Oh PET-G!
PETG is an abbreviation for Polyethylene Terephthalate (with a glycol modification) which is one of the most common polymers used today - It is used to make water bottles, food packaging, and many other common plastic items.
PETG is fast becoming one of the most popular filaments for 3D printing. Not only is it easy to use, it also sports a number of industrial benefits. If ABS is turning out to be more difficult to work with than you realized, and you want a stronger finish than PLA, you now have an alternative; Put PETG to the test! It has proven its worth as a durable material that is easy to use.Working with PETG; Post processing:
Methods of Finishing PETG Filament
Sanding and priming; ABS filament sands the easiest and PLA sands the hardest, putting PETG in a nice medium between the two. You start with coarse sandpaper to knock down most of the layer lines on your 3D print. By sanding it, you smooth out the big ridges to look and feel smoother, but this still won’t completely smooth out the surface, since there are still gaps between the layers. Using filler primer, spot putties, or body fillers, you can fill in the gaps if they’re minor, if they’re a little more obviously felt, or if there are extreme differences between the layers, respectively. Print quality, layer height, material, and nozzle size all affect how long it takes to move from one grit of sandpaper to the next, or what method of filling you need. .
Coating; Applying an epoxy resin to your PETG 3D print is the same as PLA or ABS and you can do it by using XTC-3D. It’s a self-leveling epoxy resin which means it will flow and cover the part and won’t show brush strokes. It sands really easily and gives your parts a glossy finish right from the start if you don’t intend on sanding it further.
Melting/dissolving; A chemical that has been shown to smooth PETG is ethyl acetate, “non-acetone” nail polish remover is most often ethyl acetate. Sometimes it’s a different chemical as the active ingredient, so make sure when you’re checking for it at the local chemist that it lists ethyl acetate.
Gluing; There are many models that are just too big to fit as one 3D print or it makes more sense to split the model to prevent excessive support creation. In cases like these, you’ll need to glue the two or more prints together if they aren’t friction fit using joints. We find Loctite gel adhesive to work really well.
The 3D4MAKERS PET-G Filament has unique properties because it does not come into contact with water during the production process and is directly packaged in a vacuum packaging. These properties make the 3D4MAKERS PET-G Filament particularly suitable for usage in FDM and FFF 3D printers. The material has an excellent adhesion between layers which results in great improvement of the impact resistance, strength, durability and the printing process.
To get the best results while printing we advise you to keep the 3D printer in a room where there is hardly any draft and/or temperature fluctuations. Keep the 3D printer out of the sun. This cannot be a room where people sleep.
When the 3D printer is not being used it is important to keep the 3D4MAKERS PET-G Filament in a bag and stored in a cool, dry and dark place until it is used again.
