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….................---- Resin Printer Workstation ---
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This is a 'don't do what I did' post. I'd been using my Ender 3 Pro filament printer for a few years and loved it (still do) and had thought about getting a resin printer for really fine detailed prints. Researched them and was put off by the negative 'the smell', 'messy resin', 'big learning curve', etc. type posts so didn't pull the trigger on one. Well finally I did and still worried about all of that so it sat in its box for another year or two.
Let me address some of those concerns:
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Smell: The resin smell is the reason for the 'smell concern'. I bought a number of resins that are still unopened because someone mentioned Siraya Tech 'Build' resins and how much they like them since they are strong, somewhat flexible if you don't over cure them and you can tap them if needed and they print really nice detail. I love this resin and use it for all my prints so far. The only negative I can seem to find is it is going to cost more than some of the cheaper resins. OK so maybe I spend $10 more but the prints come out great, I get a lot of them from a bottle, using only one resin more means I get to know what it can and can't do on some of the structural things I build. For me spending more is saving me more with fewer wasted prints.
Not sure if it is the large work area or not but there is hardly any smell with the Siraya Tech. My wife is very sensitive to smells and moves through the shop from time to time caring for the attached greenhouse and has never mentioned the smell once. Might also be because of the cover on the printer and that I don't have open resin around. I notice the smell of the denatured alcohol I use to wash the prints more but only when the wash container is first opened.
So for me using this resin the smell thing is a non-factor for my situation.….. but.....
…...I wouldn't want it in the house where I have the filament printer next to my computer station. The main part of the house is an open living area with the kitchen, dining area, living room and my computer area all in the same large area and I feel too confined for the resin printer. If I had a separate room where the door could be closed I'd be OK with that, at least using the 'Build' resin I'm using now.
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Messy Resin: I'm on my third bottle of resin and so far no messy resin to deal with. Of course I do have to clean it off the build plate and any tools I use but find that using paper towels it wipes right off those items. I do wear ( nitrile gloves ) and as cheap as they are as soon as I get a tear in one it goes in the trash. I wipe resin off them easily with the towels also. I wear the gloves any time I'm dealing with the resin or the denatured alcohol I clean with. So maybe have them on for about 10 minutes total per print.
I don't wear a respirator but that is your call. I OK with it as I have so much air volume in the shop and a lot of times good circulation as the work station is near a fan that is blowing air in from the 90 degree green house addition into the shop. I've done car work where I've painted with a respirator and a supplied air system so here is a tip if you do use a respirator. If you can smell what you are working with when using a respirator it is time to change the charcoal cartridges, they don't last forever.
So for me dealing with the resin is also a non-factor for me.
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Big Learning Curve: I often read about the learning curve of all the things you can/have to change using a resin printer. Maybe but I haven't found that to be true. Again using or at least the beginning using one resin can get you started pretty pain free. I'm using an AnyCubic Photon M3 (the smaller M3). I keep every thing simple, use stock settings and rarely ever mess with the setting.
I use free Chitubox download for the slicer. Then downloaded Siraya Tech's settings for Chitubox and the Photon M3 ( HERE ). I use those settings in Chitubox as the default settings. Download the print file into Chitubox. Rotate it and move it where I want it on the build plate. Use Chitubox to automatically put in the supports. Save the file and take it to the printer and print. Not very hard at all and...
… the results can be like above the first time. I would to that Ameralabs Town print first just to see where you are. I've never changed a setting so far off the base settings I downloaded. Maybe that will change at some point but do the above and I'll bet you get great prints. The only problem and thing I have changed is a few times I've added supports over and above what Chitubox puts in if I see the need for them. Keep things basic at first and use 'known' help like the printer settings for your resin.
So for me dealing with the 'Big Learning Curve' was not an issue.
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The one thing for sure to do if possible:
Take the time and try and find the space to have a dedicated work station. Your work flow will go much easier with less mess and the printing experience will be much more enjoyable. With that let me show you what has worked great for me.
