Formlabs Form 2 Galvo Speed

General Discussion
1

What is the speed on the formlabs form 2 galvos? The form 1 was supposed to be 20 kpps, but what are the form 2’s since they are custom now?

2

I would think if anyone could answer your question it would be @BenFrantzDale (sorry to put you on the spot if you don’t know Ben!)

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What is the kpps for the form2?

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(mod comment: I merged your two topics on galvo speed)

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My understanding of the “kpps” measure is that it isn’t as useful for SLA as it is for laser lightshows; we don’t measure it. We don’t need persistence of vision but we do need pointing precision, which kpps doesn’t really measure. I’m afraid we don’t publicize that aspect of the Form 2 specs. I can tell you that Form 1+ does its model fill at 1550 mm/s at 62 mW for Clear v2 with a line spacing of 90 µm, so the resin cures sufficiently for 100 µm layers with 44.4 mJ/cm^2 of exposure. You can see that whole Form 1+ file here: https://github.com/Formlabs/OpenFL/blob/master/Form_1%2B_FLGPCL02_100.ini

You are correct. The Form 2 has a Formlabs-designed digital galvo controller whereas the Form 1+ has an analog controller.

@vincentsiu8899, why are you interested?

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@BenFrantzDale I’m actually doing an independent study about Stereolithography at my high school, and for my project, I wanted to try to build a stereolithography machine to see if I could get anything that could resemble the quality of prints that the form 2 can produce. That’s actually one of the reasons I ordered the form 2, actually just a few days ago, to try to do comparisons and visually observe the process. I was just wondering what kind of galvos I would need to order for this project to start, since I was hoping to use a 405nm 250mW laser similar to the form 2.

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That sounds like an ambitious project!

The Form 2 galvos are fully custom, designed and built by us, so you can’t buy them off the shelf. The controller is also fully custom hardware / firmware.

However, as folks documented on the Unofficial Form 1 Wiki, the Form 1 used off-the-shelf galvonometers. This may be a better starting point for your project.

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