3D print finishing
Scrapers for lifting the print off the bed, knives and tools for removing supports, a 21-piece set with tweezers, files and pliers, plus a wash and cure station for resin. Choose your 3D print finishing according to whether you print in filament or in resin.
3D print finishing
A print that has just finished still has two things coming: getting it off the bed and stripping away everything that is not part of the model — supports, brim and burrs along the edges. Resin printers add washing and post-curing on top, without which a print is not finished at all. Tools for both live here.
Scrapers differ in blade width. Narrow ones around 38 and 51 mm slip under the corner of a print more easily and handle small parts better; wide ones at 76 and 101 mm spread the force along a longer edge and suit large flat models that grip the bed across their whole footprint. Always start at a corner and push at the shallowest angle you can — lever straight up and you will bend the plate or tear a piece out of the bottom layer.
Tools for removing supports work where pliers cannot reach. The 115 × 17 mm knife slides between support and wall in tight spots, the compact 8.5 × 4 cm tool sits in the palm for fiddly work, and the model scraper with ten replaceable blades breaks the edge and cleans up the surface left by a snapped support. Change the blade the moment it stops cutting — a dull blade skids, and that is exactly when people cut themselves.
The 21-piece set covers the rest: tweezers for pulling remnants out of deep spots and for handling a part while it is still hot, files for tidying edges and holes, and pliers for supports that hold on tightly.
The wash and cure station belongs with resin printers. The print is first washed in a 7.5 l tank so that uncured resin comes off the surface, and then post-cured under UV light. Wear gloves when handling uncured resin and the washing fluid, work somewhere ventilated, and follow the instructions from the makers of both the resin and the station.