3D Scanning Spray

The 3D Scanning market is evolving at an extremely rapid pace. Month on month we see improvements, whether it be structured light, red laser, blue laser and even green laser scanners, the pace of change is phenomenal.

However, one thing does remain unchanged, and that’s some jobs will require some form of surface preparation/treatment in order to successfully capture quality data. Surfaces such as visors, highly reflective surfaces and in some instances black surfaces can be problematic, and although the high end 3D scanners are capable of capturing the data, it can take longer when not using some form of scanning spray or coating that assists in capturing the data.

As little as 15 years ago we resorted to using talc or water-based whitewash with a spray gun to get the result we needed because the structured light scanners struggled so much with surface finishes.

Today we are fortunate enough to have dedicated 3D Scanning sprays, but they don’t come cheap. However, a lot of time and effort has gone into developing these specialised sprays and as a result you pay for what you get.

But ask yourself, can you pass on the costs of using a specialised scanning spray to your client? Will it result in you being able to scan the part quicker enabling you to offset the cost of the spray against the total price of the project?

Remember, unlike the majority treatment methods, some scanning sprays evaporate over several hours leaving you with no residue to clean up. This is surely a key driver in your assessment as not using this type of spray will leave you or your client needing to clean up the part after 3D scanning.

There are such a lot of additional aspects surrounding this subject but let’s be honest, quality data looks impressive to a client, particularly when the edges look nice and crisp, with very few holes in the data etc. But how good does the scan data really need to be?  Well each job must be assessed in isolation and in respect of the clients end requirements.

Are you reverse engineering the part yourself, if so, do you need the edge quality to be so good as you have the part in front of you? Do you need nice smooth surfaces on the 3D scan data? If you’re using a quality reverse engineering package such as Mesh2Surface, Quicksurface, or Geomagic then I very much doubt it.

Another possible key driver is thickness of the scanning spray. While it’s possible to measure the thickness of the scanning spray as explained here in this excellent article, the reality is that each user will apply the spray in a variety of thicknesses. Any competent paint sprayer will be able to explain this to you.

So it’s prudent to balance up the requirements against the cost of utilising some form of surface treatment such as 3D scanning spray.

Some projects leave you no choice but to use 3D scanning spray as parts are manufactured from materials that are simply not suitable for any other realistic treatment other than scanning spray, unless of course you want to resort to some form of water based whitewash solution.

So, if you’re intent or have no alternative but to use some form of scanning spray what are your options?