Exotic ABS colors?

[braneless]

I've been killing myself looking for some light blue and light pink 1.75mm ABS.

Found tons of hot pink (which is ugly!) but no light pink except in 3mm ABS.

Found tons of regular blue, and found light blue (sky blue) but only in 3mm ABS and PLA.

Any suppliers have these colors? Or how do you get custom colors made?

[braneless]

Replying to my own post to say that I found a stopgap solution.

I stumbled upon a thingiverse page here while searching for pink filament:
http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:6934

I found a red sharpie, and one thin line down the stock white ABS:

sharpie.jpg (56.03 KiB) Viewed 1215 times

This worked incredibly well and was enough to impart a pure pink color to the whole thing even though my line wasn't perfect. It actually came out darker than I thought it would, but still a nice shade of pink.

pink.jpg (119.25 KiB) Viewed 1215 times

I may try it for the light blue.

Disclaimer: Although the color is engrained all the way through, doesn't come off, and worked better than I could have possibly imagined...do at your own risk! I don't know how it will affect your nozzle or if it will build up residue, or fumes, or whatever, or void warranties (if we have one, that is.)

EDIT: to calculate the length you need, I did a print preview in the software, then noted the weight (9g in my case). I found ABS is about 2.4g per meter. I figured on just under 4m so I colored about that much and it came out pretty close.

[wilsonj]

Thats brilliant, well done.

[Polaris]

Legendary! Great find.

Now print your self a multi-sharpie holder with an enclosed 'cap' and you have an on tap colour generator.
Has anyone tried a metalic colour... that'd be interesting

well done, we need more brainless solutions like this hehe

[DrewPetitclerc]

This is a cheap solution to the the color problem but if you search around you will find it has been around awhile and there can be some issues.
The solvent in the pens can weaken the ABS and cause a snap off of the filament before the extruder, also weaker bonding of layers due to presence of the solvent and tension of the layers and of course my favorite burning solvent fumes to give you respiratory problems.
I have over 30 colors of ABS spools so this problem does not come up often.
I find for me the better solution is to paint the parts after printing using Acetone colored with ABS.
Go the local beauty supply store and pick up empty new nail polish bottles with brush in cap (I get them 3 for a dollar) and fill 50% to75% acetone and snip filament or scrap pieces of ABS into the bottles (mix colors to get new ones) let sit awhile and you are ready to go. The paint drys very fast and is as durable as the ABS part itself (it is ABS after all).

Regards
Drew

[braneless]

I find for me the better solution is to paint the parts after printing using Acetone colored with ABS.
Go the local beauty supply store and pick up empty new nail polish bottles with brush in cap (I get them 3 for a dollar) and fill 50% to75% acetone and snip filament or scrap pieces of ABS into the bottles (mix colors to get new ones) let sit awhile and you are ready to go. The paint drys very fast and is as durable as the ABS part itself (it is ABS after all).

Regards
Drew

I will try it, but I have a few questions - how thick is the paint, is the paint on the surface or does it penetrate, does it go on evenly and consistently and does it change the thickness of the thing at all.

Also how do you tell something is ABS? Looks like the recycling codes don't have a number for it, and the only thing I know of offhand is the black ABS sewer drain pipe.

[mr6k]

If it is ABS it will dissolve in Acetone or MEK, If it is PLA it will not. Of course some other plastics dissolve equally well in acteone & MEK, while others do not.

I guess there must be a list somewhere!

cheers

Peter

[DrewPetitclerc]

I will try it, but I have a few questions - how thick is the paint, is the paint on the surface or does it penetrate, does it go on evenly and consistently and does it change the thickness of the thing at all.

Also how do you tell something is ABS? Looks like the recycling codes don't have a number for it, and the only thing I know of offhand is the black ABS sewer drain pipe.

1. The paint thickness is relevant to how much you apply.
2. The paint is bonded to the surface due to the slight melt of the Acetone to the ABS part surface.
3. It (the paint) goes on as well as you can apply it.
4. Of course it changes the thickness of the part (any change to the surface is by definition a change).

The last question baffles me, I'm using ABS scraps from my printing to create the paint, I think I mentioned the number of different colors of plastic I have on hand.

[Polaris]

The last question baffles me, I'm using ABS scraps from my printing to create the paint, I think I mentioned the number of different colors of plastic I have on hand.

