The goal of this project is to design a acetone based vapour smoother. The idea came about with the discovery of piezo electric atomizers. These are these small disks, that when powered, shoot out a fine mist of whatever aqueous fluid is in contact with the disk (resembles, similar or dissolvable in water). Really cool little things, their must be fun things you can build with them right. Well there is. Besides making an automatic plant mister, any water based liquid can be sprayed from them as well. Things such as perfume but also acetone.
The project revolves around spraying a controlled amount of acetone into a mixing chamber where a 3d printed part will sit. Acetone dissolves nearly every plastic that can come out of a 3d printer which makes such a machine suitable for nearly every print. Acetone dissolves the plastic, slightly melting the layers and fuzing them together. This removes the ubiquitous layers in 3d prints and gives the part a smooth surface.
The challenge in designing such a machine is that non of the parts can be 3d printed, thats what we are here to dissolve. So parts have to be off the shelf and modified. Polypropylene (PP) is acetone resistant and easily accessible, it is found in Tupperware products, ikea sells tubs for 2,75, a pretty good deal. The only drawback is that the solution will not be very elegant.
The current design will incorporate 3 boxes. A box for misting, acetone storage and to contain the electronics. The electronic box will be nothing more then a container to keep everything together and water tight. The system will incorporate a relay, to power the system on and off, a 555 timer + potentiometer, which provide ac power to the mister at 120kz and allow for slight variability in power. Lastly a nice addition would be a timer, after which the machine will auto shut off. Power from a wall power supply will be fed into a connected barrel socket, runing to the relay.
Additional circuitry will be added for any necessary pumps.