1 Topic by Rocketman

  • Rocketman
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Topic: Dealing with Support Material & Soldering?

After trimming away with scizzors a lot of support material left behind when doing major overhangs there is still a lot of string hanging down below. Would it be sound advice to use a soldering iron to melt it to patch it back up into the model?

2 Reply by IanJohnson

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Re: Dealing with Support Material & Soldering?

I use a very sharp exacto to trim support, and sometimes drag it sideways to kind of shave off some of the loose bits.  A flush cutter is also good for this kind of thing - http://www.amazon.com/Xuron-2175-Maxi-S … ush+cutter.

If the leftover bits are really thin, a quick wash or exposure to acetone can melt them away almost instantly.

3 Reply by Rocketman

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Re: Dealing with Support Material & Soldering?

IanJohnson wrote:

I use a very sharp exacto to trim support, and sometimes drag it sideways to kind of shave off some of the loose bits.  A flush cutter is also good for this kind of thing - http://www.amazon.com/Xuron-2175-Maxi-S … ush+cutter.

If the leftover bits are really thin, a quick wash or exposure to acetone can melt them away almost instantly.


I'd be afraid that I'd harm the model by getting acetone too close to the good stuff. I was considering getting small sharp scizzors that one might use to trim nose hairs for it, which appear like they might be smaller and better fitting than those flush cutters. So would a soldering iron be a mad idea? Maybe stick to the iron? has anyone tried it as a technique?

4 Reply by ronsii

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Re: Dealing with Support Material & Soldering?

You can get/make all sorts/shapes of tips for soldering irons but the plastic will stick to them... however they can still be very useful for 'sculpting' the surface of prints. you can also get coverings made from teflon and other non-stick high temp materials and wrap the tips to control sticking but this can get kinda finicky, basically like a sealing iron for model aircraft work.