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points by pen2l 1 day ago | 0 comments
> I don't think that Formlabs locks you into their wash and cure stations.

I would posit from the the getgo the average joe shouldn't consider resin printers, they should opt for FDM printers, because with FDM printers when the printer finishes printing a part... that's it! You more or less just pick it up from the printbed and there you have it... with resin printers, you -HAVE- to wash away the surrounding uncured resin. So, sure, it doesn't lock you into the wash and cure station, but doing it manually is an absolute chore any which way and chances of getting gooey resin on your hands, your clothes, your furniture goes way up and it is the most profoundly annoying thing when it does.

Try out a resin printer at your local makerspace to see what they're all about and the work that's required to print a part and develop it with solvents; for yourself get an FDM printer, they're plenty good enough for the average joe.

[–] jdboyd 5 hours ago
My local maker space only has fdm. Formlabs claims to have a new line of healthier resins which can be used on non formlabs printers, which had made me curious again about resin.
[–] everforward 1 day ago
Agreed, but it's worth calling out that some niches more or less require resin.

Anything small and aesthetic is going to basically require resin. Warhammer minis and jewelry (tiny filigree) come to mind.

FDMs have gotten better, but you're still not going to get those fine sub-millimeter details like you can with resin.

[–] specproc 1 day ago
Yeah, resin is a must for minis.

I outsource to a guy a know who's a jeweller and has his workflow down. Tried doing it myself and hated it.

[–] mcv 19 hours ago
Is it? I've heard of people getting good results with PLA and a 0.2mm nozzle. I don't doubt resin is better, but PLA seems to be acceptable to a lot of people. And it's far safer and cheaper.