Form 4B for making eyewear

General Discussion
1

Hello everyone,

I’m an optician and I’m looking for a solution to create custom-made glasses directly in-store using 3D printing.

There’s obviously SLS technology, but I don’t find it suitable for a retail environment, either in terms of ease of use or the cost of the machines, which is difficult to recoup. I’m therefore considering SLA technology. Furthermore, some companies have developed similar solutions for opticians, but with a very closed system and prohibitive costs (approaching the price of SLS).

My questions are as follows:

  • Do you think that with a Form 4B, using BioMed resins, I can obtain viable results for final frames?

  • Formlabs has developed a color kit; can this be used with BioMed resins or any other resin?

The desired (proximity) properties are as follows:

  • Skin biocompatibility
  • Tensile stress at break 55 - 60 MPa
  • Young’s modulus 2100 - 2300 MPa
  • Elongation at break 35 - 40 %
  • Impact resistance 35 J/m
  • HDT at 0,455MPa 72 °C

Thank you in advance for your time and answers.

Have a good day.

1 Like
2

Hi, we produce parts but with nylon SLS. Main issue with resins is durabilty and UV exposure.

Regarding cost, a full frame is around $15 USD of production cost, but if you make them in volume at least 200 units per month.

3

Hi Mario, thanks for your feedback.

I agree with you that SLS technology and nylon are better. But they’re not ideal for a solo optician; I’m not a manufacturer/distributor of glasses.

Furthermore, I disagree with you about the resin. Resins have evolved considerably, and we now have resins with significantly improved durability and UV resistance.

4

Hi! SLS is indeed the recommended technology for final eyewear parts, due to the mentioned concerns of UV stability. Resin printed parts would require a UV-blocking coating in order to be suitable for long-term wear. We published a white paper on 3D printed eyewear that you can check out as a first resource.
When it comes to skin-contact, you can check the level of biocompatibility of our materials in this article.
Feel free to reach out to our team to discuss in detail which solution is right for your application.