Laser Your Way to Smoother FDM 3D Prints

Now, not everyone minds the characteristic layer lines you get with Filament Deposition Modeling (FDM) 3D prints, but sometimes you need a smooth surface. If so we might go for …. Laser Your Way to Smoother FDM 3D Prints.

If so we might go for filling primer, Bondo, or maybe break out the ABS and vapor smooth. Well, [I changed a thing] has an alternate suggestion: lasers. Laser melting can smooth the walls on a print, or the top surfaces as he shows in two different videos, both embedded below.

The results look roughly similar to vapor smoothing, without the chemical exposure small risk of explosion. Of course, you need a laser to do this, and [I changed a thing] has two diode lasers mounted to the X-axis of his printer. Of the two, the top surfaces were a lot easier to get right than the wall smoothing, which makes sense.

Top surfaces are right there for the laser to get at, after all, while with his laser setup [I changed a thing] needs to get at the walls obliquely.