I think the video will be released shortly, but in the meantime if you couldn’t attend, here are a few highlights from today’s webinar.
Adam did a great job explaining the flexible film and revised print process (Low Force Stereolithography):
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Some more notes from the presentation…
Form 3 allows 0.3mm - 0.4mm touchpoint diameters (looks like they’ve fulfilled the vision pitched in the original Kickstarter video for part removal that’s like “peeling off velcro”)
Added a weight sensor to the cartridge carriage so the machine knows exactly how much resin remains and whether you have enough to complete the print (less false warnings)
Light Processing Unit is easily replaced with 3 simple screws, and will self-calibrate itself to the machine.
Apparently the machine will sense dust on the optics and let you know they need to be cleaned
The flexible tray film is bi-layer (easy-release on top, more robust layer below), doesn’t cloud and lasts longer than Standard or LT tanks. They’re priced at $150.
New cleaning mesh feature speeds up cleanup after print failure - it unions together all potential failure areas of a print, the idea being you can just grab and scoop out one chunk all at once
The software does anti-aliasing in X, Y and Z to better blend layer lines.
Spatial filter corrects for variances in laser spot. (One of the longest-running threads in the history of the forums a few years back investigated issues with “laser flare” or suboptimal laser spots. Looks like Formlabs set out in the new model to solve that for good)
They’re still working on biocompatibility validation for the Form 3 (i.e. dental)
If you take advantage of the extra cm height, you need to remove the print from the Build Platform to fit it into the Form Wash.
They strongly hinted additional new materials are forthcoming, and that the upgraded resin level sensor removes some of the constraints from the perspective of the material guys
Demonstration confirms the printer survives a trip over its power cord and attempts to insert tray backward
There was such a slide and it showed that as the build platform rises the film can peel at the edges first. I am thinking that the printer control algorithm will move the build platform up high enough that it is assured that the peel will initiate and then slowly move up till it has completely pealed. This is how it gets to a very low force. Even with a print layer area as big as the build platform itself, it can just peel away.
@rkagerer the platform rise was shown in the short animation which followed.
I did a small GIF.
I was hoping for a continuous system for the peeling and not again, the rise of the build platform for each layer.
In the announcement videos, they mentioned an increase of speed, I was also hoping an answer on this particular point; how much faster is the Form3 compared to the Form2?
But on the paper, this Form3 looks really amazing and brings a lot of important enhancements and changes. This parabolic mirror for a laser spot size is the same everywhere is great, without mentioning this 85-micron laser with a 25 micron XY resolution…
For ZBrush artist like me who is always looking into fine details, I’m sold!
@fantasy2: Just a guess, but the difference could be that because of the roller action, the film doesn’t have to be under high tension for the part to be pressed against the surface, enabling the film to flex which makes possible a sequential peeling process, rather than more or less “all at once” peeling like the current solution with the Form 2 or with a highly tensioned FEP film.
I see a difference between this system and regular FEP films in LCD/DLP SLA printers: this one is flexible and when the peeling is processed, it’s done progressively from the sides to center (considering the whole build platform has been printed) and not with a high tension like regular FEP which has a high tension.
I see more a peeling which is similar to a strip of tape that you unpeel progressively from a plastic surface.
Any plans on adding the Remote printing capabilities that were announced on Form 3 to the Form 2? It seems to me at the moment that it’s very arbitrary and all that would need to change is removing the “click the physical button on the printer” thing that currently happens in the Form 2, and of course “start printing” somewhere on the Dashboard.
Remote Printing would be an awesome feature to have on Form 2.
What struck me most in this presentation was $160.00 to replace the film.
You need to throw away you entire tank to do it. Gee I wonder what that design
decison was based on. Can’t admire that.