So in other words not a solution for anyone else... if he had a number of colours of abs 'on hand' , i think he'd be using them already... O_o

I think getting abs 'scrap' is going to prove difficult. Most cheap thermo-plastic that's coloured is not readily available, let alone abs, even going to the 2 dollar store you'd find mostly clear or at least not opaque.
< walks into store (wearing respirator) : "Excuse me, don't mind me just dipping a few of your items in my acetone here do you... just want to tell if they dissolve or not..." >

If the solvent seems to be the problem... just wait until the solvent drys ( assist with a hair dryer if needed ).
Then you are left with the dye. I'll do some tests to see if just the dye fumes ( using an uv gas spectrometer and multiple permanent ink sources )

the biggest advantage is that the colours can be exactly what you mix at a low cost.

I print some thin sections, i'd be worried that putting enough colour on to be visible by painting with solvent would weaken that section too.

[mr6k]

I know this will not help but it does raise a question.

While "scrap" colored ABS is going to be difficult to obtain, I note that Faberdashery in the UK offer PLA in 1 metre lengths in a whole range of colors, or a "rainbow" sample pack of a 10 metres of each color. Now, if some enterprising company offered the same in ABS it would make ideal "scrap" to dissolve and then use as paint.

cheers

Peter

[braneless]

I will try it, but I have a few questions - how thick is the paint, is the paint on the surface or does it penetrate, does it go on evenly and consistently and does it change the thickness of the thing at all.

Also how do you tell something is ABS? Looks like the recycling codes don't have a number for it, and the only thing I know of offhand is the black ABS sewer drain pipe.

1. The paint thickness is relevant to how much you apply.
2. The paint is bonded to the surface due to the slight melt of the Acetone to the ABS part surface.
3. It (the paint) goes on as well as you can apply it.
4. Of course it changes the thickness of the part (any change to the surface is by definition a change).

The last question baffles me, I'm using ABS scraps from my printing to create the paint, I think I mentioned the number of different colors of plastic I have on hand.

1. When I said "thickness" I was referring to viscosity rather than the thickness of the paint you apply
2. By "penetrate" I meant like a wood stain might do rather than a regular sort of paint - I though that due to the stringyness of the parts there might be voids that could potentially contain it rather than just building up on the surface.
3. "How does it go on" well if you've painted a bathroom, a nice paint might go on like yogurt while a bad paint would slop and run and require many coats
4. "of course" would imply it does not penetrate - I'll take this as an answer to #2. A non-penetrating material would certainly increase thickness but a penetrating one, maybe not so much.

[pleppik]

1. When I said "thickness" I was referring to viscosity rather than the thickness of the paint you apply
2. By "penetrate" I meant like a wood stain might do rather than a regular sort of paint - I though that due to the stringyness of the parts there might be voids that could potentially contain it rather than just building up on the surface.
3. "How does it go on" well if you've painted a bathroom, a nice paint might go on like yogurt while a bad paint would slop and run and require many coats
4. "of course" would imply it does not penetrate - I'll take this as an answer to #2. A non-penetrating material would certainly increase thickness but a penetrating one, maybe not so much.

The basic technique is to dissolve colored ABS in acetone (acetone is way less toxic than MEK) and use that as "paint" on the model.

What you're really doing of course is applying a thin shell of colored plastic over the model. It doesn't penetrate meaningfully into the plastic.

You may want to experiment a bit. I've found that two parts acetone to one part plastic gives a relatively thin paint, and 1:1 gives a thicker and more gluelike consistency. The acetone evaporates pretty fast, and running/dripping usually isn't a problem. Getting a smooth surface free of brushstrokes is usually the harder problem.

I've also used plastic model paint (the kind they sell for model airplanes). It works really well and gives more working time than dissolved ABS, but it does tend to penetrate between the layers of a print. That can be good or bad depending on the effect you're trying to achieve.

[DrewPetitclerc]

.

Hi Braneless

After reviewing my post I have to apologize I was tired and grumpy and not thinking right.
I should not have been so snarky with my comments and I am very sorry I should not touch a keyboard so late and low blood sugar.
Please accept my sincerest apologies

Humble Regards
Drew

[braneless]

No problem, I get like that sometimes.

I'm posting becuase I discovered (and confirmed) that Legos are made of ABS. So this gives us a very convenient way of making lots of paint colors without having to buy lots of colored filament.