How To Make A Diy Uv Curing Box
So there you have it, my idiots guide based on what Ive learned so far. This is a continual learning process, so expect this to be added to and expanded on as I make horrible mistakes, and learn how to fix them in the process. Got any tips or pointers for printing wargaming products in resin? Leave them in the comments below
How Much Does 3d Printing Cost Per Hour To Run
With a standard flow rate of filament from a 0.4mm nozzle, a 0.2mm layer height, along with standard electricity and maintenance costs, 3D printing costs around $0.40 per hour. Filament costs around $0.24 per hour, electricity costs around $0.09 per hour, and maintenance costs around $0.07 per hour.
The main costs when it comes to 3D printing is the filament which goes for around $25 per KG of plastic. After doing some calculations with some standard settings, you can figure out how much filament is extruded on an hourly basis.
With the Spider-Man model below, 182g of filament gets extruded in 18 hours and 51 minutes. To calculate this on an hour basis, we take 182g / 18.85 = 9.655g of filament extruded every hour for this specific print.
To figure out how much this is, we can take $25 per KG of plastic which is 1000g, then divide it by 1,000 to get the price per gram $25 / 1,000 = $0.025 per gram.
Now we do 9.655 grams * $0.025 = $0.2413 or $0.24 rounded down.
Next up we got the electricity costs.
I already did an article called How Much Electric Power Does a 3D Printer Use? where I figured out that a standard 3D printer uses around $0.09 in electricity every hour by seeing readings of electricity use for an hour and getting an average cost in the US of electricity for a kWh.
Lets take the upper estimate of $50 per year on maintenance, then divide that by 730 hours, and we get an hour maintenance cost of $0.07.
What Is A Resin 3d Printer
A resin 3D printer is different from the standard FDM printers youve probably seen. Resin 3D printers use liquid resin and some science to print. Compared to FDM printers, theyre a lot more accurate, more expensive, and admittedly a lot cooler to watch. Additionally, the final product is much stronger and sturdier. Resin 3D printers are available in three different 3D printing technologies: LCD, DLP, and SLA. Lets take a look at how these three technologies compare to one another.
Read Also: What Hp Printer Uses 564 Ink
Expensive Mistakes To Avoid When Buying A Resin 3d Printer Which Will Keep Costing You Money
This case study outlines the two most expensive mistakes people make when buying a resin 3D printer that keeps costing them more money long after the purchase.
1. NOT CONSIDERING THE RUNNING COSTS OF THE MACHINE
Not taking into account the cost of consumables and replacement parts over time when choosing which printer to buy is the biggest mistake people make when purchasing a resin 3D printer. The running cost of some printers can quickly end up costing more than the price of a much more advanced, low-maintenance 3D printer that you might initially think is out of your price range.
Avoid getting caught by ongoing, sometimes hidden costs by learning what to look for and think about when purchasing a resin 3D printer.
to look at the data of a comparison we did between our GiziMate Xtreme Gizmo 3D Printer and a well-known competitor machine with a similar print volume close to the same price. When looking at different printers, ensure you are comparing “apples with apples” so-to-speak.
Note that in this case, the upfront cost of the competitor machine is less than the GiziMate Xtreme. The upfront price seems to be the Aha! moment for a lot of people when choosing which printer to buy. Unfortunately, this is where many people make the biggest mistake when purchasing a resin 3D printer: Not considering the running cost of the machine.
The data shows the cost comparison of the replacement parts and resin used by each machine for over three years.
-
Groundbreaking printing speed
Selling 3d Printed Items
Can you make money from it?
Another popular technique for monetizing 3D printer use is to sell 3D printed items. Unlike print on-demand services, selling 3D printed objects is a much more controllable venture.
At the same time, however, it also is more complicated to getstarted and requires much greater initial input than providing 3D printingservices.
How to make money fromit?
Challenges
1) Because of the simplicity of this idea, the primarychallenge comes not from 3D Printer use, but before that: you need to designitems that consumers will want to buy.
2) This means that the item needs to provide value topotential customers. As a matter of market reality, usable items even ifsuperficially so are considered to be of higher value than ornamental items.
3) At the same time, it needs to be economically designed and easy enough to print so that you can reliably print with consistency, in quantity if needed and with minimal irregularities between reprints.
Solutions
1) There is no shortcut to this: you will have to either learn how to design 3D models with skill or pay/collaborate with someone who does. Secondly, you will need to find a niche that your idea can fill.
2) The value proposition can be real or apparent, but it needs to be there. According to the Golden Circle concept, you need to answer three questions: why create the product ? How does the product fulfill its intention ? What does the product actually do in its entirety?
