3D Printing Recommendations for Resin Printer

I'm thinking that I need to buy myself a 3D printer for my birthday next month. I have access to a few conventional, filament-based printers at work, so I guess I'm looking for something different. Plus, as a chemist, I'm interested in the photochemical reactions used in resin printing.

I know Formlabs is the industry standard, but I can't justify the expense, since this would primarily be used for hobby-stuff. My budget is <$600, but I might be amenable to spending more if there were significant features that really justified the cost.

Does anyone have experience with "budget" resin printers?

SL-1 from Prusa.

I really like the idea of getting a Prusa. The only drawback: $1299.

@cwbullet Do you own the SL-1? If so, feel free to convince me that I need to double my budget. I want to hear some first-hand experience from people I trust (TRF as opposed to Amazon comments) before I lay down that kind of money.

I do not own but will in the next few months. I have used one twice and have followed the development. I would choose a well-known product that you can afford.

Videos:


https://www.sublimelayers.com/2019/03/48-hrs-with-new-prusa-sl1-sla-printer.html

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/sparkmaker-fhd-the-most-affordable-sla-3d-printer#/

reviewed here

https://www.tested.com/tech/3d-printing/851385-sparkmaker-fhd-250-3d-printer-review/

I have an acquaintance who got one at the $250 price-point. I have no recent reports on how it has performed, but the last time we talked about it he'd had it for a couple of months and reported that it was doing what he needed it to do (he is a fine metalworker/jeweler)

Curious how good the Prusa is. We have a Formlab 2 at work. Fantastic quality prints and a large range of materials.

I think the thing that has made my Prusa MK3 the right purchase and why I will purchase an SL1 is the support. Every time I have a problem, I contact support and they help me solve it with an online chat.

Quick question(s) for those who have used them, are they really "messy" to work with? (doubt it'd be allowed in the house for that reason). And..How re-usable is the leftover resin after completing a print?

The Formlabs is not particularly messy. The parts to need an alcohol wash when printed, followed by UV cure in some cases. The resin trays have covers.

So, yes, more messy than FDM, but not out of control messy. You will love the results compared to the FDM prints .

The main downside of that printer is the finite life of the print trays and shelf-life of the resin. I think you get about six months after opening IIRC.

I am intrigued, but I'm also certain something like that would never be allowed in the house. How temperature/humidity sensitive are they? Would it be feasible to use it in an unheated shop space?

Wallace said:

I am intrigued, but I'm also certain something like that would never be allowed in the house. How temperature/humidity sensitive are they? Would it be feasible to use it in an unheated shop space?

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Different resins have different sensitivities, however, a garage is not a good place for any of them. Also some resins off gas and small awful. For this reason we are moving our formlab 2 to a fume hood at my school.

Our Formlab 2 sits on a bench, but the part washing is done in a fume hood. Could probably done easily in a well-ventilated area.

The finer print quality is appealing, but the mechanical properties are even worse them FDM. What use would it have in rocketry?

I would be all over this for model railroading; you could print HO, and maybe even N, scale details nicely. Plus in MRR, parts are small and strength is not an issue.

JohnCoker said:

The finer print quality is appealing, but the mechanical properties are even worse them FDM. What use would it have in rocketry?

I would be all over this for model railroading; you could print HO, and maybe even N, scale details nicely. Plus in MRR, parts are small and strength is not an issue.

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You've answered your own question, I think? The applications for HPR are not obvious, but for scale modelers or for the printing of small mechanical parts (I recently saw a student project that used resin printed parts in an absolutely tiny a worm-drive gear box) the higher resolution is desirable.

There is a flier in our club who comes to LPR launches with rockets that are completely resin printed. The first one I saw was about the size of an Estes Alpha, and survived a lawn-dart landing.

JohnCoker said:

The finer print quality is appealing, but the mechanical properties are even worse them FDM. What use would it have in rocketry?

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Not sure what data you are seeing, or if I should be reading sarcasm in your post, but the data sheets and my destructive testing prove otherwise. The FDM printer we have is not a "cheap" hobby printer, but a commercial $21k unit. The Formlabs is far superior from a strength POV and largely isotropic in behaviour.

Thread here with some destructive testing: https://forum.ausrocketry.com/viewtopic.php?f=56&t=5324&start=30

OverTheTop said:

Thread here with some destructive testing: https://forum.ausrocketry.com/viewtopic.php?f=56&t=5324&start=30

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Nice work; love it when people do tests like this!

I like the Anycubic printer that OMG has. But it doesn't print much bigger than a stubby BT-70 nose cone.

Just watched a couple of Youtube vids on resin printers. I am absolutely intrigued by them, yet after seeing them in action I know I'll never own one. At least not until "She" throws me outta the house and I get my own Bachelor pad. Apparently there are "fumes" involved, so deal breaker #1. "Sticky" stuff not being allowed indoors is deal breaker #2. And my personal issue with the current generation of machines is cost/size/consumables. Not complaining in any way, totally think it's amazing that we "could" afford these things for personal use. It's simply the fact that I'm on a fixed income and just cannot afford such extravagances at this point in time. Other than that, I'd still love to have one...

I'm leaning towards resin printing because I'm a chemist, and I like the idea of using a chemical reaction to make a polymer as opposed to simply melting polymer filament. Plus, I have access to several filament printers at work.

Like Doug said, the biggest issue is print volume. While I dream about the Form 3L, I'm leaning towards the Anycubic Photon. It's too small for HPR rocketry applications, but the price is right, and there appears to be a good community of users to offer tips.

FYI: I stumbled upon this cool application while doing some research this week:
https://hackaday.com/2018/11/24/put-that-dlp-printer-to-use-making-pcbs/