How I developed a way to sand and prime 3D prints

 Hello and welcome to Cyberprint 3D! This is the behind-the-scenes (kind of) look at how I tackled the whole 3D print painting process for my video.

If you haven't watched that video yet, Click here to watch it.

When I started, I watched a ton of YouTube videos and tried to research the best way to paint and finish a 3D print. What I found was that everyone pretty much said the same thing: you should buy a ton of different products, then just sand and prime, sand the primer away, and repeat forever before you finally paint. I definitely didn't want to do that. Duh. I wasn't keen on buying a bunch of things I'd barely use, or pouring all my effort into one small part or print.

So, I decided to test the best approach myself to make sure I could give an honest opinion. I started by printing four identical 60mm diameter half-spheres to test various methods. Then I gathered some primer, sandpaper, and protective gear, and got to work.

I began with two of my domes. I sanded one with just 120-grit, and the other with both 120-grit and 220-grit before I primed them. Sanding definitely takes a while, and as I was sanding, a thought struck me: "Wait, filler primer is designed to make things flat and smooth, so why not just directly prime a dome?" So, when I primed my two sanded domes, I also decided to prime a third, non-sanded one.

Once they dried in a few hours, I checked the results. Well, the primer wasn't applied well, which unfortunately meant the sanded spheres were a bust for this round. What I did realize, though, was that some of the layer lines were still showing, so I'd need to sand with 80-grit first. And if some layer lines showed on my sanded ones, all the layer lines definitely showed on my non-sanded one. Yep, all three of my initial tests didn't work.

So, with only one sphere remaining, I grabbed some 80-grit and sanded with both 80-grit and 120-grit. Aaand….. IT WORKED! So now I have a proven best way to sand and finish a 3D print. After priming and painting, this was the final result.

Thanks for reading, and happy printing!

-Lil’Dritty