this post was submitted on 26 May 2026
14 points (93.8% liked)

3DPrinting

22740 readers
102 users here now

3DPrinting is a place where makers of all skill levels and walks of life can learn about and discuss 3D printing and development of 3D printed parts and devices.

The r/functionalprint community is now located at: or !functionalprint@fedia.io

There are CAD communities available at: !cad@lemmy.world or !freecad@lemmy.ml

Rules

If you need an easy way to host pictures, https://catbox.moe/ may be an option. Be ethical about what you post and donate if you are able or use this a lot. It is just an individual hosting content, not a company. The image embedding syntax for Lemmy is ![](URL)

Moderation policy: Light, mostly invisible

founded 3 years ago
MODERATORS
 

Ideally no paint as buying an entire bucket if white paint for a white print seems wasteful.

Is there any sort of filler I could use to hide the seams between the parts I have glued together?

top 15 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] Shayeta@feddit.org 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)
[–] sbeak@sopuli.xyz 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)
[–] Shayeta@feddit.org 1 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

I was going to suggest solvent welding, unfortunately PLA's solvent is extremely toxic. Were this ABS or ASA you could mix acetone and some raw fillament to get this gloop-like mixture. Fill the gap, let it dry and you have a solid bond as strong as if it was printed in one piece. Can also be used as a glue and is just as strong.

[–] Fuzzypyro@lemmy.world 14 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Buy a 3d printer pen. Believe it or not they are pretty great at filling the spaces as long as the spaces are not too complicated or wide.

[–] Quexotic@infosec.pub 2 points 3 days ago

I came here to say this. Mine was, I think, name brand and it was only $35 and I've already used it to fix a few broken and flawed prints. Heat the filament up a little extra and you can squish it in place with the proper implememt without much if any trouble.

[–] natecox@programming.dev 14 points 3 days ago

You need some kind of filler if you want seams to disappear, like bondo. The filler will be ugly though so you're going to need paint for sure.

Clever design can make seams less visible but the joints are always going to be there to some degree.

Or just live with the seams lol.

Fixing your warping/shrinking will make them less visible too.

[–] Nefara@lemmy.world 2 points 2 days ago

If it's a straight edge and the measurements don't have to be too precise I would just sand the edge flat, personally

[–] daannii@lemmy.world 1 points 2 days ago

Print a 1 or 2 layer thick rectangle the length of the seam. Maybe 1cm wide. and glue on top. Sort of like how you use tape.

[–] feinstruktur@lemmy.ml 7 points 3 days ago

I used a mixture of baking soda+super glue which you can apply using a small spatula. This would require sanding afterwards of course and ideally painting, but it worked for me.

[–] Skyrmir@lemmy.world 4 points 3 days ago

Print using a scarf joint so the seams have an overlap. Also that would get them up off the build plate where your warping problem is.

White silicone caulk would probably work well. Silicone wont get flaky or degrade over time.

[–] desmosthenes@lemmy.world 1 points 2 days ago

fiberglass?

[–] cannedtuna@lemmy.world 2 points 3 days ago

Maybe some modeling putty like Green Stuff?

[–] Dearth@lemmy.world 1 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Can you remove material from the left side of the joint? That would close the gap on the right.

[–] Dearth@lemmy.world 1 points 3 days ago

Sugru would be pretty good at filling the gap