I print Dental Models exclusively (So whole arches upper and lower, from intraoral scanner data of each patient), either for Retainers or Aligner Treatments. I have been using the Grey Resin for more than a year and half and the last 4-5 months I am using Dental Model V2. The Model resin looks superior in finishing, however it breaks much more often, especially when removing it from platform (I print on the BP, long before it was an option on Preform).
So basically I was going to use Dental Model V2, from day 1 with Form 3, however I will go back to Grey Resin V4, for the first few months and try again Dental Model V2, once it becomes available.
They should have mentioned during pre-orders about resin and resolution availability (I print 140μm sometimes when I need a model fast…) but they didn’t. So all of us that pre-ordered early, found out about it long after paying and pre-ordering…
My best guess, they run into some kind of issues late during testing the Form 3, so they did not know beforehand… Then again I don’t know it for a fact so…
I guess its no different to buying a new model of a car that no one has reviewed and that you have not been able to see locally, but when it first arrives you find out that you can only drive it in the first two gears until the manufacturer has sorted out the finish of the design (and tested that). I am certain everyone would be happy to accept that and wait around having parted with hard earned cash until the manufacturer actually finishes it.
For a company that was valued last year at $1bn it seems incredible. Its also a new printer being PUSHED to market before another printer that was promised has arrived (Fuse)
Personally I wonder if Formlabs is trying to propagate its own demise through a greedy business model. I like the Form 2, but it does have unresolved issues and quality control on consumables is sometimes hit and miss - that kind of performance can only go on for so long before competitors catch up and a slicker performing company wins out on customer care and quality control
I have been driving a Form 2 for almost 2 years now professionally producing dental models of patients every single day. And I can tell you it drives as a BMW.
So that is why I am buying a new “car” without it been reviewed… I expect it to “drive” similar if it turns out to be even better then that will be a huge plus!
Formlabs showed so far that it can deliver pro desktop printers at a low price…
Bit late in the day but Simply Rhino had a free Formlabs event with Formlabs yesterday in London at the Goldsmiths Centre.
Got to see the machine (it was not running) but more importantly had a chance to look at F2 vs F3 print quality on clear resin as that was what I was interested in. The edges are much sharper and more “digital” so curved surfaces may seem more stepped. A lot of discussion about the peal strength. It is reportedly 70% lower than the F2. Good news to me as a lot of our parts have membranes of about 110 to 250 microns!. They work on the F2 but we have engineered a work around.
There were two of us at the event that have postponed purchasing because of lack of detailed evidence on the performance. Yes we are both very conservative and were prepared to let the USD500 discount go.
Luckily Simply Rhino (London) will possibly have their demo machine within two weeks and they have invited me to a demo at there site for a performance test,
We design and produce tiny prototypes having M1.6 threads that we just chase out with a m1.6 tap. Our typical wall thickness on our products is in the 300microns range. We do machine these parts regulary on our micro 4 axis cnc machine, but the Form 2 allows us to quickly test a concept in about 15 hours.
I am 80% sold but I am sure will be 100% sold after a couple of trials.
Mark_Harrison has done a brilliant unboxing article. Thanks there.
So if you are London based Joe look up Simply Rhino
Não sei pra qual finalidade você usa a form3, eu uso pra designer de joias, porem o preform mesmo com as atualizações deixa muito a desejar, foi feito pra consumir muita resina, não tem como editar os suportes de forma eficiente, esta muito longe de ser eficiente pra joias, eu uso chateado, muito triste, tem outras impressoras muito mais eficiente se tratando de suportes.
I too turned down the discount. I had one on order but when I saw there was NO OPEN MODE I canceled my order. For the parts I manufacture I need to use a less expensive resin, ALW, as it cost me half the cost of the Formlabs Grey and gets every bit the quality. To use the more expensive resin would price me out of the market.
