First Resin Printer - looking for opinions

[nheather]

Looking at first reason printer, budget of upto £300.

 

At the lower end there is the Anycubic Mono 4K, at the top end there is the Elegoo Mars 3 Pro, and if I were to stretch the budget there is the Phozen Mini 4K.

 

Rightly or wrongly I perceive an increase in quality, AnyCubic < Elegoo < Phrozen

 

But at this entry level, is there any real difference.

 

Interested to hear opinions from anyone who has tried one or more of these.

 

Cheers,

 

Nigel

[Black Knight]

I have the Anycubic Mono 4K

I've hardly used it cos I need to upgrade my computer to run the slicer proggy

But we found it easy peasy to set up and run

Very, very quite and not very smelly. But I'm used to chemical smells in my place due to leather dyes, solvents and other resins. 

 

This is our one and only figure printed out so far. Its 28mm scale. Printed with Anycubic's own water washable resin. I think the detail is just dead-on

 

 

 

 

I'm happy with the Anycubic

 

[bootneck]

Hi Nigel,

 

I have two printers now, an Anycubic Photon S (2K) and an Anycubic Mono X (4K).   I find both to be fine for my needs, which are 1:144 scale aircraft and vehicles, plus 1:35 scale vehicle parts.

I think that some of the Anycubic and Elegoo machines have the same innards, with different casings and brandings.  Both types use the same, or similar, liquid resin;  standard and plant based.  Personally, I use the plant based resins as they are washable in warm soapy water and don't give off any strong smells; which is idea if printing indoors. 

 

This was my first attempt at CAD with an early build of a 1:144 scale Matador, printed on the 2K Photon S.

 

 

 

 

These are more recent and printed on the 4K Mono X

1:35 scale Land Rover series I chassis - still needing supports cleaning off.

 

Land Rover TACR1 cab roof

 

3D printed cab roof added to an Italeri Land Rover kit.

 

 

HTH

 

Mike

[nheather]

Must admit I like the price point of the Anycubic Mono 4K, which has a smaller build plate than your Mono X but I assume is the same otherwise.

 

The Mars 3 was a good alternative but this seems to have been dropped now in favour of the Mars 3 Pro which is £100.

 

The way I look at it, I can get an Ancubic Mono 4K and a Wash and Cure for the same price as a Mars 3 Pro.

 

The Phrozen looks nice but that is pushing the budget even more and I find it hard to imagine that it is not that much better than the Anycubic Mono 4K to justify the extra £150.

[bootneck]

I would say that, for most prints, a basic Anycubic or Elegoo printer would be fine.  I often read about people getting the biggest, baddest device and then just print downloaded stuff about the size that would fit in a Photon S. 

If people are printing in quantity, for sales etc., such as that they need to print a lot of the items together, then a large plate printer would suit them.  Another point to consider is that the bigger the machine, the larger the resin vat and that means using more resin just to at least cover the bottom of the vat.  If all that resin doesn't get used then one has the overhead of having to strain it back into its container.  The slightest hint of UV (daylight) will start to cure the resin in the vat, so it's always best to return any unused resin to its container.

 

As can be seen by the views of my Matador, that was printed on a basic Anycubic 2K device and the detail on the chassis and suspension etc., is crisp; so no need to go to the expense of 4K.

 

The benefits of 4K and higher are mainly speed, printing times can be half that of a 2K; plus the extra detail is available if you are printing something extremely fine, such as an instrument panel or engine component.  For many of us, that level of detail is not a major requirement.

 

If I could make a suggestion;  buy a basic 2K machine and start making your prints with that - perhaps even a second-hand one.  You may find, as I did, that it suited my needs very well; plus it was a good machine for learning with.  I didn't feel the need to upgrade to a 4K for over a year and, even then, I still use the Photon S for much of my printing. 

 

I currently use my Mono X for coloured resin, mainly grey, vehicles and my Photon for clear items, such as these 1:144 scale Westland Wasps and Scouts.

 

 

cheers,
Mike

[nheather]

54 minutes ago, bootneck said:

 

If I could make a suggestion;  buy a basic 2K machine and start making your prints with that - perhaps even a second-hand one.  You may find, as I did, that it suited my needs very well; plus it was a good machine for learning with.  I didn't feel the need to upgrade to a 4K for over a year and, even then, I still use the Photon S for much of my printing. 

 

 

Can you even buy 2K printers these days.  I wasn't looking at 4K for extra resolution but because that seems to be the standard resolution for the entry machines these days.

