Friday, July 22, 2022

Smoothing 3D Prints with a Hobby Sanding/Polishing Tool

I have long been a huge fan of the Mr. Hobby Polisher Pro sanding tool. This is a simple (and a bit overpriced) battery-operated disc polisher/sander sold to the hobby market for sanding off sprue material and finishing models. It’s basically an electric toothbrush with a disc head.

The Polisher Pro comes with 3 sheets of sanding pads in 600, 800, and 1000-grit. There are 45 pads in all. I’ve had my tool for several years now, use it often in modeling, and still have plenty of pads left. There are also replacement sanding pads available on Amazon (and there are pads available in other grits).

This video introduces a use I hadn’t thought of: for sanding layer lines and joins in resin and FDM 3D prints. The video doesn’t have a lot of content beyond that basic idea, but I was happy to discover another use for a tool I already own.

I know many will think: Just use a Dremel tool. You can if you have a mini Dremel, but for modeling, this tool is better sized and not as aggressive as a Dremel. And, don’t be like this guy. Always wear a mask when sanding resin and plastic.

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