You May Like: How To Connect Canon Ts3122 Printer To Iphone
Projet 6000 Hd By 3d Systems
3D Systems, which focuses on a variety of technologies, also offers SLA products, like its ProJet 6000 HD, a resin 3D printer that promises the highest quality and accuracy of small to medium size 3D printed parts. To match the 3D printing machine, 3D Systems offers a wide range of SLA resins that provide the required consistency and mechanical properties for any material. In addition, the product enables the unparalleled benefits of 3D stereolithography, such as cost savings or material supply, to be realized in a more compact format. The production volume is 251 x 250 x 250 mm and the minimum layer thickness is 50 microns. Currently, the price of the ProJet 6000 HD varies between 100,000 and 250,000.
Do you own a SLA or DLP 3D printer? Are you a resin 3D printers fan? Share your reviews in a comment below or on our and pages! And remember to sign up for our free weekly Newsletter, to get all the latest news in 3D printing send straight to your inbox!
D Printers: Resin Vs Filament
When choosing a 3D printer, it is important to figure out whether a resin 3D printer or filament 3D printer is best for you. Below are some of the pros and cons of resin and filament 3D printers.
The following are general statements and apply to cheap resin 3D printers and cheap FFF 3D printers. Professional and industrial-grade 3D printers overcome some of these limits.
You May Like: What Does Collated Pages Mean
Are Resin 3d Printer Fumes Toxic
Resins also naturally give off fumes, and unless you work in a well-ventilated area, molecules from the fumes will get into your lungs and cause irritation there, too. Harmful when exposed to eyes or ingested: Never let resin near or into your eyes or mouth unless theyre specifically marked as non-toxic.
Centric Liquid Crystal Magna
- Price: $15,000+
- Print volume: 510 x 280 x 350 mm
British company Photocentric make some of the highest resolution LCD printers around for industry, with the LC Magna designed for precise dental and product design prototyping at large scales and sizes.
Its super-fast, large, and accurate, with Photocentrics own resins helping keep costs lower over the long term. Photocentric also manufactures a wash module for washing prints and a curing module for curing prints that require this, and the LC Magna has been used to prototype and manufacture glasses, dental models, models figurines, and even motorbike engines.
The 4K 137-micron display delivers accuracy over the entire build area, using the benefits of anti-aliasing, and uses Photocentrics patented blow-peel technologies to prevent some of the negative effects of large resin build areas coming into play.
Overall, its costly but offers key benefits as a big resin 3D printer in large-scale industry and prototyping.
Also Check: How To Bring Hp Printer Online
Best Practices Before Buying A 3d Printer
- Contact the manufacturer and ask for a sample model
- The total cost of ownership, support, and service.
- Double-check the information with what a manufacturer claims for
- Request for a 3D printed sample model to ensure that parts produced by the printer are what you exactly need. It also allows comparing the results easily with other additive manufacturing systems.
Best Bottom Exposure Times For Resin 3d Printing
The best bottom exposure time is between 4 10x for standard resin 3D printers like the Anycubic Photon, while for more powerful resin 3D printers like the Anycubic Photon Mono X, youre looking at 12 18x your normal exposure time.
The average between over 80 user submitted normal and bottom exposure times for the Anycubic Photon X was a bottom exposure time of 15.6x the normal exposure time.
For the Anycubic Photon, I saw ranges between 4 10x the normal exposure time for the bottom exposure times, so you can take a rough average of 7x the normal exposure time.
- Perfect Bottom Exposure Time: 7 16 times longer than the normal exposure time depending on resin printer strength.
Anywhere from 15 seconds up to 150 seconds is the full range, though youll usually see people with bottom exposure times from 30 seconds to 90 or 100 seconds.
Don’t Miss: How To Connect Canon Ts3122 Printer To Iphone
Caustic 3d Printer Resin
Later things got far, far worse:
Then, later in the evening, about 24 hours after the resin exposure, it began to burn more, and blisters started to appear. When I awoke the next morning, the blisters had enlarged, so we went to the Emergency room. They directed us to the nearest burn center- Over 2 hours away. The dead skin had to be excised, and as it was over about 10% of me, this had to be done under anesthesia due to the pain. Cadaver skin then had to be placed to facilitate healing.
An image of the victims leg was posted to the group, but we will not publish this awful picture to spare you some grief, but you can see it at the Reddit link below. But let me assure you, it is absolutely awful to see. You do not want this to happen to you.
A Model For Charging Others For 3d Printing
If youre going to start a 3d printing business with your printer, then understanding your costs is a must. The more it costs, the more youll want to charge for your service or product. But dont forget time. Its our most precious resource, and dont sell yourself short. 3d printing is an advanced technical skill, and should be paid for accordingly. Not everyone is up to the challenge of 3d printing. You are, and thats worth something.
Time pricing is much more viable than materials pricing. If you were to print at 0.4mm layer height, you could finish a print far faster than printing at 0.1mm layer height. But the material amount would be the same. So an estimate by time is far more useful than an estimate by just how much material is used. Multiply this by the your rate, and you have a good estimate for your product or service price.
