I am (reluctantly) keen to try Tough 1500 V2 resin in some attempt to redeem my Form4 printer. To date, I have not really been able to use it much due to sub-par print quality (endlessly discussed in previous threads) and then Standard Resin being too brittle really for enclosures.
The Tough 1500 V2 looks promising despite the cost, but my concern is that if I was not able to get decent prints from Standard V5 resin, I doubt that I will have an easier time printing with Engineering resin. Disclaimer: I have no basis really to make this assumption other than my experience so far and on FDM where materials like Nylon, CPE ect. was way more challenging to print with than eg. PLA
Does anyone have experience writing with Tough 1500 v2??
Hi @Friedl_1977, I’ll let the community chime in on their Tough 1500 v2 experiences but did want to share two things:
Tough 1500 v2 Printing ease: the process itself is straight forward, no additional effort should be involved (besides post-curing of course).
Brittleness. We’re sorry you’ve had trouble with this for standard resins. Tough 1500 v2 is definitely a material solution if your looking for less brittle parts. Let’s compare for a reference:
Material Properties Comparison Grey Resin v4 vs Tough 1500 v2
Property
Description
Grey Resin V4
Tough 1500 Resin V2
Ultimate Tensile Strength
Maximum pulling force the material can withstand before breaking.
65 MPa
34 MPa
Tensile Modulus
Measures stiffness when the material is stretched; higher values mean less flexibility.
2.8 GPa
1.46 GPa
Flexural Modulus
Measures stiffness when the material is bent; higher values indicate more rigidity.
2.2 GPa
1.37 GPa
Notched Izod Impact Strength
Resistance to impact or sudden force; higher values mean better toughness.
25 J/m
42 J/m
Elongation at Break
How much the material can stretch before it breaks.
6%
155%
Heat Deflection Temp @ 1.8 MPa
Temperature at which the material softens under a heavy load.
58 °C
53 °C
Heat Deflection Temp @ 0.45 MPa
Temperature at which the material softens under a light load.
73 °C
66 °C
Two properties to focus on for brittleness are:
1. Elongation at Break
What it tells you: How much a material can stretch before breaking
Why it matters:
Low elongation = brittle (breaks quickly with little deformation)
High elongation = ductile/flexible (bends or stretches before breaking)
Values in your comparison:
Grey Resin V4: 6% → Can be brittle
Tough 1500 V2: 155% → Not brittle
2. Notched Izod Impact Strength
What it tells you: How well the material absorbs impact before cracking or shattering.
Why it matters:
Low impact strength = brittle (cracks easily under sudden force)
High impact strength = tough (resists breaking under impact)
Values in your comparison:
Grey Resin V4: 25 J/m → Moderate brittleness
Tough 1500 V2: 42 J/m → Significantly more impact-resistant
Anecdotally, Tough 1500 v2 is one of the most popular materials internally among Formlabs employees based on its capabilities that just far surpass what our old Tough 1500 or other materials could do for impact resistance. Some examples in case you missed it.
Thank you for the feedback. I bought some Tough 1500 V2 from the local agents today and will do some prints as soon as I receive it.
I have never really been able to get going with this printer due to severe layer lines, warping and dimensional inaccuracies when printing enclosures. @Shiden assisted me at some point and even though we did get some fairly decent parts printed, it was no where near where I was comfortable selling it to clients.
I could never really pinpoint whether there actually was a problem on my machine or whether it was just not good at printing flat surfaces with perpendicular sides, but it was like this from the day that I bought it. Also had the hinges fail shortly after I bought it, so maybe I did get a defective machine
I will let you know how the prints turn out. I bought a flexible build plate, so can print directly on the platform now. I will need to dial in the settings to avoid elephants foot, but will start with the same ones I have for V5.
I do a lot of flat plates and similar “boxy” enclosures. Printing directly on the build platform and proper supporting of other surfaces is really important, so hopefully that will help you out some. There is some slop in dimensional accuracy in general for all 3D printed methods compared to conventional machining or injection molding methods. Formlabs has a few design guides and white papers that may be helpful for that aspect on designing snap fits, hinges etc (@verdugod). @leonhart88 has also done some great work into looking at part warping with standard rinse and cure procedures vs. dehydration or extended waits post wash that improve part warping which could help you out.
As for the hinges, I had a similar issue on ours with the damper that allows for soft close. It was an issue found with early units and FL support provided new parts under warranty for me. Severe layer lines, I would make sure that your build platform isn’t shifting during the print. With the latch closed there should be zero play in the platform.
Thank you for your comprehensive feedback. Unfortunately most of what you describe is what we have tried to resolve during liters and liters of resin spent testing. The bottom line, parts that adhere to the supports (closest the build platform) simply do not square up with the other sides. Sometime this is not very noticeable until you need to match it with another part and they do not fit.
