That is terrible quality from DF. I wouldn’t use that resin on larger prints either.
If that’s what I’d expect then I will stick with ALW also. If you all see my venom vs Spider-Man build there is no way I’d have got the same detail innvenoms teeth with DF resin
ALW has been real supportive. Kevin my contact has supplied a lot of info and insite into best methods and they work. I was mistaken in thinking very fine sanding would help the build plates release better, wrong. I do need to do that if they get scraped up but now I use a red Scotch brite pad to sort of polish the build plates and they release better. Always a learning curve to this.
Love Kevin, great guy
Love AWL but not happy with the fact that a brand new tray with one use in open mode has a failed pdms. I know it was defective but by using open mode formlabs refused to replace it. Super cool seeing as the one before that had the pegs on the bottom break off in two months and maybe 20 hours of prints.
Read my posting about using Silicone Glue to seal the edges of the PDMS layer. Needs to be 100% clear silicone that is Platinum cured I’ve been told. Do this to new resin trays or very clean used ones.
Wow I think we think alike!! lol did the same to mine and also sealed the bottom of one. I was heart broken when I found the tray was brand new and the silicone was starting to bubble. I refused to waste it.
Yeah its been more hit than miss with Formlabs support for me but I got an LT tank that is “damaged” and I’m sure its because the piece that chipped off my build plate (which was replaced by them actually) is what caused it during one of my prints. But they won’t replace the tray and stated that it looks like it was caused by the scraper and that I should have used the scraper with the round edges. So then I started thinking where that scraper came from (the one with the round edges) and im pretty damn sure I don’t have as many of them as I do LT tanks so how can you say use a scraper that I actually got with my form wash or cure I believe for a tank that “requires it” sounds like a cop out to me.
The whole experience with FLabs has been awful from the get go. A year of waiting for a machine that was supposedly supposed to arrive in a month, cracked cover on arrival, mis-calibrated z axis and stretched x axis, tank/trays breaking after one use (with the bottom tabs lodging in the slots on the machine)…I could go on. The “disable every useful feature of your machine” talk when using 3rd party resin nearly turned it into a 3k paperweight for me. If it wasn’t for the fact that I would lose a bunch of money getting out of it, and that the results of printing are great once you get everything working just right I would have run away long ago. The experiences as of late are not helping. We shouldn’t be faced with the choice of A) a printer with 0 features when using 3rd party B) A fully functional printer with absurd resin prices or C)hacking the machine to get it to work with reasonably priced consumables. Pretty sure I’d be better off just taking the loss and getting a cheaper resin printer that will actually allow me to choose how I use it.
true understand your concerns and issues. what I’ve found with the cheaper printers is that the prep work before starting a print is more time consuming. i.e supports, cups and over hangs. I feel your pain I still print with FL materials but also mostly find myself printing with more ALW materials. Not all jobs require the dimensional accuracy of FL materials.
My big issue is these tanks. starting to get a little worried about them and I thought the LT tanks were my saving grace but it seems that they are also delicate. Im trying not to trip too much as FL has been good about helping me with them replaced all but 2 tanks I’ve had issues with.
I’m going to try the fix one the Resin Trays that came from Kevin at ALW. This is a re-laminated tray. That’s to use GE Silicone Glue to seal the edges of the PDMS layer all the way around. I find it delaminates first along the Wiper Edge. Strange that FL puts the prints down this edge if you tell it to arrange the prints. I then move them in to the center.
FL Tech claims it’s the ALW resin causing the dlamination. Yeah, right, pass the buck. They are good at that it seems.
NOTE: I use the term “Resin Tray” as that’s what it is. The Resin Tank is what goes in the back of the Form printer holding the reserve resin.
I’m also going to try and re-coat the PDMS layer on used resin trays. Cleaning them will be the big issue but it’s worth the try. Right now the cost is around $30 each to do them which is better than the FL $70 each when you calculate the shipping in.
I really like the ALW black resin. It has excellent detail and I actually had to drop my z down a couple clicks to get the black to take to the build platform. I really doubt that their resin could possibly pull the pdms up especially since it has a much lower viscosity.
For cleaning your tanks, snag some Yellow Magic. It will clean the tank without any craze. It rinses clean too. Just use warm tap water. I use a rocket blaster or my airbrush compressor to blast off the water to dry it to avoid any spotting.
I only use the ALW Grey resin it also has very fine detail but photographs well which is important for product photos for my website.
I already use Yellow Magic, thanks.
Once the PDMS layer has been de-laminated along the Wiper Side it doesn’t take much to pull it up in the center as it’s loose now.
How do you guys cure the ApplyLabWork resin ?
I mean what kind of curing machine do you use ? DIY ? Other than FL Brand ?
Am trying to figure out if this machine can make the job:
Pretty low cost and seems well engineered…
Looking forward 
Just using the same tools, it cures and washes like FL resins, I think the recommended wash time is 10-15mins, you will have to read the manuals for each resin before printing
I have been using AW resin for 3 years don’t see much of a difference
Anycubic Wash & Cure PLus Machine is what I am using now, I also have a Form wash but rarely use it
Dear @Chyer, thanks for your answer.
So, from what I understand, we can assume that nowadays every Anycubic or Elegoo (or so) curing machine with 405nm UV LED (normally developped for mSLA), would work with SLA resin used in FL machines ?
By the way, which kind of VAT do you use ? Original from FL ?
Any other (like MOAI compatible ones) ? FEP or PDMS ?
For the resin, which reference are you using from ALW ?
As for UV, so far no issues so I think that should be standard
Just the original VAT from FL that is recommended from AW, I use mainly design concept gray, I use open mode as it is faster than reusing the FL resin tanks, also no real issues, I think the overall temp of your room matters, if too cold it may differ, mine is around 26 C to 28 C
ApplylabWork Printing Tips
The recommended wash is 5mins but I always do 10 with a prewash no issues.
Another thing it seems to be lighter does not cloud the IPA as easily as FL grey
My resins are 2-3 years old still no issues but shake well before use
In my opinion AW resins are less brittle than FL
