You might recall that I tried printing this fake lens last week and found it quite challenging.
So today for S&G, I figured I'd try to print it in two halves like so:
Then instead of gluing or epoxying them, I joined them with acetone: it's quite a thin profile, so it's a good test of the strength of the bond.
Well, I let it cure for half an hour just to make sure all the acetone inside the bond had evaporated, and it certainly is plenty strong! Strong enough to take a vigorous chemical polishing - with acetone also - while applying a fair amount of pressure and stay in one piece.
I polished it by hand for 5 minutes and it's even a bit lens-y now 🙂
I'll let it cure for another 24 hours for good measure, then tomorrow I'll mount it in the lathe and I'll polish it some more with acetone, to see how clear I can make it.
It's never going to be any good of course, but it's interesting to see how much it can be improved, if only to find out what I can do with PLA.
For PLA, ethyl acetate is a solvent that will do the job.
There's a glue for PLA called 3D Gloop which is basically a solvent mixed with PLA that also essentially welds PLA together. I haven't used it, so I don't know what color it is and if it will show over transparent prints.