers and filaments, but not seeing a useful print. Sorry for the rant, your idea is brilliant and very useful

[@ares395]

Seems like you aren't searching very hard... Or at all and just relying on yt front page

[@robertasumendi]

Super cool, always love seeing ways to combine 3d printing with other manufacturing methods.

[@vanduraful]

Nice! Love your style man. Don’t stop the singing! Looking forward to future videos. 🤘😎🤘

[@alecatmew]

Cool! I actually have been experimenting with using acrylic alongside my 3D prints. I made a coin box using a similar technique, but I've found my hotend settings aren't getting the bonding you're getting - in fact I've gotten stringing when trying to print on the plastic, which I've tried alleviating by using gluestick. based on those experiences, I've also been trying out using acrylic and MDF shims to avoid printing supports, and do things like emboss into the PLA. Have had mixed results so far!

[@cabe_bedlam]

Brilliant idea, that strength test was wild!

[@sagarmakhija1994]

Nice one, Acrylic + 3D printer (Innovative thinking). And the bond between printed part and the sheet is next level.

[@darrennew8211]

I admit, that's very cool, and the video was very informative.

[@photogagog]

this is the first time i've seen this technique. brilliant!

[@keepcalm1182]

Really nice one, yes, I would be interested in more of this content ;)

[@tristin5723]

Amazing! I need to make new doors for my fridge. This process will work perfectly.

[@JakeMcIvor]

Awesome. Thanks for sharing.

[@camshand]

Love this idea! I have a C02 laser cutter and often engrave clear to get the frosted white graphics. But 3D printing directly to the surface is very interesting! Especially the bond. Thanks for sharing 🤙

[@TheRealStructurer]

I’m doing both but never combined this way. Great technique and thanks for sharing 👍🏻

[@GregAtlas]

I'm surprised I haven't thought of something like this before now. Especially with how PETG loves to bond to glass.

[@ondrejliptak131]

Creative idea. I will definitively use it. Big thanks to author.

[@ibcrootb]

This was great! Part 2 please

[@mszoomy]

Very useful thank you

[@Zitro.Oterbla]

Brilliant 👏

[@tedbergstrand819]

This is great! Your score line accident kind of makes me want to turn my old E3 into an acryllic marking machine.

[@Bleats_Sinodai]

This would be amazing for making terrarium lids for enclosures that don't have lids! Also, question: could you first bond a piece onto the acrylic, and *then* throw it in the oven to form it over a mold? I had some ideas for a cosplay and that'd be perfect for custom glasses.

[@Sven2157]

Brilliant! Thank you for testing! 🤘

[@3Dgifts]

Yes, a part 2 please. Great video!!!

[@Ne0kil]

a short comment on the exporting of unconnected elements, you can simply right click on the parent element on the object browser and select the "save as mesh" option from there. This allows you to export everything visible in one file regardless if it is connected or not. Hope that helps :)

[@Chaosghoul]

1:45 Yes, you can export more than one body as a single mesh file and you don't even need to mesh your parts before that (whether or not you're exporting one or multiples). Single part > Object > Right Click the Part > Save as Mesh. For multiple parts you do the same but you don't right click any bodies, but you right click at the very top of the tree (in your case you'd right click "decoder-diagrams v17"

[@magnarex]

You can actually export as one file directly to slicer in Fusion 360. Rather than selecting your object, select the box at the top that says 'decoder-diagrams v17' (at 2:04), then go to Utilities, 3D print, select your file type or directly add your slicer and it will send over the whole file. You can do this with components, too. If you're using bambu slicer or orca slicer, you can do File > Export > select .step for file type and save, it can leave a better surface finish on curves in some cases due to g-code curve and geometry optimisation happening directly in slicer.

[@juliusmakes]

Nice, thanks for the tips. I should probably make the switch to .step, it's just the extra step of isolating the body that I want to print that held me back I think.

[@BEdmonson85]

@@juliusmakes Yep and if there are any parts of your file you want to omit from the mesh, just hide it before exporting.

[@TCL987]

@@juliusmakes You can use Right-Click -> Export on the "Overlay: 1" component. As @BEdmonson85 said you can exclude a body by hiding it when you export. Alternatively you could instead make the "AcrylicPlate" body in a separate component so you don't need to toggle visibility every time you save. I use this to export a single file that contains separate components for different colours, manually designed supports, and modifier volumes.

[@medienmond]

Really nice Idea. Thanks from germany for the inspiration...

[@thehangardesigns]

Definitely part 2! Love your videos!

[@paulcutty8048]

That is a great idea👍👍

[@hdragoon1710]

At about 2:00, you can create a component, move all the bodies you want there, then save as mesh or export as STEP

[@igiannakas]

This is awesome!

