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What resins have you found to be good? And what for?


lesthegringo

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Being on the very initiation of all the resin 3d printing thing (in fact still waiting for my printer to arrive) I have not yet experimented with the different resins to see how they work. I have ordered some AnyCubic's own black and transparent resins so that I have something to play with, but I assume that all resins are not equal.

 

If you were looking at sturdy part with no thin or fin features, would you use a different resin than if you were trying to print antennae, thin fins like on bombs etc.? What about anything that may have to take a bit of load (undercarriage springs to mind) or has to support something hung on the end? Are there better resins for super fine detail like cockpit or radiator parts?

 

As for transparent, obviously cockpit transparencies are out, but are they good enough for landing light covers, airplane side windows, seeker heads? Are some more transparent than others?

 

Cheers

 

Les

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There is little to no difference in resins in terms of 'resolution'.  Dark, opaque resins will theoretically perform a little better in terms of light bleed, but you won't see a dramatic difference in detail from one brand/colour/style to the next.  Some resins will be more 'flexible' because they've got more plasticizer - "ABS Like" resins will bend more than 'standard' resins.  "Water Washable" resins tend to be more brittle.  Load-bearing items like undercarriage are best printed hollow, with wiring inserted for strength, if that's a concern.

 

Basically, UV resins are pretty interchangeable for the most part, and the resin in a UV printer has similar properties to the normal two-part polyurethane resins you're used to dealing with in modelling.  So, treat it the same way: you don't use a different resin for bombs, you're just careful not to damage them.

 

As for clear resins...  voxel and layer lines mean they're not great out of the printer.  You can polish them out to a decent level of transparency, but they yellow with UV exposure, and will typically have a noticeable tint after post-curing.  The following photo shows both of these effects fairly well - the woodgrain-like pattern on the upper part is from voxels + antialiasing while the lower has had a quick wet-sand and polish (emphasis on quick, hence the visible scratches).  Note that these are solid prints; the effect is obviously doubled on hollow prints, since you get print artefacts on both the inside and outside of the print.  Also note the bubbles trapped inside the lower print, which is a thing that often happens.  And, of course, the yellow tint of the (clear) resin on top of (white) paper, from the post-cure.

 

EnpVZfE.jpg 

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Thanks. I hope the layering is a phenomena than won't affect non transparent parts too much. I'm unlikely to use it for many external large parts that have large smooth areas, more detail pieces with corrected or enhanced features. Is shrinkage something that causes issues?

 

Les 

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  • 4 weeks later...

Hi all, I tried some Elegoo ABS-like resin today, and compared to the AnyCubic basic black resin I'd been using I found it to be easier to use, with (so far) no failed prints. The AnyCubic Black resin does seem to be quite finecky with prints working fine one time then with the exact same settings failing the next, whereas the Elegoo stuff seems to give more consistent results

 

Cheers

 

Les 

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