Hi,
Ive bought a bottle of Fun to do resin F1+ Blend for my Form 1 +.
Is there anything I need to know before pouring it into the vat and start printing?
Is open FL needed to print with this resin?
thx!
FL is unlikely to respond to a question about a 3rd party resin, and Iâm not sure Iâve heard of anyone in the forum mentioning it. Fun to Do is where you should ask this question. If Fun to Do is selling a resin they claim is compatible with the F1+, surely they must have âinstructions for F1+ usersâ someplace on their websiteâŠ
I only got this resin to work with small parts. Use version 1 settings and probably black is the best place to start. Also, use big support points.
Open FL would be the way to go with this resin but I donât have a good place to start yet.
With the standard settings large parts tend to fail because they stick to the PDMS when the material is overcured.
I just started a bottle of FTD1+ Gray in my Form2 printer using Gray2 settings and I am not disappointed with the results. At the moment Iâm adding all resin manually because when I poured it into an empty Formlabs Gray cartridge it mostly âfilledâ a puddle just outside of the resin tank for reasons as yet unknown. Subsequently I get error messages about insufficient resin and I have to manually press âContinueâ twice per print. Research continues. I do think FTD would work okay in Open Mode because it is already far more liquid than even fully-heated Formlabs resin so I think the heater isnât crucial. Right from the bottle itâs only as thick as Irish cream liquer, and heating it sends it almost into milk viscosity. This is a 100-micron print of some really small parts, a 50-micron test is printing now.
One further early observation: Thanks to my wifeâs aromatherapy hobby, I can say with authority that the smell of Formlabs resin is very like essential oil of orange, and really not oppressive at all. FTD has a significantly stronger chemical smell which forms a bitter taste on the tongue if you breathe it too long. Vent well.
Next are a few slightly larger prints at 50 microns using the Form2âs âGray V2â built-in settings and manual resin filling, enduring two confirmations of low resin. First, I mention something new with this resin. On the first print, I thought I did something wrong. But on the second print, I know I didnât:
A large area of resin cures to the build plate, seems about one to two layers thick. Since the FTD resin is thin and differently pigmented, I speculate that if the laser is stronger for the first layer to promote adherence, maybe it scatters throughout the resin. It doesnât seem to affect print quality nor the ease of popping off the finished prints. The large resin area scrapes off easily enough afterwards.
The finished prints after the alcohol bath. Probably due to the thinner nature of the resin, the alcohol dissolves every trace of uncured resin, exposing each layer in extremely sharp detail. It makes me think the thickness of Formlabs resins provides a smoothing/filling âfudge factorâ to anti-alias the stepping effect, either during laser exposure or by not completely dissolving in the alcohol afterwards and then joining with the legitimately-exposed cured resin in the UV post-cure.
Next I might try something big and flimsy, although thatâs not what I usually print so I couldnât compare it to a Formlabs resin equivalent. So, what I get from FTD1+ Resin so far:
- Much thinner than FL. Probably doesnât need heating, but the wiper helps keep it mixed as it settles quickly.
- Smelly. Oppressively so.
- NOT STICKY. Somewhat easier to splash by the clumsy (hi there), but far easier to absorb with paper towels.
- Unforgiving in visible layer detail at shallow angles. Look too quickly and youâll wonder if itâs a filament print. (shorter alcohol baths may help this).
Is it worth it? To me, yes. Itâs half the price, but far more than half the results, which makes it a positive in my book. Itâs not quite Formlabs resin plug-and-play, but with some minor hoop-jumping and jiggling of settings, itâs quite adequate and promising enough for more playing around.
you are getting the same flashing I started getting in the bluecast2 material seems to have started about 2 updates ago
You should check the MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet) for this resin. High smell usually means high âVolatile Organic Compoundsâ. The FL resins are fairly benign. Something thatâs noticeably smellier may not be all that good to breath.
Interesting reading but think you might want to check out the following link to FTD website: http://www.funtodo.net/docs-info.html as you will see from the site the resin was designed for the Form1 and Form1+ and was never tested on a Form2.
The cleaning times are much shorter than FL resin, as it needs an agitated wash rather than a soak and therefore by leaving the part in for longer than needed you may be washing away some of the softer part cured resin causing you to see the resin which is cured at a higher level.
As for the smell I have never noticed it on the F1+ I use, and can only think it must be an issue caused if you heat the resin in the Form2.
As for the flashing on the build platform I have found this to happen since upgrading to a newer version of Preform, and regularly use the F1+ grey at 50 microns in my F1+. I am going to remove the current version of Preform and go back to a earlier one to find out with one works best for me, as I have noticed that the current version will no-longer allow me to print a very small part that it did extremely well before the last upgrade.
Think a read of the FTD site or contact your local FTD distributor for more advice.
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All good input, except for the somewhat obvious one that FTD1+ hasnât been tested on a Form2. Thatâs⊠kind of what weâre doing just now, isnât it? FTD isnât saying not to do it, just that they havenât yet. One of their Korean distros tried it successfully and reported it on the FTD Facebook page. Even FTD just says they see no reason why it shouldnât work, not that it wouldnât. Weâre pioneers, us!
Yup, hence my words âvent wellâ. I mean the rest of you of course. My work involves so many VOCs - acetone, isopropanol, dicloromethane, adhesives, petrol distillates, that my lungs hurt if Iâm away from them for too long. That fresh air stuffâll kill you.
Did anyone tried the castable blend on a Formlab printer?
The castable resin currently available is not designed for the Formlabs printers as its to reactive as you cannot control the exposure times, however I understand that an FL version is being designed.
