EEVblog Electronics Community Forum
Products => 3D printing => Topic started by: pipe2null on June 14, 2022, 08:50:19 pm
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I finally took the dive into resin printing and preordered a Phrozen Mighty 8k, which should be on its way to my doorstep in the next few weeks, so it's time to order all the accessories and a big box of gloves now that I'm adding resin to my 3DP lineup. Various methods of washing with IPA and initial drying seem pretty straight forward (Worth noting: "Thou shalt not put IPA in an ultrasonic cleaning machine"), but curing machines seem ridiculously expensive for what they actually do compared to a plain ol' 405nm UVA black light LED roll or fluorescent black light tubes...
My new print volume is advertised as L21.8 x W12.3 x H23.5 cm. I'll rarely use that much in actual prints, but probably should keep max size in mind ordering new toys for wash/cure. And looking at big enough curing machines with big price tags for a glorified "light box" has prompted this post. Heh.
Any favorites for wash/curing solutions? Anyone gone the DIY route who might share your experience? (like referenced in https://www.tomshardware.com/how-to/clean-and-cure-resin-3d-prints (https://www.tomshardware.com/how-to/clean-and-cure-resin-3d-prints) )
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I'm a Form user and I just use the wash/cure that they sell. Works well enough.
I don't recommend ultrasonics for cleaning because it can damage the not fully cured resin. The explosion risk isn't an issue per se, just put it in a closed beaker or get an Ex rated ultrasonic cleaner.
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Are we talking about the same device? The Form Cure is pretty smooth and I've had just barely stable pieces not fall over.
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Yea, for the immediate short term I decided to proceed down the $25 DIY route: ultra-cheapie cardboard/foil/cheapo solar turn table/cheapo LED blacklight strip to start just so I have SOMEthing for the time being. The sun is just not consistent enough, and related "cure times" do not translate into useful indoor cure times.
But I'm also designing a "real" curing machine for the long term, big enough for my max build volume plus a bit, pricing quartz glass (very high UV transmissivity, not cheap ~$200 at McMaster for 6"x6"x1/4", debating on minimum size still or looking for a less ideal transmissivity material to use) for the base plate and all that good stuff.
What ballpark-estimate curing times are you using, and what's the UV-wattage of your curing machine? 365nm and/or 405nm?
I've dug around for info on curing times for a given UV wattage and the best I've seen is "try a given curing time out, bounce your model off the table" kind of folksy "metrics" to gauge final cure times for a specific commercial curing machine model. Not terribly useful when you're building a curing machine from scratch. I'm trying to figure out what the optimum "normal" UV wattage is for a curing machine, then beef that number up a bit since I'm thinking of using indirect lighting for the cure to get better UV scatter.