I’m pretty much sold on the Formlabs ecosystem. I’ve had a full Form 4 kit in my cart for weeks, now. However, the small build plate continues to give me pause. I will be using it for in-house production, so it’s obviously pretty limiting. Therefore, I’ve been seriously considering the 4L, instead, but there is no way I can justify the Wash L and Cure L. They cost more than the printer, itself, which is already stretching my development budget beyond expectations, as it would also involve an additional $1300+ for each additional resin I need ($400 vat/mixer, $350 resin pump, $700 resin - 5L bottles, of course, for the lowest cost, and I’d like enough to get me through more than a couple prints).
Therefore, I’m considering purchasing the 4L without the Wash L and Cure L. The Form Wash is a super nifty machine (L or otherwise), but a wash is a wash, really. For the cure station, I feel I can DIY a nice, large cure box with heat and apply the same process as the Cure L. I get that the end-to-end workflow Formlabs equipment provides is part of the benefit of their system, but damn.
Is anyone else using the Form 4 or 4L without the Formlabs wash/cure stations or otherwise have any thoughts on the prospect?
There are some 4L owners here that will chime in, however I’ve had the Form 4, along with the Cure v2 and wash v2 for almost a year now and would not want to use any other ecosystem. My work area stays incredible clean. I do mostly prototype prints and some low volume production. I’d say I’ve gone through maybe 30L of resin over the last year (I’m guessing). There are some users that go through double that in a month.
I just cleaned and swapped out my IPA from the wash 2, and it was a very easy process. If it were me, knowing what the ecosystem looks like, I would purchase the Wash and Cure L. Interested to see what owners have to say.
I did this for a very long time. Bought a 3rd party curing station and retrofitted it with a heater inside. Also used (and continue to use) the manual wash station the 3L and 4L came with.
I now have a V1 Cure L though, as I nabbed a used Form 4L for very cheap and it came with that…but I continue to use the manual wash bucket for similar reasons (don’t want to drop $$$ on the Wash L).
Before investing heavily in the Formlabs ecosystem, I would encourage you to ask a fundamental engineering question: does scratch resistance matter for your end-use application?
We purchased a complete Form 4 system and, from a printing standpoint, the machine itself has been outstanding. The Form 4 consistently produces highly accurate, professional-grade parts with excellent surface finish and dimensional consistency.
Our challenges have been material-related rather than printer-related. We have tested Black Resin V5, Color Resin V5, and Tough 2000 V2, and all have exhibited a similar issue: the finished parts scratch very easily, leaving permanent visible marks. Despite extensive troubleshooting and discussions with Formlabs support and other experienced users, we have not yet found a reliable solution that eliminates the problem.
That said, application and part geometry may play a significant role. If you are producing larger components where minor surface blemishes are less noticeable, this may not be a concern. However, for smaller handheld products that are frequently touched, handled, or carried, scratch resistance can become a critical factor in perceived quality and long-term appearance.
The Form 4 hardware is excellent. My recommendation is simply to evaluate the mechanical and cosmetic requirements of your final product before committing substantial resources to the ecosystem, especially if surface durability is important to your application.
I do both! I have a 4L, Form wash L, and cure L. I also use just the basic rinse kit for washing Alumina parts. I would take a look at how many parts you are going to be processing. Fortunately, the Alumina is only a 3 minute wash and I dont make many alumina parts so for that use case it works out. I do thoroughly enjoy all the formlabs equipment though.
The company I work at recently got a 4L, Wash L, and Cure L. I have been working with them, and so far I found that the 4L is pretty great as it can make some pretty massive parts as well as a bunch of tiny ones.
The Wash L takes a lot of IPA (or whatever solvent you are planning to use), and there’s a pretty obvious smell when it opens up. It is nice that it cleans them by itself, and does so with the lid down, which reduces the time it’s open to the air.
If you can make a good cure box, then that should be fine, though it is really nice to be able to pop your parts in when they’re dry and click a button and not have to worry about it.
I think it mainly depends on how many parts you’ll be making. If you’re making enough parts to justify the wash, go for it, it is a good machine.