The water helps keep the paper from clogging and gets a much finer finish than dry sanding with the same grit. 400 grit and above is going to remove very little material, any major blemishes or layer lines in the model will be mostly unaffected at this point, and will more or less be polishing what you have.ĭip your piece of 400 grit sandpaper into some water and continue sanding your print. Once you’ve finished with 200, start using water as you sand. If you'd like to put your finishing skills to the test, you can download this model from our Thingiverse or from the Design StoreĬontinue to progress through the grits as you need to remove less and less of your print. I chose to include all these in the model as they are different examples of some common features you might find in the various models you can print, and to show how some of the features can be lost or diminished. It also has round faces, fillets, and a cylinder. To help showcase the benefits and problems that can arise with each technique, I’ve designed a “Finishing Torture Test.” This simple model has sharp corners on the outside of the cube and the inside of the hole, along chamfers, and the edges of the pyramid.

The key is to remove enough material to hide some striations (layer lines) and adding just as much to fill in the gaps. This is what finishing consists of a fine balance between adding and subtracting material to achieve the desired surface finish. If they had the technology, they also could have cut away the jagged levels to make smooth, flat faces. To make the pyramids smooth, Ancient Egyptians added limestone over the top, since it was a much softer material than the base stone. They used to be totally smooth down the side, but age has revealed the layered and rough base built underneath. Think of your 3D prints as the Great Pyramids of Giza.

3d painting on resin layers