Budget UV Cure Box (Jar?)

Yes. If you look at my first post, this is exactly what I did. Wrapped LEDs pointing inward around exterior of plastic jar, then wrapped aluminum foil around the outside of the LEDs, then wrapped the whole thing in Duct Tape to protect it. And yes, when I printed with FL Flexible resin, post cure requires submersion in water, I just filled the jar with tap water. Worked great…

For the Form1 printer, the cleaning containers fit inside the jar perfectly. I did some experimenting with just post-curing with the part in the IPA bath, which actually seemed to work pretty well. Mostly, though, I just toss parts in to the jar, dry, and let them sit overnight and they come out just fine…

Randy,

Thanks for doing the work to create this, I have just finished building one and your instructions were great.

Mike

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Sweet! An almost exact clone! :grinning:

I eschewed the latch, but otherwise mine looks pretty much identical to yours.

I finished mine, just as my first print was underway. I had to wait for the Jar to show up lucky for me that it was delivered the same day as my resin. This was a great idea, I will cure under water with mine since I hear that yields the best results.

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This was an excellent idea!

I didn’t want to spend extra money on a container, so I picked up one of my coworker’s empty twizzler containers and wrapped it with reflective tape we use for timing rotations (with a laser). The result is pretty cool and it seems to work! (maybe not as well as a cylindrical container)

Thanks a bunch for the idea!

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I made a UV curing box with similar design language as my Form 1. I used MDF, solar powered turntable, orange acrylic, car windshield sun shade, and electronic components from etsy.

(PCB UV Exposure Box 6 X 4 | Etsy UK)

Fun Stuff

Nice. You should stack the printer on top of your curing box for maximized artistic effect!

Just one thing, glass absorbs UV light visit here

It doesn’t absorb much UVA and violet light though. It mostly absorbs the shorter wavelengths.

My version: http://www.instructables.com/id/Low-Cost-UV-Curing-Box-for-3D-Resin-Prints/

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Indeed you are correct, researching shows its OK to 380nm and we only need 405nm.

I really like this idea it is very simple and has the advantage of being able to do water curing. One thing to note is that if you use anew acrylic/lexan jar that the plastic is a UV absorber and will cut the UV-VIS light by about half at 405 nm. Glass on the other hand has very good transmission down to about 300 nm. So if you want make power/fastest cure time you want a glass jar. I will be making one of these soon and will post mine.

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Hello,

Small question regarding curing.

Would something like this work as light source : http://www.conrad.ch/ce/fr/product/596957/Lampe-UV-E27-89507005-25-W-175-mm?ref=list
It’s a “black light” bulb for stage lights, could’nt find the wavelength, but on wikipedia (and other sources) it’s said that black light emits more in the 370 nm with a small peak at 405nm. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blacklight

Would that work ?

It would be great because I can find bulb like these even with high wattages (up to 400 w) which sould provide enough (even heat certainly).

@3dvs
A light source that peaks at 370nm will post cure much wuicker than a light sources at 405nm (of the same intensity) using current Formlabs resins. The reason that the Formlabs’ devices use 405nm is probably because of several reasons:
*It is a wavelength that many resin systems will cure at
*405nm led lasers are cheap, much cheaper than UV led lasers (blue laser wavelength, used by many major players in the entertainment industry)
*it is not within the UV bands so no UV scare or hazard warning. But never look into any laser please!

There are two things to consider using a tube as a light source:
*bulky. It will mostly be much larger than the items that are being cured
*after many hours the spectral emmsion pattern and intensity will change, but will still be good for this application.

@mdrm
Thanks,
Main point for looking into tube is that in nearly all threads it’s said that led stripes tend to dim after a while
Having a different wavelength will still cure correctly ?
Most uv nail chambers are also around the 365nm, might try one of these first if the shorter wavelength is not a problem.

@3dvs
all ligh sources dimm after time, high quality LEDs have a know fade rate. Industrial LED light source suppliers that say their LEDs will fade less actually age their LEDs for many hundred hours before, so the fade rate is relatively less at the end customer.
the current curing resin from Formlabs has a wide frequency absorption rate; 405nm is at the one end of the absorption curve. The peak is closer to 365nm (for current Formlabs’ resins)
Most light sorces give a range, where the peak may be eg 380-400nm. Normally the peak falls towards the longer given frequency, in that example more towards 400nm. Better quality suppliers will supply a spectral curve.

@3dvs
my experience with UV tubes is that the fade rate is rather high, a higher rate than LED (keep the LED below 80°C).
That is why tanning saloons change their tubes every so often.

Thanks @mdrm for the infos!

3dvs I bought this https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B018C71QHI/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

UV curing light, it works well, but it takes a few hours. Just remenber to remove the glass lens from the light before you use it. The glass retards the UV. The light was $50 bucks and I bought a cheap metal filing cabinet, cut a hole in the top, and mounted the ligth with a safety switch at the drawer that cuts off the light when you open the drawer.

Thanks @alasci for the link, will check!