Having had mixed results in the past I’m happy to say I’ve finally found the best settings on my Form1+ for the type of printing I do. This isn’t the best photo as I’m in the process of cleaning up my work area but it does show the results I"m getting. There is some reflection on the parts so they show the layering more than is evident on the surfaces.
These are HO and S scale US Postal Collection boxes see all over the country. There is more detail in the actual prints than what the photo is showing. What I’ve found in printing such small parts is this:
I only use a plastic spatula in the resin tray,never a metal one and only drag it across the bottom. I only push it if there is something stuck on the bottom. I mix in multiple directions and do this every time I add or start a new print.
I only use Grey FLGPGR02 as parts printed are used for masters for RTV molds. No need for color and Grey holds good details.
Layering is set to .025mm the finest this machine will do. It does extend the print time but it’s worth it. The photo shows two printings which each took 3hrs 4 min. There were six of each box per print.
base set to 2, Density to 1 and point size to .40mm
I orientate parts so that the surface with the least detail is the one that gets the most supports.
I edit the supports to the least needed. The small boxes only needed 5 supports and printed without an problems.
I do a quick wash through two tanks of alcohol trying to get the best flow across the parts to wash off as much excess resin as I can. I put the holder to the bottom and pull up fast. Pushing down fast will sent small parts flying everywhere.
I put the parts on a paper towel and let the alcohol drain a bit then take them to a sink and wash each part in hot water. I then blow dry, with mouth, to get the large water bubbles off and then use Q tips to clean off all other water. These are then let dry.
I use a special tweezers made for cut the sprues on molded plastic parts.
If you want to improve curing, after rinsing in water put them in a container of water and put in your light source for curing (sunlight or curing box)
The water keeps the air away since oxygen prevents the resin from curing. After that, you don’t need to dry it by hand, just take the prints out of the water and let dry.
Looks good Georg. N scale is too small for me. Fact is I’m starting to have issues with HO. But, I was told the other day I have cataracts so in July that will be taken care of. I just did a test print last night of some electrical pieces in O scale and a pole transformer in HO. They came out but the supports caused issues. Thought I had placed them well and eliminated many but it’s almost like Preform put some back in. Took 7+ hours for that run.
Yes, after rinsing fully in IPA you rinse in water, and then put it into a container of water immediately–before turning on the lights. Otherwise the places where the water is on the print will start curing before the rest of the print and you’ll get spots on the print.
Zachary, In water is solved a lot of qxygen (Fishes lives in water ;-)). If You want to prevent surface of polymer against layer of oxygen inhibiting put it into glycerin not water
Sure, there’s oxygen in water, but it’s not really an issue. For example, if you have droplets of water on the print and you expose it to light it will start to cure underneath those drops very quickly which indicates that the water helps it just fine. You don’t need to leave it in water long, a few minutes is fine just to cure the outside. The rest of it doesn’t need water to cure.
