it’s not actually anymore work than putting a new cartridge in. You fill it all the way up, not every 100ml if it is tricked into auto mode. It would act as any other FL new cartridge.
Resurrecting this thread since I started mixing black and beige ALW resins myself.
Anyway, I have a question regarding the printing profile. Why use FL Grey v3? V3 has certain properties that makes it different than previous version, I’m not sure what the exposure time is, but the peel strategy is also different. Different enough to add 25% more time to a print (eg. a print that take 6 hours of V1, takes 7.5 hours on v3).
Based on exposure times that were previously published here, what we’re doing is mixing 2 parts beige (White V1) with an exposure time of 127ms, to 1 part Black V1 which has an exposure time of 165ms, and producing a grey that should have an exposure setting somewhere in between, but closer to the white (~140ms), since there’s twice as much white as black. The closest profile to that exposure (based on the same chart is Clear V2 (138ms).
The peel process is also the normal peel process of a V1/V2. Total print time increases by less that 1% (6 hours becomes 6:05 hours).
So back to the question. Why V3?
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I don’t look at all the fine stuff on the resins or Formlabs settings. I look at the results and ease of use.
I use that mixture and the V3 settings. Everything runs perfect as long as I use the OLD software and firmware. That’s the key. The new software and firmware screw everything up and cause the AWL resin to weld to the build plate. See my thread elsewhere on the terrors of that issue.
I’m running 6 to 8 prints a day swapping out two build places with no issues. Parts look great and pop off the place very easy leaving very little marks on the plate surface. Also, the trays last a lot longer. I’ve done over a dozen full area prints and the tray window looks like new.
That’s all I can offer, what my experience is.
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Walter, what software and firmware versions are you running?
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Truthfully, I don’t know, just that it’s the very last one before the changes to accommodate V4 Grey Resin.
So here is little update.
I had about a half bottle of beige left over, so I added about 1/4 bottle of black to it, maybe less. Nothing scientific. Shook the hell out of it for about 2-3 minutes, then poured it into a new tank.
The color is very consistent, and it really looks like Grey v2. So I first tried a print using the Grey v3 profile. The model printed, but there was a lot of flashing on it, and hanging from the supports. Also there was quite a bit of that stuff at the bottom of the tank, requiring cleaning.
The second test was done using Grey v2, and other than the print getting done faster, it too had some flashing. At this stage I though the issue may be because of dirty mirrors and such, so I checked and cleaned everything.
I then tried the Clear v2. which I mentioned in my earlier posting, and the flashing was really bad. As a final resort, I did one final test, and used the White v1 profile. Wouldn’t you know it, the print came out perfect, although by now, whatever it was that the first profiles did, they pretty much ruined an area of the PDMS, so I’ll have to re-coat that one.
I’ll be doing a few more tests in the next few days and post my findings here.
FWIW, I too am using an older version of Preform . Mine is 2.10.2. This is the last version before they made changes to the FORM file format, making it incompatible with the old.
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Here is a photo of some of the prints I used for testing:
All these models have had the supports removed, but almost no cleaning was done (removal of the support points, unless otherwise noted.
The servo skull on the left was the first print I tried, and it took almost 8 hours to print using the Grey v3 @ 0.1mm resolution. There was some flashing but considering the complexity, it wasn’t that bad, and everything on the model printed just fine. There are a ton of support point to be cleaned up,
The second one I printed was a little version of Harley Quinn (not shown). The third print was the Harley Quinn in the photo, and she was printed using the Clear v.2 profile @ 0.05mm. It has a lot of flashing between the parts, and even hanging off the final print, but non of it was failed parts, rather just “stray”, cured resin. This model has a whole bunch of contact points that need to cleaned up on the back, and some areas like the hair have rough surfaces.
The Batman bust was the last one I printed. It was once again done at 0.1mm, and I used the White v1 profile. No Flashing of any kind, not crap in the tank, just a clean print. There are some minimal support points on the back, and some underneath, but otherwise it clean.
I primarily posted this image to show the color, which is really close to FL Grey v2.
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It’s very close and looks good. After testing a liter of beige, I found it to be lacking in any form of durability. I printed a Pokemon chess set and while painting, I knocked a pawn off the table (about 2.5’) and it broke into a few pieces. For as soft and bendy as it is, I almost expected it to take a short fall considering the part had no small features to snap off.
I’m going to try to Peopoly and find a mixture close to this grey as it is a great color for photographing and modeling.
Really, I’ve dropped large heavy pieces and they didn’t break. I also dropped a model with fine details like hair strands and feathers and only one feather broke at the stem.
Anyway, I found this to be times over more resilient than anything I had previously tested from FormLabs.
That’s so weird. Perhaps the curing process has to do with it as I have found FL resins to be quite solid. As mentioned, my ALW prints seemed to display traits associated with a more durable resin, but perhaps I’m not curing long enough for my setup. I was using 30watts of 395-405 wavelength UV for about an hour with this resin.
Or maybe you’re over curing it???
I have a home made curing box with about 600 LED’s, which get’s pretty hot inside. I only keep the part in there for about 1/2 hour or less.
This could also be the case. Given their slightly vague exposure time, it was mostly guess work and my assumption I was typically underpowered.
My box has a 16 bulb 20watt lamp on bottom and 16 feet of cheap eBay LED strip around the inside.
I just purchased some black 1/2 gallon K-style plastic Jugs from US-Plastics and also pour spouts. Cost around $18 for two.
This way I can pour an entire liter of beige resin in plus the 1/3 liter black and it gives me mixing room. The bent plastic spout will make it a lot easier pouring into the resin tank. I won’t throw these away but just keep using them adding new resin when they go dry. that’s reason I bought two.
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Glad to see this thread is back up and running. I thought the mix was 3:1 ? did you all say you are doing 2:1 mixes?
I can’t wait for the reset tool to be finished I’ve got some cartridges that are in need of a reset before I can print many more larger parts. I just bought some used cartridges off eBay that are V2’s would be nice if those were working well with the mix. I may try running the 3:1 mix with V2 cartridges just to see. I currently am running the latest firmware FYI.
I have seen some flashing too on my printed parts.
I used a 2:1 mix to achieve that Grey v2 color. However, when I tried to use the Grey v2 profile, the print exhibited a lot of flashing. However when I printed it at White v1 profile, which is the standard profile the the ALW Beige, it worked great.
So based on my experience, I would use White v1 for the mix.
I’m not sure how the Grey v2 cartridges are going to help, unless you reset them and change the chip’s embedded resin profile.
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I use 3-1 mix as that’s what Kevin at AWL told me to use and it works great for me. The V3 profile just purrs along.
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yeah thats what he told me too so thats what I’ve been using
I got you. I never saw the grey v2 color my guess is its a bit darker.
Is this the color you’re getting with a 3:1 mix? That’s almost black.
I would think that mixing 3 part beige to 1 part black should yield a fairly light grey, certainly lighter than what I achieved, more on the lines of the original Grey v1.
It’s hard to mix the resin in that you’re talking about 1.3 liters. I try and mix between three 1 liter bottles but never really get the mix exact. So that color is representative to a bit extra black. It’s a softer grey and much like FL V3. For my products it doesn’t matter as I know they will be painted.
The mixing has been an issue and the reason I bought the 1/2 gallon K-jugs with pour spouts. With one of these I can pour all the proper resin in to it and have plenty of room for it to mix properly. What I do is pour a full liter of the beige in then put that on a postal scale and set the tare weight to zero. Then add 15 ounces of black which is equal to 1/3 a liter.