- Location
- Never Far From Nowhere
I'm surprised at the prices of resin printers. Way cheaper than a filament printer of comparable size it seems. Whats the draw of resin? Higher resolution? Is the drawback that its a bit messier?
Anyone into 3D printing?
- Thread starter Mouse
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The_Lobbster
Well-Known Member
Curious how big Uranus is…..
STAG
On my grind
- Location
- Pleasant Grove
For me the draw of resin is doing small features that a filament printer can’t do, and surface finishes that in my opinion, come close to near-injection-molded quality.
In size comparison; my filament printer can handle prints much larger than my resin printer.
(Filament print volume in my case is 15.7”x15.7”x17.7”, resin print volume is 8.6”x4.8”x9.8”)
Where a large amount of my prints are full-scale mechanical prototypes, the resin printer is not going to be able to print many of them (at least not in one piece)
I haven’t had it long enough to really give much of an opinion pro/con, but so far, 👍🏽
A neat thing about resin printers is where they print one whole layer at a time, versus one strand of filament at a time, is if you want multiples of an item printed, you can nest as many as you can fit on the build-plate, and it’s the same print time to print all of them at once, as it would be to print just one.
Not the same with filament of course, if you print two of an item it’s pretty much twice the amount of time as printing one.
One drawback that I don’t know if it’s really a drawback or not yet is there’s less choices for types of resin.
You pretty much have “standard” resin and “ABS like” which all I forsee myself ever printing is ABS-like as it’s stronger than standard. Less detail quality, but stronger. I have no idea yet on physical mechanical properties of the resins, like if it can withstand the heat of being inside a hot car in the summer, how brittle it is, UV resistance, how it reacts in the cold etc.
Colors are less plentiful too. You also need to block out all UV rays in the room you’re resin printing in too, so rooms with no windows are ideal.
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As far as cost goes, resin printers are just a lot more mechanically simple.
Resin printers have one moving part; the Z-axis. And a UV light.
Filament printers have 3 axis and two heating elements. (Bed and nozzle)
Resin per kilogram is more expensive than many filaments per kilogram, so prints themselves could be more expensive.
Consumables comparison is nozzles for a filament printer, and FEP sheets for a resin printer. (The bottom of the resin holding tank/vat is a clear plastic sheet, so that the UV light can pass through) and apparently if they get damaged/broken/cracked then it can get messy and or ruin the piece that protects to UV light, so it’s recommended to replace the FEP sheet anytime it shows any sign of damage. I don’t know yet how often that is.
If you have a piece of cured plastic resin that’s hiding in your resin tank, like a piece that came off from a failed print or something, and you go to start your next print, your print bed could try to shove that piece of plastic through your resin vat, which would be catastrophic and cause extensive damage. So make sure your resin has no pieces in it before starting a print.
Resin printers also need some post-processing, including washing excess resin off your prints after removing them from the print bed. The resin I am using, and most resins, wash with isopropyl alcohol. The guy I bought the printer from told me “as close to pure as you can, with 97% being a minimum” so you have to keep a big jug of isopropyl alcohol around too to swish the parts around in. I bought a big plastic rectangular pitcher/storage thing.
They do make water-washable resins.
Prints can also need further curing post-processing, which means shining UV light on them. They make secondary units that do this, or there are homemade units too, (what I am doing) and like for today I took that sprocket gear with me today to work and just set it on the dash of the truck and let the sun rays hit it.
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- Location
- West Jordan
I know what you should print next.
STAG
On my grind
- Location
- Pleasant Grove
Honestly I really don’t know how much I’ll use my FDM printer anymore, just the big stuff I guess 🤷🏻♂️
Off todays build plate;
This wolf head is the logo for my brother’s company. I made him some keychain fobs. They are dual-sided, which would be much more difficult to do on a filament printer.
And I also printed a CV style stub shaft that I had already printed once in FDM, but this resin printer really printed it a lot better. The fit on the splines is perfect and the threads are beautiful.
Even picked up the buttress thread that I had modeled in the cad file.
Off todays build plate;
This wolf head is the logo for my brother’s company. I made him some keychain fobs. They are dual-sided, which would be much more difficult to do on a filament printer.
And I also printed a CV style stub shaft that I had already printed once in FDM, but this resin printer really printed it a lot better. The fit on the splines is perfect and the threads are beautiful.
Even picked up the buttress thread that I had modeled in the cad file.
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The_Lobbster
Well-Known Member
How does the part strength compare to a filament printed part of comparable design?
- Location
- Never Far From Nowhere
I've read about needing an air filter for resin printers. Are they particularly noxious?
STAG
On my grind
- Location
- Pleasant Grove
The resin prints are stronger so far for sure. Multiple times stronger, I’m not sure exactly how much, I could do some testing, but easily 2-3X stronger I’d guess. Keep in mind I’m using the ABS-like resin, not standard. I have no idea on strength of standard resin.
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STAG
On my grind
- Location
- Pleasant Grove
So my printer does come with an onboard replaceable filter, I don’t know how well it works versus printing without it. Personally I don’t find the smell/fumes of the resin to be bad at all.
The fumes however that I do not like, are the isopropyl alcohol for the post-process washing. Those fumes are strong. Maybe someday I’ll try out the water-washable resin.
I could see a wife complaining about the resin smells, but they don’t bother me enough to not recommend a resin printer. If possible maybe just keep it away from bedrooms and living rooms or high traffic areas? I live alone in an apartment so no one to bother 😁
STAG
On my grind
- Location
- Pleasant Grove
‘Nother set of keychains for a family member’s business.
I promise I won’t post everything I print 😂
I promise I won’t post everything I print 😂
Corban_White
Well-Known Member
- Location
- Payson, AZ
My wife works in an orthodontists office and they use a resin printer (Formlabs) to make models of teeth. Then they vacuum form plastic over the model to make retainers. They give the patient the model and then if they ever need a new retainer made (lost, broken, etc.) they just bring the model in and make a new retainer, quick and cheap. They obviously have the whole commercial setup, so they pull the model off the printer and drop it in the wash for x minutes, then in the cure machine for x minutes. Not sure on the resin they use, but she said it is over $100 per liter.
STAG
On my grind
- Location
- Pleasant Grove
FDM printing be like “That’s just how 3D prints look 🤷🏻♂️”
Resin printing be like “That’s just how 3D prints look 😎”
The “RACING ASSOCIATION” text is 1.4mm tall, that’s smaller than 1/16” tall
And this one pretty much maxed out the Z height of my printer. I could have angled it to help a bit, but it’s too long to print laying horizontal. The print is finished, but the end of it is still sitting in resin because the print bed can’t go up any higher 😂
Resin printing be like “That’s just how 3D prints look 😎”
The “RACING ASSOCIATION” text is 1.4mm tall, that’s smaller than 1/16” tall
And this one pretty much maxed out the Z height of my printer. I could have angled it to help a bit, but it’s too long to print laying horizontal. The print is finished, but the end of it is still sitting in resin because the print bed can’t go up any higher 😂
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glockman
I hate Jeep trucks
- Location
- Pleasant Grove
I have a couple ADV bikes that need one of those UMORA key chains
STAG
On my grind
- Location
- Pleasant Grove
Come to the race tomorrow and you’ll get oneI have a couple ADV bikes that need one of those UMORA key chains
glockman
I hate Jeep trucks
- Location
- Pleasant Grove
Dammit.
anderson750
I'm working on it Rose
- Location
- Price, Utah
Damn, that second print turned out so much better than the first and they were cool looking also. Can't wait to get may hands on a couple.
STAG
On my grind
- Location
- Pleasant Grove
