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Hi fabbers

I recently printed a fairphone case in Formlabs Black as a test. While it looked gorgeous, it broke into multiple parts when the phone was dropped from ~20cm. It seems that while it’s hard to break parts off by bending the case (it’s surprisingly flexible) it easily shatters on impact.

Did other people make this observation? I ask because I use Acetone for PP instead of Isoprop and I’m thinking it could make the parts more prone to shattering on impact compared to Iso.

Also, did anybody test impact resistance for the MakerJuice blends? I’ve heard the MakerJuice will make more flexible parts, but does that also mean it will be more impact resistant?

I know that the Formlabs Flexible resin is supposed to be impact resistant, but its color is a bit…meh.

Thanks for your help

Tobias

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Ok number of points in this one,

- The formlabs resin is well known to be relatively brittle compared to other plastics. I have found it to be especially so with thin walled prints. I have found that less time in the alcohol solution does make the prints less brittle so I usually leave the print in the IPA for only a minute or so out of the printer. Then wash in a bath of warm water before dipping back in IPA for a minute (the clean tank). This seems to make less brittle prints.

- I have used the MJ resin and yes the prints are less brittle. They feel that they have more flex in them. The issues with it are two fold, the resin is far less viscous and so the pigment can drop out of the resin quicker which can obscure the laser causing curing issues on longer prints and the supported underside of prints generally comes out with less sharp detail. Sharp corners are rounded and objects have almost a melted look. This may not be an issue on your prints though. Make sure to shake up the bottle! I also found the black resin is not as black as the formlabs resin when the print comes out. Essentially it seems there is less or a different pigment in the resin.

- With regards to the flexible resin there are nano pigments available so you could always experiment by adding these to the flexible resin (A small amount goes a long way apparently) but this is something I haven’t experimented with.

I can’t comment on the acetone as I haven’t used it. Hope this helps a bit.

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Thanks a lot, this was really helpful. The reason why I said I suspect Acetone to increase the lack of impact resistance is that I once left a print in the Acetone bath for like 1 hour by accident. It seemed fine when I pulled it out but then I noticed that it kinda had the properties of wax (pieces broke off, shattered easily) I take it a similar thing happens when left in IPA.

So now I just dip it into Acetone for like 15 seconds, wipe it down and then hose it down with Acetone from the bottle and wipe it again. I then use a heat gun on it to make sure all the Acetone evaporated. In my experience this is the fastest way to clean the prints and get rid of stickiness.

Interesting input on those nano pigments. Do you have a source for those?

Thanks

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Have you tried the MadeSolid Vorex resin? It’s compatible with Form1/Form1+, is less brittle than the Formlabs resin, tougher than the MakerJuice SF, and the pigment does not settle out either.

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They come from the makerjuice guys

http://www.makerjuice.com/product-category/pigments/

I’ve left parts in for an hour or so in IPA and yeah they degrade quite rapidly.

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Have you sorted out the rapid clouding on the PDMS of the tank with the madesolid resin? I remember it being reported a good year or so ago and it was what kept away from trying it out.

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I saw it on their page, but apparently the experience other people made with other MadeSolid resins in their Form-1 wasn’t that great, so I stay away from it until it improves or there is more people reviewing it. It’s also pretty expensive…

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Ahw dang, I just ordered the SF MakerJuice from them and paid a horrible amount of money for delivery :frowning:

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Drop them an email. They would likely be happy to take more of your money and ship it at the same time :slight_smile:

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It’s expensive compared to buying ABS filament sure, but it’s cheaper than the official Formlabs resin. We’ve made several improvements in our formulations since our initial launch last year, so much so that we launched the latest version as Vorex because it was so different.

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Yes, that was an issue with MS Resin V1, where we optimized for “just working” and excellent color, but as a drawback it clouded the PDMS tanks quicker. MS Resin V2 and Vorex resin we have solved that issue, we make sure now that clouding is equal or better than the official formlabs resin.

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Fair play to you. Based on that I’ll be happy to look into testing a bottle of your new resin when I’m next placing an order to stock up.

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Sadly, where I live, postage is rather high, bringing it into the range of the formlabs resin. Local resellers charge 180$+ for 1l of Vorex.

I might give it a try though.