Advice on resin printing

[Andy T]

Firstly I should say that I don't have much experience with any kind of 3d printing but my business partner has done a lot of filament stuff in the past.

We bought ourselves a second hand Ender 3 to play around with but it just doesn't have the resolution for the kind of things we want. For me that's diorama accessories & miniatures, for him it's Hot Wheels related stuff (~1/64), so we're considering a used resin printer (as a business expense of course )

But I'm concerned as it seems a bit of a "messy" process compared to filament.

It'll be sited at work (a car bodyshop) where we're used to paint, thinners, fiberglass & resin etc so no worries there, but it seems like it could get messy lifting prints out, cleaning, curing etc. I bit labour intensive if you like, compared to just scraping it off a glass bed.


A guy local to us is selling up his bundle of a Mono, a Mono X, wash & cure 2, various cleaning liquids like ipa and elbow grease (whatever that is lol) and several kilos of resin, which seems like a good plug & play set up.


So after that ramble the question really is, does resin printing need much more faffing about then filament, or is it more than worth it for the end result?

Thanks in advance

 

[Gary MacKenzie]

There are a few people here already doing resin 3d printing.
I have done a chunk of research on resin printing, and best answer I can give is go look on youtube at the following accounts

3dprintingpro .... https://www.youtube.com/@3dprintingpro212
modbot ....... https://www.youtube.com/@ModBotArmy
unclejessy ....... https://www.youtube.com/@UncleJessy
vogman ...... https://www.youtube.com/@vogman
makersmuse .... https://www.youtube.com/@MakersMuse

and this video about a cheaper resin that is pretty good @

It has an extra set of cleanup bits
a. wear nitryl gloves
b. have a slap mat under the area you are working on. https://www.amazon.co.uk/TIGTAK-Printer-Silicone-Transfer-Monoprice/dp/B0BM5LGTPS

1. clean model in either IPA/methylated spirits for normal resin, or water for water-washable
2. DRY IT THOROUGHLY, leave it to air dry or use an airbrush/fan to get it dry
3. Cure it in the ultraviolet light
4. put in warm water and the ''supports'' will come away a lot easier
5. tidy up

If I don't have any more vet bills before end of summer I may actually get to order mine.

 

[Neil Merryweather]

Firstly I should say that I don't have much experience with any kind of 3d printing but my business partner has done a lot of filament stuff in the past.

We bought ourselves a second hand Ender 3 to play around with but it just doesn't have the resolution for the kind of things we want. For me that's diorama accessories & miniatures, for him it's Hot Wheels related stuff (~1/64), so we're considering a used resin printer (as a business expense of course )

But I'm concerned as it seems a bit of a "messy" process compared to filament.

It'll be sited at work (a car bodyshop) where we're used to paint, thinners, fiberglass & resin etc so no worries there, but it seems like it could get messy lifting prints out, cleaning, curing etc. I bit labour intensive if you like, compared to just scraping it off a glass bed.


A guy local to us is selling up his bundle of a Mono, a Mono X, wash & cure 2, various cleaning liquids like ipa and elbow grease (whatever that is lol) and several kilos of resin, which seems like a good plug & play set up.


So after that ramble the question really is, does resin printing need much more faffing about then filament, or is it more than worth it for the end result?

Thanks in advance

why is he selling.....?
I don't know the Mono, but it might be a good way of dipping your toe in the water, especially if your mate already has experience with stl files etc
yes it's a messy and sticky process , you'll need tons of gloves ,wipes and IPA.
but I still like it, I've used it for some quite interesting bits for my figures
I would checkout the MONO user forums before you part with your hard-earned, though, in case there are known pitfalls with it

 

[Andy T]

I've been a little down the YouTube rabbit hole Gary but that's a few more places to look, thanks.

Neil, that would be my first question to him, especially selling a full set up like that. There's even a 3rd, broken, printer thrown in that he bought for parts.

Thanks for confirming about the mess. It did seem that way from the limited stuff I'd seen. Nothing I'm not used to at work though I guess.

How much does ambient light matter? One video I saw said that natural UV was a really bad thing and you should plan for a fairly dark room to work in. Is he overstating that issue?

I know the UV cured filler & primers we use on cars go off very quickly in direct sunlight, but kept in the shadows they are fine.

 

[Airborne01]

This conversation is like a discussion of annelid worm courting moves - sorry gents (I'm not quite a Luddite but I am totally out of my depth here !) I'm still learning my 'phone under the glare of the Boss but I have the greatest respect for Techie people!
Steve

 

[Gary MacKenzie]

How much does ambient light matter?

It shouldn't if it is ''internal lighting'', it's UV at 405nm ( i think ) that activates the curing.
But sunlight will cure it.
The ''lid'' is u/v protection , so put it back on as soon as you remove the build plate.

 

[Andy T]

Hey, I'm with you Steve. So far to me it's a fancy machine that can make cool stuff.

Whether I can muster the time & energy needed to get a decent result out of one is an entirely different matter


Gary, I could have phrased the question better, sorry. There will be some sunlight coming into the room from diffused skylights, but no direct glare.

I guess I'll just have to be quick lol

 

[Gary MacKenzie]

This conversation is like a discussion of annelid worm courting moves - sorry gents (I'm not quite a Luddite but I am totally out of my depth here !) I'm still learning my 'phone under the glare of the Boss but I have the greatest respect for Techie people!
Steve

So was I, i decided its what I want to do next, as I can hopefully make some parts that kits are not great at, and PE is a nightmare for.

e.g. 1/35 scale Kar98K mounts @ https://cults3d.com/en/3d-model/various/1-35-scale-kar98k-mounts

 

[Gary MacKenzie]

Hey, I'm with you Steve. So far to me it's a fancy machine that can make cool stuff.