As a last ditch effort I bought the flex platform to make printing on the platform easier. This helps a lot yes, I just need to dial in the settings to completely get rid of the compresses early layers. I won’t get into these issues too much here as I feel I have exhaustively mentioned it in other threads, but here are some images to show what I mean…
I can’t see layers in the first image, but if I had to guess it was printed in nearly the orientation you are holding it? If so, there may have been a large enough change in printed area on that layer that the layer is contracting a lot causing issues. Like you said I typically notice issues on the supported side as well. I’ve also tried cranking up the support density (like 1.25 - 1.3 autofill) while reducing touchpoint size ~20-30% and had some luck with that as well.
My apologies… the first image was to show the warping on the one side. As you can see the left of that image is flat on the cover and then it pulls upwards as you move to the right of the image with about a 3mm gap at the right end. So this is a 3mm upwards warp over ~120mm
Ah I see it now. That’s pretty substantial shift. I’m surprised it formed at all with that much deviation. Any shot you could share the job file that shows the printed orientation and supporting?
Here’s a long-winded video on how I’ve (mostly) solved this problem. Incidentally, my Tough 1500 v2 got here while I was reading this post, and I got it for the same reason. I’ll let you know how it goes.
I will be printing directly on the build platform to give it (in my humble opinion), the best chance of succeeding. I have designed in enough breathing holes to make sure there are no cups forming.
Here is a link to another thread… It does not include that particular part but there a quite a bit of discussion in terms of parts warping despite of extensive supports and multiple different orientation.
By far my best success is printing perpendicular and on the platform… but even then with some larger flaws parts there has been some degree of warping. Most of the time this will probably not be an issue, but if you have enclosures and the lid pulls away and leaves an opening, it is very obvious all of a sudden
Do you have early layer settings maybe for printing directly on the platform with Tough 1500 V2? I have settings that is ok for V5 (not perfect though) but bot sure I can use the same for Tough Resin?
Your video makes a lot of sense indeed. I have seen the marks where there seems to be some obvious transition.
My part you have in the video actually prints best in an orientation similar to your part. Using 100u layer height, I tilted it 45deg which seems to yield the best results. Saw a video online where some clever guy used the pixel size and calculated the best tilt angle based on the layer height and pixel size.
I then got the idea of printing it directly on the platform. This initially had the major issue of elephant’s foot at the base, but I have mostly eliminated that by adjusting the early layer settings. There is still a very visible line around the perimeter exactly where the base end and the walls only section start, see the image below in case I am not clear.
After could have layers the visible ring stops and the print proceeds just fine. Printing both the base and the lid in this orientation at least ensures they fit and snap in place.
Eager to know your results on the Tough 1500 V2… I will post my findings tomorrow as soon as mine arrives.
I also print on the bed whenever possible, The factor that rules it out for some parts is large horizontal features, like “roofs” or "shelves. Not only do you need a lot of support, but the abrupt change in cross-sectional area leaves a witness ring on the outside of the part, and a slight reduction in dimensional accuracy for the thickness of the roof or shelf.
We recently discovered a lot of pooling around supports during cure on some White V5 resin prints. We mitigated this by setting the prints on a tray that was slightly elevated on one end and letting them completely dry after wash. Then curing without heat.
Printing with White V5 directly on the build plate, I still have some “whiteness rings” yes… here is an example of some prints I tried yesterday. These were printed flat on the platform but you can clearly see where this part transitions from the base (actually the roof but printed upside down) to the walls only section. You can clearly see se line running through the text.
In the one photo I marked what I observe.
GREEN CURVED LINE - This is the section where the “lid” is printed directly on the platform. No sure of the peel forces are also resposible for this curve?
RED LINE - This is the walls-only section and prints just fine.
EDIT: *Ok…finally got it working. It seems it happened because the printer “forgot” to fill the tank first and immediately wanted to start printing. Unless I had to do something to fill it first, can remember, it’s been a while since I last required a new tank. *
Printing at 50u with full raft and 100% support… Seems very slow in the beginning, will see how it goes.
Ok, got my V2 Tough 1500 and was very eager to get going. Inserted new tank, new mixer and brand new resin. Cleaned the build plates and my Form Wash to make sure I give this print the best chance at succeeding.
Updated Preform, opened the part and then hit print only to encounter “debris detected” error. Tried different build platform, same error. Tried removing the tank, making sure everything is clean but no luck. It barely starts moving the mixer and immediately gives the error.
So the price of a small printer later, and I cannot get a print going
I’ve had this issue pop up a few times recently with Elastic resin when the resin isn’t heated. Not sure if it was a recent firmware update or what but I’ve just ignored the warning and continued several times now with no issues. Actually make sure there isn’t debris first either way though.
How did I not see this video, let me me watch it 
