I am about to begin printing this model (see attached photos) and it will be my longest (24 hours) and largest (4"x4"x5") print yet. It will be in Clear V4, brand new tank and cartridge, any advice before printing to ensure it is successful? One side also has a 2" hole through it.
I’ve had problems in the past with models oriented perpendicular to the print bed but this really has no other choice.
Should angle the print - printing vertical as shown in the screen shot will likely lead to some cosmetic issues or maybe even a complete failure.
i second this. Even 1-2° will be better than 0.
Another safer solution would be to angle correctly (20-45° but print in 2-3 parts and assemble them before post-curing. This can be seamless if well done.
Seconding the suggestions in this thread of angling this a bit. I usually opt for at least a 30 degree rotation in each axis when it’s viable. You should check out this video which gives a good primer on printing orientation.
Would this be better? Also, the inside of the form is hallow with the opening on the bottom. Will this possibly create suction? When I tried to orient with the solid side down it said it would have major cupping issues.
Based on the pictures, that looks like it will print much more successfully for you. Cupping occurs when there’s an enclosed cavity that resin can’t escape from. For this print, your opening is at the bottom of the print so it doesn’t look like there are any regions where resin will be trapped, and you should be good to go.
Would there be anything else I can do to ensure the print is successful? Thank you for all of your help!
Keep an eye out for any red shading that might identify unsupported regions and toggle the minima and cupping detection just to ensure that there aren’t any issues in that regard. Other than that, you should be good to go!
If you end up with warped walls, as is sometimes the case with bit hollow parts (depending on wall thickness) from my experience : try printing it with the bottom facing the platform. This will create cupping issues but you can put a >3mm hole in the part to circumvent that and plug that hole with liquid resin and a 405nm cheap laser pen. This is not the easiest solution but I have found that when printing 2-3mm walls that do high in the build volume there tends to be some warping… This way of orienting the part will also be much easier to clean as often only one face has substantial supports unlike your current solution.
But when you print this model, after printed you tank you dont use, because hi is very dirty after support point?
To be honest, something like that isn’t the type of thing that’s suited for SLA printing, you can probably get that done for very cheap with the standard material at Shapeways.
The size there is the big issue, because there’s not enough space to orient it in the way that it needs to be to get the best results
