TOTALLY Transparent Material?

Hi Guys.

I know that you do 3D printing in a kind of smokey translucent "transparent", but I was wondering if you have any plans to do print with a totally transparent material (like transparent acrylic)?

I can imagine that this may be hard to do, but I can think of a great application!

I think your service is excellent and I wish you the great success that you will inevitably have.

All the very best, Rick.

p.s. In fact, I want to tell you WHY I think your service is excellent:

You offer a service that really does its very best for the customer. You are NOT like the majority of companies who cynically pretend to offer good value, but try to squeeze as much money out of people in an underhanded way so that they can save up for their BMWs.

I can feel the positive vibe coming from you guys, and I believe that this will truly be the key to your massive growing success (I believe that this is a large part of Google's success too). You guys won't be driving BMWs - you'll be driving Ferraris.

You'd think printing in glass would be totally transparent. But the photo of that piece created by the new Vitraglyphic process doesn't look transparent at all?

Would be cool to print out a camera lens!

I even believe that when you cast glass into a mold, you won't get a transparent object, that's why glass isn't casted at all. If you cast glass, it won't have a flat, smooth surface and therefore it wouldn't be transparent. I think completely transparent printing will be difficult, but when resolutions go up, it might be possible with transparent plastics...

i think the problem comes mainly from the fact that its an additive process, printing; i.e. all the ways that exist are putting bits together, whether it be SLS - melting power, or FDM - depositing melted plastic string; no matter what process or what material you use, its as transparent as a bag of transparent marbles.
but i believe casting is possible, however; just it wouldnt be worth it; if you needed something with optical properties, likely you would need better than 3d printing can do in terms of surface... although this new white glaze may have possibilities.

I wonder if something like the bronze infusion process for the steel material could work to turn the "bag of marbles" clear. What is needed is a follow-up infusion with a transparent material having the same refractive index as the deposited material.

Just knocked this together.

The problem is, look at a piece of molded plastic with air in it. The layers that are made with 3D printing, unless made in a vacuum, will have air in it. When made in a vacuum it will probably still of voids. Little tiny voids. That no matter the material, will appear foggy.

i remember seeing a bowl with a head in it printed in the shapeways transparent material, it was polished on the outside and became pretty transparent.

https://www.shapeways.com/model/5603/headspace_bowl_ddw.html

Hey guys.

A lot of good points there - thanks.

So the possible issues are:

1/ Possible impurities (including air) in the volume of finished material.

2/ Rough surface due to printing process.

I remember seeing the cool (and freaky!) head-bowl a while back too. It makes me think:

a/ IF you can adequately access the surfaces and polish them, you get pretty good transparency.

b/ The colouring still seems impure.

Maybe the impure colouring is down to some sort of bonding material use to adhere the plastic together in the printing process?

Rick.

@ crsdfr:

The machined acrylic looks great!

Where would I go to get something like that created?

I presume it would be very expensive?

Thanks in advance for your help!

Rick.

Hi crsdfr:

The machined acrylic looks great!

Where would I go to get something like that created?

I presume it would be very expensive?

Thanks in advance for your help!

Rick.

Maybe you could do what I have seen some prop makers do: 3D print an object and then use it as a mould for resin/acrylic casting?

Clear is near! Glass...Ideal but getting a variation of colors in clear gets me very excited.