============= Work Station ==================
WARNING: Before going on the following has worked for me and I feel safe doing what I'm doing but you have to determine what works for you. Also my printer is in the shop and it is 27' x 40' with 10 foot ceilings so a lot of air volume. If you are printing in a 10' x 10' room your results and what safety precautions you want to take might be different.
The shop is large but still something is in about every square foot of it so finding a place to build a work station wasn't as evident as you might think it should be. I had made a wall by the mill out of some 'free' thin packing plywood and there was a little room on the other side of that wall I decide I could use.
Building some shelves went pretty quick using the wall as the main element of the shelves. Built them using 1 x 2's and some plywood left over from the layout build. I made sure the first shelf below the top one was far enough down that the 'wash-n-cure' bucket would fit there and adjusted the other shelve' heights for other items I wanted to store.
I put together another small workplace just to the left of the shelves. The workstation for me is key to making using the resin printer as easy or easier to use than the filament printer. The filament printer requires more adjustments and small maintenance over time than what I've found with the resin printer.
I found the Photon M3 on sale for $208 and bought it as it has a 6 inch long build plate and haven't regretted the purchase. I think it is hard to go wrong with about any name brand resin printer at this point. They have all come a long ways.
Having a wash and cure station though is the biggest factor for me in enjoying resin printing. I put off resin seeing how you had to wash the print in steps in trays with brushes all the while smelling whatever it is you are cleaning with. Then having to figure out a way to cure it. If I didn't have the wash and cure I'd quit resin printing. For me it is as simple as that.
With it when the print is done I remove it from the build plate, wearing gloves, and with the tool shown further down. That takes a couple minutes. I put it in the cleaning basket and put that in the wash and cure bucket with the denatured alcohol and I'm done with dealing with anything that has resin on it. With a wash and cure station that is the extent of dealing with the resin print after it comes off the build plate.
I bought the Elegoo at the time since it was a little cheaper than the AnyCubic. Now you can find both for about $100. Get one and don't look back it makes all the difference in the world, at least for me it does.
I was printing some very small gears for a Bachmann DDA40X and they would just fall out the bottom of the cleaning basket so went to the Dollar Store next door and bought a strainer for $4 and took the mesh off and put it in the basket. Works great and I leave it in there all the time.
I use denatured alcohol (marked Fuel at Ace) for cleaning and works great for me and is easy to find. I bought a second bucket and recently a third one. This helps in that the alcohol will get contaminated with the excess resin on the print fairly quickly. Some pour that into a temporary container and the put cleaner alcohol in for the final clean cycle. I bought a second bucket so I only need to wash in the first one for 3-4 minutes. Replace that bucket with the second one and move the basket with the print to it and wash for another 3-5 minutes. That is it the print is washed and you didn't have to do anything.
I take the basket and carefully blow it down with a compressed air line (you don't need that). Next with the bucket off the wash and cure station put the little turntable on and hit the button to change it to 'cure' and I usually cure the 'Build' resin for 3 to 3 ½ minutes. That seems to work so far for most prints.
In less than 15 minutes after taking the print off the build plate it is ready to do any finish filing/sanding and/or painting you want to do to it. You had gloves on for a couple minutes and the rest of the time where doing something else as the wash and cure went through its cycles.
If you are doing resin printing and don't have a painting knife like above get one. I got one some time ago but keep using the razor blade tool above and it worked but once I tried the palette knife I doubt I'll ever use the razor blade tool again.
You can find them many places got mine ( HERE ) and worth every penny. I can remove prints in seconds now where sometimes I struggled to do it with the plastic razor blade.
The small workspace to the left has a silicon pad on it in case of a spill (hasn't happened) and I keep paper towels on it. I remove my prints from the build plate there and it is handy to use when changing out the denatured alcohol containers with the wash and cure.
After running my head into the back of the mill a couple times I put some padding on it.
I was lucky to also have a place to put the covers which have to go somewhere for a minute or two during the printing process.
When I'm done I pull the cover back over the workstation. I'm glad I spent the day building it and wasn't moving everything on and off a workbench. I actually look forward to resin printing and set up like I am enjoy it and wish I would of taken the printer out of the box when I got it not a couple years later.
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