Recommended Reading: Brother Printer Hl2270dw Wireless Setup
How Much Does It Cost To 3d Print A Mask
A Loki Mask from The Mask movie uses around 180g of filament and would cost $4.50 in PLA at $25/KG. Its dimensions are 165 x 87 x 220mm but can easily be scaled up or down as you desire. There are many other masks out there that can use a lot less filament which would be cheaper.
A Covid-19 Mask V2 from Thingiverse uses around 40g of filament which would cost around $1.00.
How To Ventilate A 3d Printer
The best thing you can do to ventilate a 3D printer is to make sure your 3D printer chamber or enclosure is sealed/airtight, then to connect a vent from your chamber to the outside.
Some people use a window fan and put it near a window where your 3D printer is to then blow air out of the house. When printing with ABS, many users do this, and it works well to eliminate noticeable smells.
Recommended Reading: How Do I Connect My Phone To A Printer
What Is Sla/dlp Printing
Stereolithography/digital light processing printers are, essentially, 3D printers that print using light to cure liquid resin into layers. The cheaper versions use an LCD to shine a UV image into the resin, which cures it into a solid layer. The print bed then rises slightly to let the next layer cure.
This allows you to print a model with extremely fine detail, far more than a standard filament printer can produce, and the result tends to need far less post-processing work to give you a finished product.
The downside is that they tend to have smaller build plates than filament printers, so you can’t make large pieces on them. They also tend to be a little slower than FDM printers as they have to cure. You will also have to wash the print and further cure it after it has been printed to get the full effect.
There have been great strides to solve both these problems, though. You can now buy an excellent wash and cure station that can speed up the curing process considerably, and Peopoly has released an enormous printer called the Phenom that will resin print your parts on a much larger scale.
Safety Precautions For Resin 3d Printing
Resin 3D printing is more dangerous compared to regular FDM 3D printing and should be treated with the respect it needs when it comes to safety.
Avoid contact with uncured resin
Every time you handle uncured resin, its imperative to use protective gloves. Avoid touching uncured resin, and always handle resin bottles with care.
Uncured resin can cause burns or irritations to your skin, so if you happen to touch uncured resin, use soap and water to clean the affected area as soon as possible.
Use a well-ventilated space
When printing with resin, its important to have a well-ventilated space. Fumes from resin and cleaning chemicals are harmful and should not be inhaled. Using a face mask will help you minimize the effects of any remaining vapors.
Even though some resin 3D printers have carbon filters, or good insulation, its not a clever idea to use a resin printer in the same space where you live/work. If possible, try to use your resin printer in a separate room with good ventilation.
If this is not possible, I recommend printing when you are not in the same room. I usually print overnight when Im not in my office. This way, in the morning I can simply remove the finished print and post process it, while properly ventilating the room. I also take extra precautions of adding another insulation layer to my resin printer so most of the smell stays inside the enclosure.
Also Check: How To Scan From A Canon Printer
Cheap Resin 3d Printer Faq
How much does a 3D printer resin cost?
The average cost of standard 3D printing resin is about $50 per liter. The price depends on the quality of the resin material, the type of the resin material, as well as the manufacturer.
How does a resin 3D printer work?
Resin 3D printers use liquid resin as the 3D printing material. The resin will become solid when struck by a computer-controlled UV laser or other light sources.
Are resin 3D printers easy to use?
For someone with at least some 3D printing knowledge and experience, it can be relatively easy to learn how to use a resin 3D printer.
Objects 3d Printers Can Make
Unlike the matter replicators or nanotech seen in works of science fiction, current generation 3D printers are used to create physical objects made out of plastic filament, liquid resin or other substances that can melt and harden. The strength, texture and color of your printed objects depends on the color of the material youre currently using with printer. With rare exceptions, owners of 3D printing machines pause their printer and manually switch out the filament/resin if they want an alloyed object with multiple colors.
Read Also: What Epson Printer Uses 202 Ink
What Are Resin Printers
Resin 3D printing incorporates photopolymerization, which means curing layer by layer of liquid photopolymers into a solid structure.
The resin reacts to specific wavelengths of light, usually UV light which hardens or cures it. Light sources vary depending on the technology. Current technologies make use of laser, projections and LCD panels.
Most hobbyist resin printers operate on the same principle where a bath of resin with a transparent bottom is secured over the light source that cures the resin from below.
Simultaneously, the build platform moves vertically upward with the structure or object being built upside down. Resin bonds very well in the build process and fine detail can be achieved. The end product has a seamless finish with no visible bonding lines that are common with filament printing.
The post-printing process required to fully cure the printed structure is essential as it poses a health risk due to most resins being toxic. When working with resin, safety measures must include wearing protective gloves and a face mask, preferably one with an organic filter to prevent respiratory irritation from resin fumes.
Resin has a strong odor, and adequate ventilation should be a priority.
An extra curing bay with light source may be necessary to harden structures fully. The cost of post-printing materials can add up and should be considered when investing in a resin printer.