One thing to think about is that I was part of the official testing team for FTD F1+ resins and have a years worth of experience using it, and know this resin was design for the F1 and F1+ to fill a gap for users who were having trouble purchasing FL resins for their machines.
So use with care in F2âs with no heating of the resin as it does not require it.
Yes, it turns out definitely no heating required on the FTD resin, itâs plenty thin enough as is. And what do you know - no heat equals no smell. In fact, I must begrudgingly admit that itâs been working best in Open Mode, almost as if it was designed to work this way. Oh, wait, it IS. Ah well, I learn eventually. But do stir that FTD resin, thatâs for sure. Shake the bottle before adding. Stir the tray before every print. Stir it at every 100ml pause. It settles faster than my divorce lawyer.
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UPDATE: Since the Form2 firmware upgrade to ârc-1.10.4-49â, FunToDo resin hasnât worked for me at all. I thought it was coincidental timing, but Iâm ruining my second tray now with tests. Iâm still using Open Mode and sending prints configured for Gray V2 resin (except one test in V1 White with no difference) and they all fail with similar strange characteristics:
Originally only the very first layer on the build plate had a âflare-outâ of extra cured resin, but now itâs happening throughout the print at random layers, adding thin strings of material until it clogs the print and fails. On model kits we would call this âflashâ. And even catching the fails asap, itâs still almost always stuck to the PDMS and comes away with chunks of it attached. Additionally to the stringy additions, one side of the print (Near? Far? I didnât think to check) shows a mottled, pitted surface instead of smooth. The closest thing to a good print Iâve gotten is a Marvin, and see for yourself:
Marvinâs 0.05 layer height, if you can believe it, because his âforeheadâ looks like 0.10 or even coarser! But the front is nothing compared to the back, with both the layer âflashâ and the rough surface. Oh, and that tiny bit of missing resin from the loop at the top? Firmly stuck to the PDMS.
All prints were done at various spots around the tray, mostly at 0.10 except Marvin, with thoroughly-stirred resin before every print. Compare with the prints I was getting further up this thread before the FW update, no other variables have changed (on my part) so Iâm at a loss.
UPDATE: I just swapped in the FL Clear resin thatâs been in itâs tray since July, and out popped an immaculate Marvin. So somethingâs definitely new and askew.
I had great success with my testing of Fun To Do resins on my Form 2 in Black and Clear, and limited success with the Grey.
A few months ago Kobus du Toit from http://www.gizmo3dprinters.com.au/ was kind enough to give me a discount for early testing three Fun To Do F1+ resins that he was selling.
I used the violin as a test comparison printed in Formlabs White v1 resin. I printed all the parts at once at half scale to push the limits. All of the pieces printed out perfectly.
Next, I printed the violin in Fun To Do F1+ clear resin. Again, all of the pieces printed out without any flaws.
At first, I was concerned about the apparent yellow/brown tint around the edges of the clear print, but it turned out to be a defused environmental reflection. You can see true tint closer to the build plate.
I then printed the violin in Fun To Do F1+ grey resin, but one of the pieces didnât work. The bits that did work were accurate, but a little dull along the edges.
I printed the failed piece again, along with an extra middle piece, but this time I got strange results on the surface.
I tried it at different resolutions and settings, but I consistently got results like this with the grey:
Although I ran out of grey resin, I realised that the problem might have been that I didnât mix the grey resin properly between prints. I will have to get another bottle to test it out again.
My last test was with the black, and I was very impressed with how sharp the edges came out.
It worked very well in open mode, which saved me time when I used it to print out some animatronic monkeys for an exhibition in Oxford. All of the cheeky devils came out flawless.
I definitely recommend using the black and clear Fun To Do F1+ resins with the Form 2 when you donât need print anything bigger than 100ml, as it is cheaper and a little faster to print because you donât need to wait for it to heat up. (You can still use it for greater print volumes but you have to âun-pauseâ it every 100ml because of the way âOpen Modeâ works.)
If you have any queries on price, availability and delivery times please ask my friend Kobus at info@gizmo3dprinters.com.au.
Seems good! Which settings did you use to print with the black FTD F1 blend? Black or Grey? V2 or 3?
Does it cloud the tank more quickly?
Sorry for the many questions, but need to get new resin for the printer and looking for alternatives.
Thank you
I use this resin quite often, and i have to say that it is a really brittle resin to work with, however, it has to be the cheapest alternative out there.
Also, on my form 1+, i use the Black V1 settings for their black resins.
You might want to have a look at these other alternatives:
- Photocentric
- Madesolid
- Makerjuice
- Spot-A
Cheers
Does anyone noticed that funtodo resin has worse smell than formlabs flexible resin. I did not know anything can be worse than flexible. But someone formula it. Cheap though and the white one work 95% of formlab resin at half the price. If you can take the smell.
I donât really enjoy the idea of a super fragile resin, but might be a needed evil. Can you give me an example where this brittleness that becomes problematic?
For that concerns the others, Makerjuice F1+ and Makesolid are quite hard to find here in UK. Also donât know about Makesolid, but the MJ did not get great reviews, not really even the resin for DLP.
Photocentric is very easy to find here, but looking on other posts, again, not good details plus it is very hard to clean and leave a dry surface. Iâd love to go with them but donât really feel like spending ÂŁ65 for a test considering the reviews around.
Spot-A are in Spain (so relatively close) and are a bit more expensive, reaching for 2/3 of the FL original resin price. Also, to be honest, havenât found any review about them.
Anyone tried the spot-A?
FTD resins maybe smell bad, but luckily I have my printers in my workshop so I guess I could handle that. If they work alright I might give them a shot and would go for the black one.