 

But point taken - using the same reasoning, I'm not looking at 8K machines.  I see those as extra cost when I don't really need it - also increase repair cost when you have to replace the LCD.

[bootneck]

I hadn't realised that; however, it does sound like natural progression with technology.  Perhaps I have a collectors item.

 

Cheers,

Mike

[Cklasse]

I am impressed by your printed stuff. 
Does resin printer smell bad indoor? Like when you do spray painting with enamel.

 

I am going for a Fusion360 class soon and looking around at 3D printers. Would like to have a resin printer but worried about chemical handling and smell. 

[bootneck]

Hi TP,

 

there are two types of resin for these printers; first is the standard and the other is a plant based product.

The standard resin can give off a strong smell, especially indoors over time.   This can cause coughing and breathing issues.  The IPA, used to wash the printed parts, can also have a strong smell.

The plant based resin has less of a smell and is the one I use indoors.  The benefit is that the printed part can be washed in warm soapy water to clean the parts; thereby reducing smell even further. 

 

I started to learn Fusion360 by following this series of sixteen, ten minute, tutorials online.  There is an updated version here.

 

cheers,
Mike

[Jo NZ]

Absolutely agree. This was the tutorial series that got me going in Fusion360. All the rest confused me....  😕

[Twobad]

On 2/28/2023 at 11:30 PM, Cklasse said:

I am impressed by your printed stuff. 
Does resin printer smell bad indoor? Like when you do spray painting with enamel.

 

I am going for a Fusion360 class soon and looking around at 3D printers. Would like to have a resin printer but worried about chemical handling and smell. 

I don't find the smell that bad tbh, but it's a moot point as I keep my printers in a heated enclosure in my garage. The stories about the resins are accurate though, in that they are pretty skin unfriendly. I have contact dermatitis anyway from too many years working on cars from a very young age, but I wear gloves all the time I'm handling them. Notwithstanding that, the volatile compounds still find their way through even chemically resistant gloves and trigger my condition.

 

Treat the stuff with respect though and I think you'll be OK. 

 

As for printers: my entry model into 3D printing was the Phrozen Sonic Mini 4k. I still love the little beast, despite having upgraded to a Sonic Mighty 8k. I traded up because I specialise in 1:8 engines and the more interesting designs wouldn't fit in the build space of the 4k. The 4k is much more friendly in terms of clean up time and all the rest.  It was a fickle beast to begin with, but once dialled in gives very good results. There is a good Facebook support group too who will help with practical advice if you're having problems. 

 

A sample of the Phrozen Sonic Mini 4k output. The bosses are deliberately oval to avoid undercuts in the casting mould for which this was the master.

 

 

The finished castings taken from the 3D printed masters.

 

[nheather]

On 3/28/2023 at 10:34 PM, Twobad said:

I don't find the smell that bad tbh, but it's a moot point as I keep my printers in a heated enclosure in my garage. The stories about the resins are accurate though, in that they are pretty skin unfriendly. I have contact dermatitis anyway from too many years working on cars from a very young age, but I wear gloves all the time I'm handling them. Notwithstanding that, the volatile compounds still find their way through even chemically resistant gloves and trigger my condition.

 

Treat the stuff with respect though and I think you'll be OK. 

 

As for printers: my entry model into 3D printing was the Phrozen Sonic Mini 4k. I still love the little beast, despite having upgraded to a Sonic Mighty 8k. I traded up because I specialise in 1:8 engines and the more interesting designs wouldn't fit in the build space of the 4k. The 4k is much more friendly in terms of clean up time and all the rest.  It was a fickle beast to begin with, but once dialled in gives very good results. There is a good Facebook support group too who will help with practical advice if you're having problems. 

 

A sample of the Phrozen Sonic Mini 4k output. The bosses are deliberately oval to avoid undercuts in the casting mould for which this was the master.

 

 

The finished castings taken from the 3D printed masters.

 

Whenever I read reviews I come away with the impression that Anycubic and Elegoo are pretty much the same level, I have a slight leaning towards Elegoo, but both appear to have their fan clubs.  But Phrozen always seems to be a step up from those two, I’m not sure whether that is a fair assessment or whether I’m unconsciously swayed because it is more expensive.

 

What do you guys thinks, is there something that makes the Phrozen better or is it just that it is the most expensive of the three.

 

At my entry level I’m looking at

 

Anycubic Photon 4K - £196

Anycubic M3 - £234

Elegoo Mars 3 Pro - £272

Phrozen Sonic Mini 4K - £329

Anycubic and Elegoo used to be similarly priced but hard to compare these days because Elegoo appear to have dropped their standard Mars 3 leaving just the Pro version.

