Form 1's vibration tolerance

Support & Troubleshooting
1

How stable does the surface on which my Form 1 rests, really need to be?

I have three concerns:

  1. At the moment, I don’t have a proper table with space in my lab, so I’ve got it set up on a temporary folding table from Costco. It’s not exactly the most sturdy thing ever. It moves noticeably if I brush up against it, or am working with anything on top of it. How much are these macro-scale vibrations (i.e. visible swaying side-to-side, at small magnitudes) likely to affect my print?
  2. I’m a fan of loud music. My lab is next to my living room, which has some unreasonably powerful subwoofers; and I even have a small sub *in* the lab, when I’m working for long periods and want to listen while I do. (My computer desk is in the lab.) Are these micro-vibrations a problem for the laser’s galvanometers? Should I be shutting the bump off for the fifteen hours of my print? :stuck_out_tongue:
  3. Finally, I have a CNC router coming in (another Kickstarter, the Othermill. Looks like a friendly little device.), which, clearly, is also going to generate a lot of vibrations. At the moment, with the limited space left in my lab, I was planning to co-host these two on a single “forming” desk, once I get rid of this folding table. Am I likely to be able to run the router, which I expect to generate some level of vibrations, simultaneously with a printing job?
1 Like
2

I’d be more concerned about 2 and 3 than 1.  The Form1 seems pretty rigid, but any vibration/movement relative to the optics and the print surface (this includes the laser, mirror, galvos, etc.) will cause issues.

I definitely would not run a mill on the same surface as the Form1.  You would want to isolate the Form1 as much as you could.

3

Personally we run our Form1 and the 3D printers next to it on anti-vibration pads. Not sure if this matters, but we figured that eliminating every opportunity for error is critical in our view.

4

Hi Elliott,

The Form 1 is sensitive to bumps and jolts while printing but I don’t believe you should be too worried about the situations you’re talking about.

  1. A folding table should be fine as long as the printer isn’t jolted or bumped while printing.

  2. Although I can’t say we’ve done explicit subwoofer vibration tests, I my inclination is to say that as long as the printer isn’t sitting right on or next to the subwoofer, it should be fine in the same room.

  3. The CNC I am a little nervous about but it’s difficult for me to say without knowing exactly what your setup will be. If it’s a tabletop CNC, I think a sturdy table would be enough to hold the Form 1 steady.