3D printer shopping

[Barc 1]

For some reason I am drawn to the resin printers. I would be interested in hearing anyone’s experience with this type of printer,

i am almost ready to pull the trigger, but thought it wise to get some feedback from the guys who have been dabbling for awhile.

Anycube Photon has caught my eye.

Cheers

Dan

[Kevan]

I have a Mars Pro.

Resin is a completely different way of doing things but I found it easier to get consistent results than with a filament printer.

The major upside is print definition
The major downside is the cleanup

Resin isn't as tough as any filament and shrinks during curing (not always uniformly)

[Barc 1]

So I pulled the trigger on an Anycubic Mono which prints at 60mm/hr. As I pour silicone moulds and have worked with casting resin a lot the resin itself does not intimidate me, For this reason I went for a resin printer as the resolution is very good. After reading many reviews, I feel this printer should do the job. I cannot believe the price of these things now. When I first looked into these five years ago, they were thousands of dollars, and you can buy a lot of slot car bodies for thousands of dollars. This unit was less than $400 CAN to my door, with a supply of resin. At that price point I am willing to take a chance .

[slothead]

If you haven't already watch this past week's slot car zoom meeting. There was a long discussion about printing things and some detailed perspectives on resin printing. Most of the guys are on HRW or other forums and are eager to be of assistance.

[-nimrod-]

Dan,
From what I've read and the umpteenth reviews I've seen on the tube, you can't go wrong.
There are newer ones coming out with larger build plates, but to keep the same quality, the screen needs to be 4k, etc. therefor cost+
Rastas & Kevan have already shown the great results achievable

I look forward to your first and continued prints

Cheers
NimROD

[Kevan]

My Mars Pro isn't even 4K, the main advantage of 4K being reduced exposure times = faster printing.

[Barc 1]

The build plate isn’t huge on this thing, but it is large enough for a slot car body, so it is big enough. I am a little concerned about odour, but I have a paint both ducted to outside, and will place the printer in that if I have to.

From the little searching I have done there seems to be a lot of stuff to download. Now it is just a matter of searching and sorting to compile the files that interest me the most

[Kevan]

The odour is one to be concerned about, I print in a utility room with the window open, resin is one of those things you will have a limited allergy level to.

[Proxie Ken]

Just ran some print last night on my 3rd printer.

Here are some thoughts- Anycubic Photon. I had great results with this. It is also very low priced. The small build plate is a limitation but you can angle a 1/32 body and print the whole thing.

Phrozen Shuffle XL- I hate this machine. Complete waste of money and never got a single good print off it. After spending money on replacement parts I gave up. I will use the housing and completely replace everything inside someday. It uses its own slicer so hard to use.

Epax X10 mono. Very pricey machine. Initial results are good. It uses Chitubox slicer. It has a huge build plate so i can 3D print 1/24 bodies.

Note that companies are coming out with very low cost machines. Epax has a machine for $1000 less than what i paid with similar capabilities. But they use cheap plastic vats and build plates along with plastic enclosures, etc. I paid for the expensive one because I needed the front door instead of the lift off top. I also wanted an aluminum build plate and vat.

As mentioned earlier, larger plate needs higher resolution.

One thing I would always get from now on is a Chitubox machine. The hollow feature is great.

[Kevan]

Two points here, if my Anycubic Photon Mono X had a door rather than lift off cover I'd probably hate it, they need full access for rotating the build plate to drain the print, also removing the vat without hindrance.
Point 2, if only Chitu had a fill void setting.

[Barc 1]

I bought the Anycubic Photon Mono with the 2K Mono screen. I also spent and additional $35.00 for an aluminum resin tray and additional FEP from Sovol3D. The Sovol Resin tray is an inexpensive swap out for the Mono plastic tray and has the more traditional FEP replacement process. It is also marked with volume marks. I personally don’t mind the acrylic cover which can be removed for easy access to the printer mechanics. Doesn’t look as sexy as the metal enclosures I know, but from a functional point of view seems like good thing. The new Mono has a complete FEP frame and film for an easier changeout, but it seems like they are barely keeping up with demand and that is another reason I went with the Sovol tray. This will allow me way more options for replacing the FEP other then the Anycubic proprietary one which is short supply and a possible hurdle.

Depending on how this experience goes with this Anycubic resin printer,I have my eye on the Mon X with the 4 K screen and bigger build tray. Like you said, don’t be fooled by the 4 K screen. It needs a 4 K screen to ensure the resolution is as good as good as it’s little brother..

Did you try using the AnyCubic software?

Your experience with the Photon is of great interest to me for obvious reasons.

Cheers

Dan

[Kevan]

I didn't like the Anycubic software, it mirror imaged my prints by default!
I'm still on the original FEP after about 50 prints. I empty the vat after every print and carefully use a plastic scraper to get 99.99% out. I used to clean it with IPA but haven't done that for months.

[Barc 1]

The printer arrived and is now set up in my shop. Very little set up required. Basically plug and play. It almost took me more time to open the box then it did to set up the printer. No resin yet, so the big box beat the little box to its destination. Time to Install software and start playing with some files. Hopefully by the time the resin shows up I will understand the basics of the machine.

[Vintage 1/24]

Has anyone here gotten the new "Mars 3" with the 4K yet ?

It was a short run sold out preorder deal - and now it will be a while before it actually is available for general sale. But I guess the preordered units should be out there now.

Wondering if anyone has run a print yet - something detailed and small?

Alternately, does any one here run a smallish 4k machine of any kind - I think Phrozen makes one?

[Kevan]

I waited for 9 months for the Saturn to be back in stock and got sick of waiting and more than pleased with the Photon Mono X I bought instead.

[dinglebery]

The new Elegoo Mars 3 looks Fantastic!! And they make it really easy to clean and cure with their separate wash and cure stations! Cleanup is now nearly non existent it appears.
I'll get one one day... lol

Uncle Jessy on youtube did prints and a review of the new Mars3

[Barc 1]

Anycubic is coming out with a desktop resin printer that uses projector technology. No more LCD screens . Fantastic resolution and is a game changer in home resin printing. LCD screen printers should drop a bunch in price as they will all be scrambling to go to this new tech.