adambutt

Advice for first time resin printers:

I'm going to preface my recommendations with the disclaimer that I'm approaching this from a hobbyist prospective with about 1 year of resin printing experience. I am by no means an expert and I have no experience with the needs of professional users and equipment. Resin printing can produce amazing results, but the workflow for resin can be quite different from "traditional" FDM/FFM printing. The obvious difference is that resin printing can be a messy process (what with the liquid resin and other chemicals). This is not to turn anyone away from it, but more of your process (and partially your cost) is dedicated to dealing with this aspect.

First, the number one advice I can give to anyone looking to get into resin is to have a dedicated workspace for it. You don't need much space (only a few square feet), but having gloves, paper towels, trash bin, etc, all within reach is vital.

In regard to what printer to buy, the market is fairly mature and you have quite a few options under $300. Almost any of these would be a good choice and they're all nearly identical in specs. One specific recommendation I can make is to buy a printer with a monochrome LCD panel (often called mono printers). These printers are much faster than previous generations (4-8x faster per layer).

Most of the advice I can share is related to the accessories you will need. In addition to the basics I mentioned above, you're also going to need or want the following:

• Isopropyl alcohol (about 1 liter) for removing liquid resin from prints, cleaning spills, and cleaning out your resin tray. Some resins claim to be water washable, but I haven't tried any yet, and you should still wear gloves.
• Alcohol wipes (perfect for single drop spills, and final pass cleaning of print platforms, tools, & work surfaces).
• Wash tubs for storing your IPA and cleaning your parts in. I use saleable pickle container because they are the right for most prints I do and they come with a strainer that perfectly fits the container. I just place the part in the strainer, then submerge and remove the strainer a few times from the IPA bath. I keep two containers for this, one "dirty" one "clean" and just give my parts a few dunks in each in sequence.
• Ultrasonic cleaner. Some people use these to clean their parts in, but my pickle containers seem to work just fine instead.
• Disposable acid brushes, cheap toothbrushes, etc.
• Disposable paint strainers and a funnel for moving resin back into their botles when changing out resin color or type, or if you're not going to use the printer for a while (more than about 2 weeks)
• Disposable baking trays for containing resin drippings from parts, the build platform, or tools. I also cure the resin in the tray with the UV lamp to make it safe and allow me to re-use the tray.
• UV lamp to ensure your print is fully cured. About 10 minutes after the part is cleaned and DRY is enough. You can also put it out in the sunlight instead. But if you cure it too long (30 minutes or more), your part may become yellow and brittle.
• A motorized turn-table to make sure all sides of your part get fully cured. These are often sold with UV lamps and are solar powered (the UV lamp works).
• A box lined with aluminum foil for curing parts and containing the UV light.
• Replacement FEP film. The bottom of the resin tray is a clear FEP film that is pulled tight and sealed against the tray with machine screws. This allows the LCD screen to expose the resin against the bottom of the tray, but it is a consumable. It can tear if you're not careful (this is especially not fun when the try is full), and it will eventually become cloudy and must be replaced. Keep a few on hand at the beginning because the first time you need to replace it, you might damage the replacement just learning how to install it properly.
• safety goggles. Washing parts tends to produce flying droplets of IPA and dissolved resin that auto target human eyes.
• UV blocking safety glasses. I'm sure a lot of people will say that the UV light is not strong enough or you are not exposed to it long enough to be a danger, but I would rater error on the side of caution. These goggles are valuable for peaking inside a UV curing box (to make sure the motorized turn-table is working), or looking at your printer's screen & UV lamp when there is no resin tray installed (e.g. checking for a broken/failed LCD screen). Alternatively, you can use your printer's red or orange cover as a filter if it's fully removable since it should be doing the exact same thing to keep UV light coming from the outside away from your resin tray.

Most resin printer manufacturers also sell wash & cure stations which can make this part of the process a lot easier. They typically have a tub that you fill with IPA, a magnetic stir bar, and a bracket that holds your build platform and part in the tub while is stirs the IPA. Then you remove the IPA tub and place your part on a built-in turn-table and it uses built-in UV lamps to cure the part. However, these typically add another $250 to the price and are brand specific (because it needs to be compatible with your build platform).

I know that's a lot of information, but it's the info I wish I had at the beginning and tends to get glossed over in youtube videos. Again, I don't want to turn anyone away from resin printing, I just want you to have a head start on being prepared for this learning curve.

I think I'm finally comfortable with Blender, and I've been working on some sci-fi designs (original designs and established IPs) to make on my resin printer. I'm almost done with this subspace relay and I feel good enough about my work to share it.

That ship looks like a perfect fit in the Tau'ri navy. I really like their aesthetic; it feels like the right balance of real world military and sci-fi, and I think you nailed it. Great work.

Fantastic work and amazing detail!