What are the problems with SLA printers? (Page 1 of 2)

good points all. both the SLA & SLS 3D printers as most types have there own pros and cons as all 3D printing methods are just a mirror of other forming methods, SLA for example uses same file type as photo etching just does it in an additive manner and uses different hazardous materials like Formaldehyde instead of acid. which both requir proper safety measures for handling and disposal, both are much costlier than FDM printers.

SLS uses an additive method of Laser cutting techniques, again very costly compared to our printers plus the post print cleanup of the powdered materials requires lab equipment to process safely to recycle un-used material making finish time way longer also.

I have done lots of research in all other aspects of 3D printing for the same reasons you have wondered about, if you search my topics you will see my final decision on the SLA types recently (Iboxe Nano), and earlier on SLS type (Blue light).

besides un-surmountable cost issues and extreme difficulty making the special file types for the 'other types of 3D printing' the biggest down side is zero online tech support like this site for the multitude of times you will need help "when the poo hits the fan" not if but when.

so to summarize; unless your name is in the fortune 500 list, for the next few decades at least, we are stuck with the current FDM 3D printers if we choose to pursue this industry/hobby. rather than get snared in the 'big game' devices of the other types. so get comffy ;^P

One thing I found when reading about SLA was the extra super special surface coating needed to get the first layer to stick. It needs frequent replacing  (and least in some designs, I'm not sure if they all have this problem). There is also the very expensive resins. Supposedly the final part you get isn't as strong as ABS either (though ABS isn't all that strong between the layers).

An interesting printer for reducing resin expense is from hardcotton which floats a layer of expensive resin on cheap saline:

http://3dprint.com/7852/hardcotton-elemental/

Naturally the article starts with the same old quote about no calibration, no setup, plug & play, yadda, yadda, yadda... How true it is, who knows?

How's the peachy printer coming along anyway? Can't find an official release date. Their FAQ answered the who, what, where, how and why, but not the when.

I can't find any evidence that hardcotton is still a going concern either, so maybe this resin on saline idea sounds better than it works in practice :-).

OP asked about other 3D printer types besides FDM. I simply comented on only 2 other types. there are more. whats the problem here? also Form labs cant help me with converting stl format to svg to work on say the Ibox Nano as they dont know the printer profile for the Nano needed by Slic3r to do so. its like slicing stl into gcode for fdm printers only svg for sla printers. so each type and often brand/model 3D printer has its blueprint' so to speak and most owners/users of each brand/type are not very friendly sharing info with who they see as 'the competition' thats what I ment by no forums like this one. how can we expect this industry to grow and be so narrow minded towards others? not even the so called experts know everything.

Hey guys. So I'm back form gathering some info on SLA printers, which has been surprisingly hard.

So far I've gathered some info about the Form1 SLA printer and I'm shocked how bad it is.

First, printing large parts at low layer height can damage the print.

There are print bed adhesion issues here as well.

In FDM, we have nozzles, in SLA it's a laser beam spot curing a liquid resin into solid part.
The thing is with Form1+ the diameter of the beam spot is around 0.3mm, or in other words a nozzle with a 0.3mm hole. So while the Z resolution supposedly can go as low as 25 microns, the X and Y can't go lower than 300.

This is what I mean.
Say you're printing a approx. 1mm wall.
This is how a slice of it will look like:

If the beam diameter was lower, it would look like this:

Here's the same images with crude drawings of the laser spot and it's path to make it more clear.

For $3300, are you kidding me!?

So I don't really get how this SLA printer is any better than setting up a FDM printer to print at 25 micron layer height if you're printing small parts and speed isn't an issue. And you're probably going to have to print small on SLA printers as well with 25 micron layer height so how does it matter?

I tried to compare the specs with industrial SLA printers by 3D Systems but couldn't find the "beam diameter". Maybe its "Border spot" or "Large Hatch Spot"? http://www.3dsystems.com/sites/www.3dsy … en-web.pdf

I haven't had enough time to learn more about the DLP video projector based printers, but at least the claimed X and Y resolution isn't so terrible compared to Z.

