Maybe a stupid suggestion but does the manufacturer state that you should clean the parts in IPA? I know that photo centric resin cures very, very difficult when you clean it in IPA. Only water+soap works.
For a lot of these materials itās important to have some heat along with the cure light. I just cover up the front of my nail salon with a piece of cardboard and the parts cure a lot better. Might be worth a try here.
Heated cure worked really well with the modeling plus resin.
Yes, the instructions say it should be washed in IPA for 5 minutes.
NOTE:
I also stand corrected on the curing and use of water. I was originally under the impression that dunking it in water would prevent further curing. I was wrong. The idea is to immerse the model into water while itās being cured (in a UV chamber or out in the sun). The water is supposed to help promote better and more even curing.
I have the front of mine covered and also have the parts dunked like suggested still sticky got a set in now have set for 4 hours in water in the cure station we will see if the results differ
been about 4 days and another print I did is much better than the prints I did that took two weeks the water makes a difference for sure.
Hi Guys, Iāve been reading up on the Apply Labworks resin and getting ready to order some to test out. I have a few questions though:
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Can you use it with Open Mode on a Form 2 and just manually fill the tray? Or do you have to have a V1 old cartridge?
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Several people have mixed the beige and black resins to get a grey similar to FLās grey. Do you mix them separately in a container and then fill the FL tray?
Thanks in advance.
- Select settings in Preform and pour into tray.
- For the safety of your PDMS layer, donāt mix in the tray. Measure and mix externally.
Answers:
- You canāt run it any other way. Open Mode is for all NON-Formlabs resins.
- I keep empty bottles and pour 1/2 a liter of the black between 1 liter of beige back and forth between three bottles until I have them totally mixed. Itās a bit messy but you donāt tend to loose resin like you would if you did it in a large container. Iām guessing a lot of resin would stick to the sides of that large container and unless you could cover it the residue might not be usable later on.
One thing I would like Apply Labworks to do is come up with a āCatsupā type funnel type nozzle with a cap. Itās a mess pouring resin out of their bottles. Also it would make it A LOT EASIER pouring resin into the tray as the build plate doesnāt lift very far when it stops for refill, at 100 ml, mid build.
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Awesome. Thanks for the replies guys. I wonder if we can just use standard āsqueezeā bottles at Walmart. Iāve seen them, but theyāre either clear or that yellow and red color. Would it be safe to transfer to those bottles or would it harden due to the clear bottle exposing light to the resin?
To be safe look for HDPE bottles for dispensing. Those should not have issues holding resin. LDPE may or may not have issues.
I would keep any clear bottles in a dark cabinet. Theyāll be fine to take out just for the filling.
Maybe Iāll look for a screw on pour spout for the apply labworks bottles. Iāll have to dig out my used bottle and see what screw thread it has.
As far as 3rd party resins go, most can be run in auto with proper cartridge.
I really donāt like Apply Lab works bottles. I just started pouring all the resin out of them and into my left over isopropyl bottles. These bottles are made of metal. One has set for about a week and I will be using whats in it to mix with some beige to try out their grey in a cartridge running in open mode.
So we will see. So far Iām liking the idea of using the metal cans. they have a nice spout and nice lip for catching drips of resin if it comes down to it.
You can get small empty metal paint cans from HomeDepot pretty cheap. I had used one for a 3rd party resin and it worked great. They are easy enough to re-use and clean out.
Good to know thanks
If you want cheap bottles that are easy to dispense during the pause try white HDPE or even black PET bottles with dispense caps.
If you leave 200mL in the tray two 16 oz bottles should just about hold the remainder of the factory 1L bottle. 2 or 3 bucks for a dispensing bottle thatās black. HDPE white would probably be more chemically safe but if PET can handle Coke or Pepsi it should handle our resin.
Like these:
https://www.sks-bottle.com/340c/fin138g.html
Yeah my understanding is oxygen inhibits curing and putting the part underwater helps displace oxygen from the surface of the part. Same reason Carbon3D replaces PDMS with an oxygen-permeable ādead zoneā.
This seem like a great model to test Resins where did you get it?
Actually I found it on the internet. You might try the US Plastics website.
I donāt use that cap. What I do use, again from US Plastics, is a nozzle type of cap that is bent and has itās own smaller end cap. This fit on a 1/2 gallon F style container that I mix a liter of ALW beige resin with 1/3 liter Black to come up with the grey I want.
I recently tried the āModeling Plusā (Olive green) resin from Applylabs, as a replacement for the āDurableā (and super-expensive) Formlabs resin.
Apart from the hassle of the āLabsā mode, the results are quite convincing, specially considering that I make parts for real-life use.
With enough thickness, I end up with rugged parts that can be used as accessories for specific tooling we need on construction sites.
As discussed in another topic, the fact that the printer stops after 100ml is a real pain in the neck.
I have asked for a user-triggered āPause for refillā which would allow to max-out the autonomy of the printer when you need lo leave it un-attended, but Formlabs seems to be deaf to my request.
Iām looking forward to try other types of āengineeringā resins from Applylabs, and eventually standard modeling resins when Iām back to printing stuff for the sake of aesthetics only.
Oh, and I agree that the bottles suck 
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hey @Dudemeister i know its been a while since you started this thread but i just purchased some applylabs beige resin and wanted to get your overall feedback on it. have you found the best resin setting in preforms for it or just sticking with white V1? Also, i would love to commend you for your miniature print. i also print miniatures but have major issues with support blemishes and āpimplesā i dont see one support mark on your print! beautiful job. i hope you get back to me with some pointers, thanks!! edit: im using a form 1+