Which SLA Printer should I opt for?

[Chinmoy]

Hi,

I want to try my luck with SLA printer, it would be my first one. I’m thinking in terms of long term investment. It for personal applications only. So I can invest only once. I was going thru the literatures and shortlisted a few. Since budget constraint, I’m looking for a good printer which gives you a very good (detailed) print. There are a few questions which have arised in my mind.

1. Formlabs Form 2 is good but the Liquid Resin is just too much on the pocket. So can a DLP be substituted for Photopolymer recomended by Formlabs?

2. Can I use any other Liquid Resin (a cheaper one) sold by different companies?

3. I’m bit confused with other printers too like which one to take

a) Liquid Crystal HR

b) Wanhao Duplicator D7

c) Nobel 1.0 A

d) or Formlabs Form 2?

How do you caliberate a printer? as only Nobel 1.0 A has the option.

[David_Singletar]

hey

FDM printers are more popular than SLA and DLP. That doesn’t mean FDM printing technology is better. It just means they sell more machines. But before best picker for the printer, must go through few points like

1. Personal, hands-on review
2. Consumer reviews

3. Opinions of experts

Hope this will help you a lot.

Some of the SLA printers are
SLA/DLP 3D Printers Under $3,000

[joshuah_torres]

I love my Formlabs Form 2. Completely automated other than you selecting the file. If the printer is out of balance you can just adjust the feet and the screen guides you. Yes more expensive but you pay for ease and consistency.

Another printer you should look at is the Sprintray line of SLA Printers

[makerdepot]

FormLabs 2 printers are extremely reliable. In the past 4 months, I have printed 100’s of objects with only 2 failures. One was my fault completely, the other not sure what happened.

Yes, the resin is slightly more than other resins, but it works almost 100% of the time.

You can also look at the Form 1+, you can find some on ebay. The printer is fine, can work with a multitude of resins. But once you use the form2, you don’t want to use the 1+.

Obviously, you can also just use 3D hubs and not have to worry about anything. You would have to do a lot of prints to justify the cost and expense of your own 3d printer.

[bshafran]

Hello, just started in SLA myself after getting used to my old professors. I got a form 1+ used for less thank 1000 in very good condition. I would recommend that as well since its not going to be as costly and these machines are well built! The Wanhao D7 also has a pretty active facebook group: WANHAO DUPLICATOR 7 | Facebook . D7 is still in “beta” but is moving through versions pretty fast and getting a lot better each time. Form 2 is also awesome and top of the line and can prolly get a good bit cheaper used as well. Form 1+ can use third party though. FTD makes a resin JUST for Form 1+: http://www.funtodo.net/ . Hope this helps

[TDEprinting]

I have tried many prosumer machines like Pegasus , formlabs and the some of those ultra cheap dlp printers. In my experience you get what you pay for. The cheap dlp can work but will require a lot of tinkering both with the machine and software. Pegasus had awful customer support but it did work although not very well. I eventually landed on a form1+ and have had the most consistent results. The cost of resin is not too high considering high end machine resin cost. You will have to decide your level of involvement, do you want to click and print or do you want to tinker.

[Yashua]

My form 2 has never failed, i don’t know if it’s just a lucky machine but I’ve printed hundreds of small objects without a single failure! I haven’t received my Moai yet but that’s the other very promising printer we’ve got recently https://peopoly.net/

[CusPro]

If you on the market for larger commercial SLA printers we could help you with it.

We run and distribute two very good brands of this type of machines namely ZRapid and Raplas.

Please check them out and let me know if this would be of of your interest.

[cobnut]

In common with, it seems, pretty much all the other replies, I’d say that if you want a reliable machine that’ll produce great quality prints, then the Form 2 is the way to go. Yes, resin and tanks (don’t forget the tanks) are expensive, but you do get what you pay for. One of the least commented aspects of the Form 2 is the simplicity of setting up prints. If you’re used to FDM it’s a dream, you choose the resin you’re going to use (and the machine will check it’s loaded with the right one and the right tray), choose a height, and you’re done. No mucking about with temperatures, extrusion rates, cooling, etc. etc. Formlabs has already done it all.

Although it’s a lot of fun to have your own machine, if quality is important you may simply want to stick with using 3DHubs Hubs. You can get a lot of SLA printing done for the price of a Form 2 and a reasonable collection of resins and tanks…

[3dzillait]

I have a printer form1 + I bought it well and printed well with non-original resins as fun to do just that if you are not in warranty and you have a problem asking you to ship it in united states and a $ 800 expense to repair it then $ 800 buy 2 whanao logically the printing area and less but the expense and proportionate

[rhbruning]

1) If you are OK with the Formlabs Form 2 cost, great – it’s a good printer and a good company. I have a From 1+. I’m not sure what you mean, but the Form 2 is SLA (stereolithography) which uses a laser to harden the photopolymer resin. A DLP (digital light processor) based printer uses a projected image to harden an entire photopolymer layer at a time.

2) Yes, Formlabs Form 2 will work with 3rd party resins. You may need to experiment with settings, but it is specifically mentioned as a feature of the Form 2.

3) I suggest you watch YouTube review videos to help you choose. The Formlabs Form 2 has had excellent reviews of performance. The D7, not so much. Look foremost for failure rate – if at any time a print fails, you are starting from scratch. So far in my research the Form 2 is the most reliable. The other brands not so much. Other things to look for are print time, resolution, build volume and 3rd party resin compatibility – the importance of these are based on you intended use.

[Chinmoy]

Hi Joushuah, thanks for the reply. Sprintray is a bit out of my budget and work on Windows 10.

Since consistency is the key, … what are your thoughts and experince on Flash forge Hunter. They claim that they have in house projector. I stay in India so Form 2 and Hunter are priced the same. Which one would you suggest?

[Chinmoy]

Hi, thanks for the reply

since you have any extensive hands on experince, can you tell me the difference between an SLA Resin and a DPL Resin. Price wise they both are at par.

[Chinmoy]

Thanks Yashua,

I’m ever learning more …

[Chinmoy]

Hi,

Thnx for the reply. Been on youtube and saw many reviews for D7.

Well this would be my first of a kind SLA Printer (or DLP Printer… not yet decided).

So I might as well as go for Plug and Play Printer. D7 may be promising but in India I’m paying almost double for what I buy for the liquid resin… (may be Resins dear to me next to Gold…). So i guess have have to use the Resin wisely. May be in future I might give it a try…

[Chinmoy]

Hi, thnx for the reply.

What are your thoughts on Flashforge Hunter?

[Chinmoy]

Hey, thnxs for the reply

[Chinmoy]

Hi,

Thnx for the reply…

[Chinmoy]

Hey David, Thanks for the reply.

Yess!!! what you say is true about the FDMs.

I think its for XYZ Nobel 1.0 A which seems to accept only the cartrige made by the company. Wont accept 3rd party as each container has got a chip, so each container can only be used once. Dont know… may be its for other printer… (right now its mostly PRINTER overload) will check on it later and confirm

[Chinmoy]

Hey thnx… I will check the ones recommended by you too…