[@rajmaks]

Fantastic idea.Thank you.

[@eliasagustin2]

great tip for fusion ... thanks!

[@nbeaudoin1]

Printing ABS or ASA on the acrylic sheet should result in even better adhesion

[@smellslikeupdog80]

wall perimeter gang reporting for duty -- Will definitely try with low infill and high wall perimeter count for exterior shell strength.....

[@firsthope8196]

LOVE THE VIDEO. how did you trick the slicer about the floating part error that it will put out

[@juliusmakes]

Just ignored it like any other error ever haha

[@ryanknightley6257]

So would the process be the same for a Bambu Lab printer where just add a pause and then drop in the acrylic and then continue?

[@TheElectronicDilettante]

For the PLA on Acrylic experiment, it seems that the acrylic sheet could just be thought of as the build surface. Couldn’t you then forego using CAD and just use the tools in various slicers to achieve the same result? Basically just removing a step and saving time. I’m still learning so this is an actual question . Thanks for the excellent video

[@pourawayfluidarts-patterns5706]

I tried this a few years back but gave up as my acrylic would warp on the hot bed. I tried turning it off but had some other issues. What temp were you at when you placed your acrylic?

[@AndyThirtover]

That was good.

[@Christo-T]

Genious

[@dwuk99]

Great video. With fusion 360 you don't need to combine meshes to export - I do my multi part / multi colour exporting by turning off and on the visibility of the various parts and then exporting the whole model. Also i've been working on solving the transparency issue using a slightly different approach - using much thinner dye cut acetate (using a cricut maker3) for the transparent parts - but like your approach for thicker transparent items.

[@EliSpizzichino]

nice 1!

[@BEdmonson85]

Just fyi, you can export all parts in a fusion design as one mesh if you right-click on the very top of the document tree and select export as mesh. If there is a specific body or bodies you wish to omit from the mesh, just hide it before exporting.

[@That_Echo]

The 3d print on the acrylic sheet can be very useful for it's strength.

[@CoryTaylor904]

I export multiple separate bodies in one 3mf all the time. Just put them all in a separate component to make it easy

[@juliusmakes]

How I never tried to do "Save to Mesh" on the component level is just silly. Now I know, thanks.

[@Max-tj7bp]

Was about to comment the same

[@3DZipGuy]

Are you using a CO2 or a diode laser? I'm just starting to get into laser cutting, and I'm curious if there are health safety issues I need to be concerned of, particularly with acrylic.

[@juliusmakes]

I'm outsourcing that part to a local laser cutting shop. As far as I know acrylic is not toxic. Never cut PVC, that's what I do know, because chloride gas is literally a WWI chemical weapon.

[@Skaross]

I've just tried this and the moment I insert the acrylic, the heated bed causes the sheet to immediately deform as it stress relieves. Did you experience this?

[@geauxracerx]

Instant follow

[@korfenkeil]

you can use a soldering iron for bending acrylic sheets or even a hot air gun if you're patient and careful

[@juliusmakes]

Bending with a soldering iron sounds like a really steep learning curve. Hot air gun sounds better, but I think I'd also struggle to get uniform heating. But, by all means, use what you have and gets the job done.

[@antonkukoba3378]

You actually can export multiple bodies to stl from fusion 360 without combining them

[@pinaz993]

@MakersMuse Didn't you get your start with laser cut acrylic?

[@chrishertrich8447]

Keep in mind: PETG sticks to glass. But your nozzle will be unhappy if you try to travel through glass.

[@BossmodePictures]

So you can make lines on the acrylic with a hot nozzle... Have you ever tried to exploit that? I think it might be worth a try to use it as an engraving tool for people who don't have access to a laser.

[@juliusmakes]

Yes! I wanted to try it, realized I need to hack some Gcode for that, and off to the back burner it went. I'd be great if someone from the community with Gcode knowledge would help on this

[@ziglee]

Nice ideas! Thanks! (you speak like Cleveland Brown, by the way :D )

[@juliusmakes]

No no no noooo

[@semihunal5186]

Ovvvvv It must have hurt. Get well soon

[@SianaGearz]

Ahahah no i can't reach more than 115, maaaaaybe 120 with my bed. Since i have a self-made DIY printer i actually have to be pretty deliberate about that, so assuming my MOSFETs short out, i can't have any of the adjoining materials catch fire. Low probability issue but still as sloppy as i am with engineering in all other regards, at least i want to get this right.

[@juliusmakes]

That's good. You built it so you know what's in there and what it can and cannot do.

[@bitsurfer0101]

I would've called the video 3D Prints Integrated with Acrylic. The way it is, it sounds like you are printing with acrylic filament.