Just bought another printer (Page 1 of 2)

Congrats looking forward to the news and reviews.
tin

Very excited to hear the first-hand nitty-gritty about SLA

yap,

i was going to write a review of mine, a muve3d would be a perfect place for it.

there was another low cost SLS printer startup a couple years ago that failed to fund and closed last month. Norge Ice9 and Ice1 claimed to be the smaller version and under $10,000 from the UK. lowest price yet for a RTR SLS 3D printer. too bad they failed to continue. now most SLS are going to printing Metals at higher prices and more industrial use.

That's what Kickstarter is for. Define a purpose (a product?) you want to make, include the cost of your fancy printer and start a campaign.

SLS printers have always been costly plus need added post print cleanup equipment and lab. but FDM used to be much costlier also until recently as did SLA.the biggest reason is due to the big name companies in those types trying to corner the market so they stay on top as we have seen in recent years with mergers and law suits. this is why most of the up and coming SLS low priced models are made in other countries with little laws for those big guys to hit them with. Blueprinter is still going but they start at the "low price" of $30k and fill half a pallet but still called desk top LMAO. ATM the only option we have is to revise the DIY one I linked to on Thingiverse with the new stronger lasers etc. its also designed to be a laser cutter/CNC machine about the size of an 20gal fish aquarium. maybe some used copiers etc could be used to make one also with all the recycling centers, one guy has youtubes of his Frankenstein like creations he makes from scraped items. if he is not glowing or dead by now lol

So I haven't yet received my printer.  The seller didn't ship it until last Thursday, so current tracking shows it will be delivered next Friday.

Meanwhile I bought a few things like wipes, nitrile gloves and a new resin tank.  I also downloaded and installed PreForm, the FormLabs software for slicing and printing with a Form 1+ printer.

While this software doesn't have the myriad of options we have in Repetier/Cura or Slic3r, it does do a lot of things automatically and does them well.  But there's a lot of relearning to do.

First thing I noticed is the way the software wants to position a model for printing, which for someone used to an FDM printer doesn't make a lot of sense, but once you read the explanation, it makes perfect sense for a SLA printer due to the mechanics of that printer (primarily the "peel" process).

Another thing about it, is that the models are output solid, there is no option for specifying the thickness of the walls, or number of perimeters.  Because of this, you have to make your models hollow prior to printing.  A while back I started a thread on how to hollow out an object, and at the time, neither myself nor some of the other readers could think of a reason to use that feature on our FDM printers.  well, now I can put that skill to good use.

Considering how much resin costs, it pays to hollow out your models.  For example, printing one of my Atlas 3D scanned characters (the computer geek) at 50% size as a solid, would consume 31.39 mL (including the supports).  The same model, hollowed out to have 1.5mm walls, consumes only 16.46 mL.  Big difference!

Anyway, just a couple of observations while I'm waiting for my printer.

BTW, the PreForm software can be downloaded by anyone for free.  You can do anything you want with it, but it won't output to anything else other than a FormLabs printer.

Here are a couple of shots showing the support it generates both outside and inside the model. 

When printing, the model is actually built upside-down.  So even though the resin would naturally drain out of the cavities due to gravity, as the last few layers are printed and the bottom is closed, some resin would still be trapped inside, so a drain hole needs to be provided (you can't see it here, but it's in the area circled in red).

Oh, one last thing.  The speed is about 2.5 times faster than my SD3 at the same resolution (0.1mm).  The same model oriented the same way, would take about 9 hours to print with supports and about 4:30 hours without any supports.

a grade school teacher told us "if we learn anything that we didnt know the day b4 then it was worth waking up for" and you are still moving forward in life. I dread the day I dont learn something lol guess thats end of the road ;^P

Quick update:

Got the printer yesterday, now I have to find a place for it.  My work room is so "full of stuff", my wife says I'm a hoarder.

The first thing I noticed though is the smell of some of these resins.  The printer came with gray, clear and flexible.  While the gray and clear barely have any noticeable odor, the flexible resin is something else entirely.  the stuff makes me dizzy.

Anyway, once I clear a place for it, I'll give it a go an post the result.

So I finally had a chance to do a couple of prints with the Form 1+.  I also learned a few things in the process.

The first print I did, came out a bit wrinkled, and even after a couple of hours, it still felt tacky.  I left it on the finishing tray overnight, only to find that it had gotten pretty soft, and some smaller parts actually started liquefying.  After searching the support site and the forum, I found that I was using the wrong resin type in the settings.  I had the right color, but apparently there are 2 types of gray resin, version 1 and version 2.  I had selected version 1, when in fact I was using version 2. 

So the moral here is to always make sure you selected the correct resin type in the software, it makes a world of difference.

The second test came out almost perfect.  I printed one of my favorite models, Domino, which I had previously printed on my SD3.  unlike the original FDM print where I had to separate the print into multiple pieces to get it printed, Here I went for a single piece print.  The PreForm support generation is excellent, and allows for manual editing. 

The only problem is that for some reason, and I haven't yet figured it out, one of the model's legs, failed to print below the knee, so I'll have to print the leg separately.  The print this time came out solid, and after the IPA bath, it exhibited little to no surface tackiness.  This morning I exposed it to sun for about 1 hour and it cured completely.

To say that the quality is excellent is an understatement.  At 0.1mm it's nearly impossible to see any marks with the naked eye.  The print speed is excellent.  The entire model with supports printed in just under 5 hours.  The same thing with have taken nearly 9 hours to print with my SD3.

So here are some photos of the model (missing leg and all) with the full supports, and with some of the supports removed.

are you planning to build a UV oven for curing?

http://m.instructables.com/id/Make-a-VU … 3D-prints/

I would probably use traditional UV bulbs in place of LEDs, though, mainly because it would look way cooler.