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Sla printers

Discussion in 'Off Topic' started by colton81, May 9, 2017.

  1. colton81

    colton81 Active Member

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    what are your thoughts on the SLA printers. Moai has a kit for i believe $1,200 granted its a small build volume 130mm x130mm x 180mm but still bigger then the C2 and its SLA. Ive been messing with my C2 for some time now and after recieving the replacement im still having issues. So im done with it and want something better. I was looking into away maybe to tear it apart and convert it to SLA either laser or dlp but not sure where to start on that. Let me know what you think. Is SLA printers worth it? Or is FDM still the top dog for price to qaulity?
     
  2. WheresWaldo

    WheresWaldo Volunteer ( ͠° ͟ʖ ͡°)
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    Both @Geof and I are investigating SLA printers Wanhoa D7 the Moai among others. @mark tomlinson has actually built his own very small one. There are issues and a rather steep learning curve when it comes to modeling, where printing solid objects works very well with FDM unless you are Warren Buffet you need to model for SLA with an effort to minimize the amount of resin used. That is just one of many issues. If your last question is the only criteria, as a ratio of one to another then the only answer is FDM YES.
     
    #2 WheresWaldo, May 9, 2017
    Last edited: May 9, 2017
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  3. colton81

    colton81 Active Member

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    Yea ive seen how its not easy to print hollow objects and if you do they need a drainage hole in them. I would like to build a mini SLA just to get my feet wet and then once i feel comfortable try to go bigger. @mark tomlinson if happen to get the free time would like to see a write up of your SLA or at least where to start on buying the parts.
     
  4. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    Build thread is under the projects sub-forum:

    http://community.robo3d.com/index.php?threads/printing-printers.5678/

    And it was not "cheap" :) If I had it to do over again I would settle for a cheap Chinese kit or go for a real one: https://www.muve3d.net/press/product/muve-3d-dlp-pro/ and be done with it. As I have discovered it is less attractive than I thought so ... I just don't use it enough to justify what time and effort and money we invested in it :)
     
  5. WheresWaldo

    WheresWaldo Volunteer ( ͠° ͟ʖ ͡°)
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    Although I haven't seen an actual study, it would not surprise me if material costs of FDM v. SLA is in the neighborhood of 10x difference, maybe even more. Not to mention the odor, limited variety of available resins, the cost of consumables, what actually are consumables.

    For instance most wouldn't know that in an LCD based printer the screen itself is a consumable item, the vat used to hold the resin has consumable parts. On a DLP based printer the bulb is a consumable. Then there is all the support items needed, UV curing lamps or sunlight (depending on you resin needs), different tools to finish models, etc. Ventilation can be a big concern, usually because of odor not VOCs.

    Research is the key, unfortunately until recently SLA printers have been cost prohibitive and the knowledge base surrounding consumer printers is pretty slim. The tech while solid seems to still need a bit of maturing, at least in my opinion. One of the reasons I have not jumped on that bandwagon just yet.
     
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  6. colton81

    colton81 Active Member

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    Took a look at the build and umm wow! I think its best to start put with a cheap kit like you were stating but i cant justify $3-400 for a chinese kit that i will just hack up anyway. Maybe the moabi will be the best route. At least a good starting point to understand it more and have a good working machine
     
  7. WheresWaldo

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  8. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    Depends on your "experimentation" tolerance and budget :) That one started off with me thinking I would sped a couple hundred dollars + the cost of a projector and a couple of days... Yea, no. It grew. :) I learned a lot about the process and tech (but I can hardly consider myself a better man for it). If you just want to experiment go cheap and spend the time. In all fairness the projector is the single most expensive side of the DLP ones, the rest is not terribly expensive or special. The movement mechanisms need to be tight and precise, but that is doable within tolerances via commodity components.
     
  9. daniel871

    daniel871 Well-Known Member

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  10. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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  11. daniel871

    daniel871 Well-Known Member

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    There are a lot of really good printers in there at prices that need to be watched leading up to Thursday.

    I'd love to have lots 3 & 3A, but don't think the power in my shop is capable of running it.
     
  12. Kilrah

    Kilrah Well-Known Member

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    If I'm reading well you're looking into SLA becasue FDM is "too complicated" - Everything I've read however suggests SLA is much more complex than FDM, so getting one becasue you can't get your C2 to work sounds very much like a trap.
     
  13. WheresWaldo

    WheresWaldo Volunteer ( ͠° ͟ʖ ͡°)
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    Are you the same @Kilrah that is on most of the OpenTX threads on RCGroups?
     
  14. Kilrah

    Kilrah Well-Known Member

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  15. WheresWaldo

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  16. Geof

    Geof Volunteer Moderator
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  17. WheresWaldo

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  18. colton81

    colton81 Active Member

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    No not that its to complicated but that with Robo i have had nothing but issues going around and around with trying to fix issues to get "sub par" prints ive done alot to increase the quality of it but its never the same quality more then twice. but mainly im looking into SLA because what it can do if you get everything working properly as with the C2 ive done what i can to get the best prints out of it
     
  19. colton81

    colton81 Active Member

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    has anyone seen Kudo3D new Bean SLA printer that is supposed to go on kickstarter this month for $200. now that a kickstarter i will take a gamble on. even though its a tiny build area its something to get my feet wet and understand more how SLA works.
     
  20. daniel871

    daniel871 Well-Known Member

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    Someone link @colton81 to the drama surrounding the Peachy printer as a cautionary tale about backing any low priced SLA printer on Kickstarter.
     
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