---
title: "Part Orientation and Fixturing for Smoothing | AMT PostPro"
description: "How contact points, spacing and orientation affect vapor smoothing results, and how to plan racking for complex parts and internal channels."
canonical: https://amtechnologies.com/community/guides/orientation-and-fixturing/
updated: 2026-10-06
type: guide
---
Community guide Tips & tricks / Racking & hanging

# How part orientation and fixturing affect results

AMT’s vapor smoothing systems run under vacuum, which, in AMT’s words, allows the vapor “to travel freely, condense on hard-to-reach areas of the part, and smooth them evenly”. That is why complex parts and lattices smooth well. How you hold the part still matters, for a few simple reasons.

- By AMT Team
- Guide
- 1 min read
- Updated Oct 2026
- Sources[1]

## Contact points

Wherever a part touches a rack, a hook or another part, the vapor cannot reach that spot in the same way. Plan contact points:

- on faces that are hidden, will be assembled, or are not cosmetic;
- as small as practical, but secure enough that the part cannot move or fall;
- away from sealing faces, if the part needs to be sealed all over.

## Spacing

Give the vapor room. Parts that touch each other, or are packed so tightly that they shadow each other, can come out uneven where they meet. Spacing is a trade-off with how many parts fit in a run; your first few runs are the time to find your balance.

## Orientation

Think about which faces matter most, and keep them clear of contact points and away from neighboring parts. For parts with internal channels, orient them so the channel openings are not blocked by the rack.

## Talk to your application engineer

Rack layout and the process recipe go together. Your AMT application engineer sets the recipe for your parts, and loading is part of the same conversation, especially for large, heavy or flexible parts.

Forum · Over to you

What fixturing works for you? Hooks, wire, printed racks, mesh? Photos of loaded racks are very welcome. Please keep customer parts anonymous.

[Answer in the forum thread (opens the community forum in a new tab)](https://amtpostpro.discourse.group/t/how-part-orientation-and-fixturing-affect-results/40)

Next step

## See the price. Run the numbers. Hold the part.

List prices are public and the cost-per-part math is yours to check, with no email needed for either. The free benchmark puts your own parts, vapor smoothed, in your hands.

1. 01 Quote

   ### Build your quote

   Pick a system and its options and get an itemized total on screen, from AMT’s published list prices.

   [Build your quote](https://amtechnologies.com/quote/)
2. 02 ROI

   ### Calculate your ROI

   Compare your cost per part with manual finishing, using your own labor rate and volumes. Every assumption is editable.

   [Calculate ROI](https://amtechnologies.com/roi/)
3. 03 Benchmark

   ### Test your parts, free

   Ship us your parts with a prepaid label. We vapor smooth them and send them back with before-and-after photos and a benchmark report.

   [Test your parts, free](https://benchmarking.amtechnologies.com/submit?utm_source=amtechnologies.com&utm_medium=community-page&utm_campaign=site-2026&utm_content=orientation-and-fixturing-decision)

   No cost to evaluate · Parts returned · Typical turnaround 2–3 weeks[2]

Prices: AMT list prices, excluding tax and shipping; confirmed in your formal quote.

[Not sure which system? Help me choose](https://amtechnologies.com/configurator/)

## Sources

1. [Vapor smoothing: SF and X-series family page and SFX, SF2X, SF50, SF100 product pages](https://amtechnologies.com/products/vapor-smoothing/) · AMT · read Oct 6, 2026 · also [AMT](https://amtechnologies.com/products/vapor-smoothing/postpro-sfx-desktop-vapor-smoothing-system/) · also [AMT](https://amtechnologies.com/products/vapor-smoothing/postpro-sf2x/) · also [AMT](https://amtechnologies.com/products/vapor-smoothing/postpro-sf50/) · also [AMT](https://amtechnologies.com/products/vapor-smoothing/postpro-sf100/)
2. [PostPro benchmarking: send us your 3D printed parts](https://benchmarking.amtechnologies.com/) · AMT · read Oct 6, 2026