Whether I can muster the time & energy needed to get a decent result out of one is an entirely different matter


Gary, I could have phrased the question better, sorry. There will be some sunlight coming into the room from diffused skylights, but no direct glare.

I guess I'll just have to be quick lol

If you look at a few of the people I linked to, you'll see that you have seconds to do that, it takes about 20 to 30 seconds at least to cure most small models finally, with larger bits taking a lot longer.
I think the warning is there so that people don't leave the cover off for 1/2 hour while they clean parts etc.

 

[Dave Ward]

As I've said in my posts, I'd love a resin printer, but not having the right space & facilities, it's a non- starter. If you have the space & ventilation go for it - if you can pick up a used printer & a bundle of associated bits, at a good price, then that's a no brainer. You should have all the facemasks & protective gear already! I'd really like to see an honest assessment of resin printing from a complete beginner & how much it cost to run - at the moment I'm paying £12.99 for a 1kg spool of PLA..............
Dave

 

[Andy T]

Thanks Dave. I'm still toying with the idea as it might just end up as an expensive ornament! The Ender 3 sat for nearly a year untouched

If we do decide to go for it I'll keep you updated as we fudge our way through. It comes with around 9kg of resin so I think running costs would be hard to calculate as that should last a while.

 

[JR]

Go for it Andy, you have the perfect place to use it. If your mate has some experience already that's a bonus .

 

[Gary MacKenzie]

From looking around, second hand and working,
A mono plus wash n cure is worth approx £275
A mono x is worth up to £330
So worth up to £600, or could be sold for that on Ebay.

 

[Andy T]

Cheers Gary, that's exactly the figure he mentions in his add: worth up £600 on ebay.

Kinda gets you wondering why he's selling for a lot less than that, including all the fluids, 9kg of resin and a spares or repair printer thrown in.

If it seems too good to be true and all that....

 

[Gary MacKenzie]

Maybe he doesn't want the transport costs etc.
Maybe any money is better than it sitting and doing nothing in his house.
I see similar with some computers that get sold for low prices, often by people who need cash quickly short term.

 

[Dave Ward]

Maybe he doesn't want the transport costs

Transporting the chemicals could be problematical ( like aerosol spray paint cans ) - they attract quite a hefty surcharge. As an aside - I lost count of the 3D printers I looked at, only to find they were 'collect in person' some great bargains to be had, if you were prepared to go to Aberdeen, or anywhere North of the Border - I can well understand people not wanting the hassle of packing & despatching something bulky & fragile.
If the sale is local, I'd think to ask if you could have a quick demonstration & check the best by dates on the chemicals..........
Dave

 

[nickedw]

My ten penneth having done a bit, is to stump up for a wash/curer unit as well as printer day one as offered in your bundle. I personally consider this essential now for modelling anything with detail. Also, the cleanup is the most off putting part when you’re starting out.

The resin is nasty stuff and gets everywhere and sticks! The biggest mess is manual cleanup. A proper washer unit makes 99% of this go away and ensures all the resin is cleared out of all the nooks and crannies of detail it otherwise wouldn’t be. Mainly though, you are more likely to continue. I nearly gave up before I got my first washer then everything changed and I never looked back.

Be aware the technology is moving quickly and honestly, I think 3D resin printers are the biggest bargain in the world if you look at the cost vs what they can do. You want monochrome, not colour, which sounds counterintuitive but isn’t. So the opposite of tellys if you’re old enough to remember B&W .
4K is a minimum now for a small printer, 8k for larger and the newer machines are 5 or 6 times quicker than the older ones.

You can get a brand new Mars 2 pro for 200 quid which is broadly equivalent to the machine you’re looking at. The screens and UV light sources have a life as well, so you won’t know how many hours it’s got on it, and you don’t want to be swapping screens out in your first steps really. So personally I would always choose a new machine every time.

You’ll end with more than one anyway most likely. I did!

Don’t worry about light. The machines all have uv covers, I often leave resin in mine for long periods, you shouldn’t really but it’s never been a problem in my experience.

Also my advice would be don’t be tempted by the larger machines to start with, they are orders of magnitude more difficult to get working reliably and I’m still grappling with some of mine now a year after acquiring them. I won’t bore you, but they don’t scale well, things that work on a small printer will often fail on a big printer for various reasons I am slowly coming to understand.

All my filament stuff has been in the loft for years, I never used it either. I resin print most days now. It’s night and day between the two technologies for us modellers IMHO.

 

[nickedw]

Thanks Dave. I'm still toying with the idea as it might just end up as an expensive ornament! The Ender 3 sat for nearly a year untouched

If we do decide to go for it I'll keep you updated as we fudge our way through. It comes with around 9kg of resin so I think running costs would be hard to calculate as that should last a while.

BTW your slicer will tell you the exact resin cost for each print as long as you tell it the per litre price to start with, so it’s easy to know exactly what each piece has cost if you’re thinking of doing this commercially

 

[Tim Marlow]

Just out of interest, how do they cope with temperature variation? I see yours are mounted in the garage Nick. Do they cope well with Winter and high Summer temperatures or is your garage heated/cooled to keep temperature relatively stable?

 

[nickedw]

Just out of interest, how do they cope with temperature variation? I see yours are mounted in the garage Nick. Do they cope well with Winter and high Summer temperatures or is your garage heated/cooled to keep temperature relatively stable?

Maybe not obvious in the pictures but I’ve added temperature control/heaters (the red LED displays) for the larger printers, the small machines are less critical and don’t require it in my experience. The issue is resin viscosity with larger vats, when it’s cold, the resin isn’t liquid enough to flow back into place quickly enough and warming it up fixes this.