 

This makes entry Anycubic £76 cheaper than Elegoo and £133 cheaper than entry Phrozen.

 

I think the Anycubic is the oldest design, and they do have the newer M3 version which is predominantly about a bigger build plate but being newer adds other improvements like a better light source.

 

What I’m really trying to understand is that for an entry machine I can spend between £196 and £329 and I don’t know whether they are all pretty much the same in which case why not go for the cheapest or whether choosing from the top end will give me a better machine and potentially better prints.  Spares are important too, in particular availability of FEP films and LCD screens.

 

Note that I haven’t mentioned Creality.  This is simply because they are relatively late to the resin market so I really haven’t had the chance to look into them.  I know they make good filament printers (I have an Ender 3) but unsure what their resin offerings are like.

 

[Casey]

I had similar issue and opted for Elegoo Mars 3 Pro + their curing and washing station.

 

Most of the printers will have similarly good results unless you make microscopic details.

 

My main concern was not the printer cost itself but about the health and safety. No matter which resin printer you choose, you face a toxic environment with those printers. Mars 3 has a built in carbon filter working inside the enclosure during printing and offers a closed washing/curing machines. You need curing and washing equipment too and automatic ones are probably going to save you a lot of trouble. I also got the air monitoring equipment to get a warning about levels of volatile compounds and toxic fumes.

 

The uncured resin is dangerous to humans even through touch. The vapors of it are toxic to breathe. The cleaning process is toxic/irritant. The UV light needed to cure it is dangerous to skin/eyes And you cant ever let the uncured resin to go into the drain because it is very toxic for aquatic life.

 

But once you set up your workplace to look like a a small illegal substance production lab, it's working great Don't forget PPE!

 

The replacement of FEP film is a process, and it is also bit messy, luckily if you are careful they last for quite a few of prints. LCD screen replacement is costly and not easy and if you want to avoid it you'd need an DLP printer (which are costly)

 

Another issue is the object size, the printer I have is barely larger than a cellphone. Plus you need some experience on making your own 3D objects and software for that, I use Blender since it is free but it has a serious learning curve.

 

And last but not least - if you ever want to give printed object to your kids, I'd stick to filament printers.

 

Edited May 16, 2023 by Casey

[hendie]

The word toxic is being thrown around at an alarming rate recently, especially with respect to 3D printing resins. Lets try and keep things in perspective. It's a resin, yes. It's a chemical, yes. is it toxic? To some degree, yes, but most things are toxic to some degree.  UV cured printing resin is more "dangerous" than many chemicals you likely already have lying around your house.  It's also less "dangerous" than many chemicals you likely already have lying around your house.  I'll make an assumption that you weren't planning on drinking it or taking a bath in it so you should be safe there.

I've been using a 3D printer for almost 4 years now on a fairly regular basis and as of yet, I have not grown any extra limbs, nor have any limbs fallen off.  Some of my hair has grown a bit, and some has fallen out in other areas, but I think that's a natural process. 

Some of the paints and adhesives I use are probably more toxic than the resin.  (un)Common sense and bog standard PPE are more than enough to deal with the day to day aspects of 3D printing.

 

There's probably very little to differentiate the multitude of printers on the scene at the moment - they all have the same build volume,  the same resolution, same build quality and so on...  but I have heard/read of some people having less than stellar support from their machines vendor. That's where I think you'll find the largest disparity.

To the OP's original question:  I started with an Elegoo Mars, then upgraded to an Elegoo Mars 3, and I just recently purchased an Elegoo Jupiter for work. I've had occasion to use the Elegoo support service on two occasions and found them to be very responsive. On one of the occasions the issue was due to a software issue on my computer (my fault, not theirs) yet they got back to me within 48 hours with updated files which solved the issue. The other issue was simply replacing some screws I had stripped and that query was answered in 24 hours.  From a functionality perspective, I've never had any performance/functional issues with the Elegoo printers in the 4 years I've been using them.

 

My next printer, when the time comes, will be an Elegoo. 

 

 

 

[Harold55]

I think cost is a big driver and if you can get more capability for less money go for it.  I went looking for a Creality that was 2K but ended up with a store display of the Anycube Mono 4K for less.  And it was cheap enough that if I get frustrated or lose interest it's not a big deal - at least I did not go out and buy a new boat.  I do like the idea of downloading files as I have no real interest in learning CAD.