I just wanted to share what I have learned. Hopefully this helps someone else who is looking to customize the colors of the prints from their Form2
I wanted a resin with similar properties to the Formlabs standard clear and grey resins, but I wanted a blue color. I was pointed in the direction of Resin Obession’s resin dyes. I mixed the blue dye into a full clear Formlabs resin tank, at a ratio of 1.5g of dye to 1000g of resin.
I set up and printed with the dyed resin on my Form2 and used the standard Formlabs clear as the selected material. (I’m sure open mode would be “recommend” but this works great for me.)
The finished product comes out a nice light blue color. It has the same great detailed finish I would expect from the clear or grey resins I’ve used on the Form2. It also has the same durability and hardness of the Formlabs standard resins.
Below are some pictures of parts I have printed with the blue. Not the best pictures but it gets the point across.
This is great! I had asked FL for a source for dyes. I got crickets so I used RIT dye. It worked but only in clear resin.
I am going to pick some of these up and play around with more color.
Thank you for sharing!
-David
I think the very concentrated and opaque dyes are those that can work. Because very little of substance is added to the resin … but it is only an opinion. I’ll check it soon.
Sonia, I haven’t tried any of them…but am eager to hear what you come up with.
I do know some studio jewelers that use the Resin Obsession stuff and like it, but they are doing such tiny stuff. Don’t know.
I wonder if real dye would work, I use the Procion, which is what professional dyers use, but I’ve only used it on silk and cotton:), works to make alcohol ink colors too. … but check it out, Dharma Traders has the whole line, super concentrated stuff. If you have a Plaza Arts or a Dick Blick near you, some of them carry it. I’m just throwing stuff out here…
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It looks amazing! If more people can confirm this technique working for them I could buy multiple clear resin cartridges and dye them with the same mentioned ratios to have my own library of colored resins.
These are the results with opaque dyes: “SO-Strong smooth-on”
I used a few drops of white and red. The red stains really well. White decanted into the tank, and is a problem.
I think it’s best to avoid white dye and some cases, used white resin formlabs as a base for dyes.
With these dyes, has worsened adhesion of the resin to the metal base. But it is possible to work with it
I have measured in small drops, 4 drops of white and two drops of skin color, for a tank of form2. In the second printing Add two drops of red.
Thank you for your information!
Are there blank empty cartridges available for the Form2? Might be a good feature request.
I would think it would be easier and more accurate to mix in a cartridge rather than a tank.
You guys should make a chart of exposure and mix combos if you want others to try.
We used a new (full) clear resin Cartridge to mix the blue. I measured the weight of a couple empties we have and measured the full tank to get an estimated weight of resin in the new cartridge. I then used a fresh tank for the blue color.
Tried this and worked great, used the link to amazon to buy. Yes it is just 1.5 gram for 1000ml of clear V2. Post print testing will reveal any problems. Used Clear V2 settings. Thanks to OP.
Updating this thread with Color Kit, a new option for creating colored resins on the Form 2. Color Kit includes a Color Base material that can be mixed with 5 pigments to create uniformly colored prints with high detail and surface finish.
The Cyan, Yellow, Magenta, Black, and White pigments allow you to create an infinite number of color options. We’ve included 16 calculated blends and a web tool that allows you to determine the ratios needed for your specific color. Both the Color Base material and pigments are available for purchase individually and you can check them out here.
