I’m brand new to the 3d printing world! I’m very excited that this sort of technology is available. The form 1+ looks like an awesome machine and I am considering it as my number 1 choice so far. When I was first introduced to 3d printing I though it would be best for prototyping. But looking at the forum 1+ seems like it may have some potential to also produce finished goods for resale. Just not sure if it would be cost effective. Are there a lot of people out there who produce goods for resale with these machines?
I was looking at the “resolution” of the forum 1+ and it states that it can produce a point as small as 300 microns. Is that the finest point available in the 3d printing world? Or is that the bar for desktop models? I understand that 300 is already very tiny, but what is the likelihood of the next version of forum producing a finer point? Say in the 50-100 micron range? Or am I pipe dreaming? Thanks for any advice.
It’s a nice printer, but you will want to make one part, then do low volume production with silicone molds and liquid plastic.
Parts printed on the Form1+ can be very nice if you have a clean mirror system, a new resin tank, and fresh resin. But there is a lot of time that goes into cleaning up a part that has an adhesive texture. Then a lot more time waiting for it to harden in the sun. Then a lot more time and effort into sanding it if you want an excellent surface. Then clear-coat to protect against over-curing and cracking.
You could find smaller feature size but there is a reason why formlabs chose 300 microns ( i guess )
Because if you have a smaller laser spot size it will take more time to print your job as the laser will have to do more paths to cure the resin. I think it’s a good compromise between quality and speed.
And printers which have a smaller feature size, generally have a smaller build area,
Keep in mind that it’s “only” the feature size, that mean you can have smaller details in your print.
To explain it differently, let say you have a pencil, if you make a dot it will be 300 microns but if you begin to draw a line you will be able to produce variations smaller than 300 micron during the flow of movement.