1) Kudo3D Titan 1:
"XY resolution: 37μm to 100μm (HD native pixel size)
Z resolution: 5μm (native gear resolution)"

2) M  One:
"Min Feature (I assume this is the X/Y resolution) Up to 70 microns"
"Layer Thickness Up to 20 microns per layer thickness"
And by "up to" I guess they mean "as low as".

While better than Form1 (if true), I really hate how the Z resolution and X and Y resolution is so different and how you can't print larger at lower resolutions.

3) Solidator:
Can't even find the info on their site.

4) Pegasus Touch (SLA):
Focused Laser Spot Size: ~80 microns (FWHM)

I don't like "~" in front of something this important.

5) Draken:
X/Y resolution claimed to be 37 micron.

6) LittleRP:
Couldn't find the info.

7) MiiCraft:
"30 microns by Z-axis and 56 microns by XY-plane"

8) Sedgwick 3d DLP Printer:
"Resolution: 0.1mm-0.08mm for the x and y. 0.1mm layer height for the z"

Probably the worst in the bunch.

9) B9creator:
"Resolutions in the x/y plane (horizontal) of 30, 50 or 70 microns are possible by adjustment of the projector’s position and focus."

If this is really true, 30 is almost 3D Systems quality. I doubt that though.

10) Portobello 3d printer:
"Resolution X- and Y-axis:    60 um
Resolution Z-axis:    25 um - 100 um, we usually work with 60 um"

11) XYZPrinting Nobel 1.0:
"X/Y axis resolution: 0.3mm (300 Microns)/ Z axis: 0.025mm (25 Microns)"

12) Kast3d:
Site is dead?

13) Ember by Autodesk:
"X: 50 microns
Y: 50 microns
Z: 10-100 microns
"
And "$5995 USD". It's from Autodesk you know.

The ones that use DLP TV projectors are interesting because you get to print more than one bit at a time, and you can get really good x-y resolution if you are willing to sacrifice build area. The biggest problem with the TV projectors is that the UV light is sort of incidental, so exposure times for each layer need to be longer to pump in enough UV. Now all we need is for 4K TV projectors to get cheaper :-).

I didn't say bigger, I said cheaper :-). $55K is a bit much for one part in an SLA printer (and I'm not even sure it can be used for SLA - various technical requirements must be met).

just for fun go into Slic3r, load an STL file go in Slic3r config, file, click 'slice to SVG' and see all the error popups. seems a printer profile for an SLA printer is needed b4 doing this. good luck getting that info from ibox Nano. I think their go to guy for it is no longer with company and they dont know about it. both my sons are in the IT, programing etc industry and we have seen this many times. this problem was even talked about b4 on the TV show "Shark Tank" when a company owner has to rely on somebody else to do the Brain work and they dont see eye to eye, owner thinks they can continue without them and the whole business dissolves faster than it grew, for many reasons. like domino effect.
too bad most people dont learn of this snare before starting up. maybe they could prepare for it and work around issues which mostly boils down to greed and over confidence. give fellow designers fair credit for their contribution towards original invention, instaed of pretending it was all one guys idea. cause we all know what Carma is ;^P

after Solidoodles dea,l better ask what year in July

I've been in IT FOR 30 YEARS GOOD LUCK WITH THAT! The company I worked for had to hire 3 people to take my place and they never really recovered. It's  one reason it got out of the corporate trap.

Re

Freelancing is the only way to go.

+1 thats what most 3D printing industry calls ultra fine resolution. and FDM desk top 3D printers of any value are capable of that now if tweaked properly. its same as any tool/instrument. it can only perform at peek levels if user has mastered how to accomplish it. as the old saying goes about the Stradivarius Violin "its not so much how its built, as the touch of the masters hand" thats why musical instrument sales men must be able to play the instrument very well for best income.