Form 3 Unboxing and First Impressions!

#80

@da40flyer, I suppose I can expect to get a similar email from Formlabs next week. Kind of interesting that none of the 3 different printers currently offered by Formlabs are shipping…

#81

Hey there!

Open Mode is absolutely coming but nothing to talk about at this time. More details coming soon. :slight_smile:

Form 3 Resin Availability Update
#82

Thats good to know - any idea of how long before its likely to be implemented?

#83

That’s good to know. Does “similar in scope” mean that Castable Wax will not be available as print profile, as seen in How open is open mode on Form 2??

#84

Do the contact points look identical when you view them in the slicer? Do you think the tips are smaller because the support structures are printed “more accurately”, or do you think there’s some software/firmware trick going on?

Ah, I was concerned about artifacts stepping might produce. I assume those are the less dense lines seen on the sphere, perpendicular to the layer lines. Hard to tell, but it looks like the shifting isn’t exactly uniform - is that correct? Does it occur on other layer heights as well (or to varying degrees)? The lines look pretty feint - any estimate on how proud the “worst case” steps are?

That’s another question I posed before buying. Could you elaborate on your experience so far removing failed prints? Is it tough to do without damaging the flexible membrane? Is the software patch to union failure areas out yet (or do you think it will help when it is)?

#85

The supports look the same in Preform. I don’t want to speculate too much on why they came out smaller until I have more experience with the printer.

#86

We have done a small comparison video from the Form2 to the Form3 if you want to check it out here.

#87

Good demo but comes across like the same videos Formlabs puts out to sell the form 3 product & not a actual end user review. I follow this discussion for REAL end users reviews of the form 3.

#88

Not even seeing many write ups… much less videos? Why is everyone too quiet?

#89

100% agree. Such a large product and not one big media review that I’ve seen. That’s pathetic at best.

#90

Como dice Mouriño, porque…?
Porque aun no hemos visto ningun video real de la f3 trabajando???

#91

Well I guess the reviews speak for them self’s lol.

#92

Not sure if folks seen one of the first reviews, from Make Magazine.

#93

Have seen this review and it is a great one. Sadly it is one of very few that shows a fairly comprehensive view of the new printer. Sadly this needs to be in the hands of more industry professionals to get the word out and for sure more consumers so they can get to printing.

#94

This is a decent review but again, its just a feature review of all the things we already know. I would like to see a review from a actual daily user of the form 3 machine producing parts and would be even better if that user came from using a form 2 printing daily. Giving the machine to a user just because of followers to get views is… to me at least… not a good review. They just highlight all the bells and whistles & do not know the frustrations of printing with previous versions of the machine & how this version is actually better. I’m sure as soon as people actually receive there form 3 …we will see some good real end users reviews with notable comparisons between the 2 machines.

#95

@dave55rc agreed - only value in that review is for people who’re not familiar with Formlabs. There’s no information besides what’s already in the sales brochures.

#96

have a little patience-
how many of you got great results from the get go with your first printer?
Being a new device- I read several folks saying they had some issues that it took some time and support to clear up.
Another saying that after the first firmware update that its running much better.

Formlabs is obviously trying to rely on the early adopters to help trouble shoot potential issues that will only become visible when Lots of different individual are trying to set the thing up and get it running.

And frankly- I don’t really care about ANY review from someone who’s had the thing a month.

I will wait for reviews of its operation over a year. I need more than slightly better prints in the first few weeks of ownership… I need long term reliability.

I am happy, however to see the new design is clearly aimed at eliminating the need to ship printers to Formlabs for repair. I am sure servicing Form 2s has been a major loss leader for Formlabs. User replaceable optics units is a huge improvement- most of us who make stuff are handy enough to swap a module.

#97

How many of you had a Maserati as your first car?

#98

Can you explain the maserati analogy? Maybe I have it wrong, but the Form 3 is hardly a maserati if that is what you mean. At best it is a Lexus. Maybe even just a top of line package to a base Corolla. Not an insult to the Form 3, but a real SLA system (maserati) is $100k.

#99

Fair enough, but my point is that for most folks, their first 3D printer is not a Form, it’s a cheap FDM model. We can and should expect more from something more expensive.