I think in the case of build volume and model size, more volume is better, but, and this is only my experience, quite often I will break a model up because it minimises support points on the surface detail, and the joints are easily hidden (most of the time!)
Remember that pretty much everything scales upwards with machine size: cost, weight, complexity, etc. For the majority of our users (and this includes employees at Formlabs, you can be sure we print a ton of stuff, big and small on our machines), we have found that the benefits of the small footprint outweigh having a huge build area. By keeping this technology smaller and more affordable, we enable many people who to access stereolithography.
Having a big orange and grey printer would look pretty cool, someday!
-Aaron
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5.7"x11.4" is not what I would call huge… or as complex as the new features that were added. I would call it industry leading.
For me and probably many users, we have a print with a particular size we need to maintain. So fitting it into the printer bed is challenging. When FormLabs chooses something to print, they probably search for what will fit nice in the printer. The first challenge is harder to overcome.
@Carter_West Have you seen our tech specs page? That might provide a lot of the information you are looking for!
http://formlabs.com/products/3d-printers/tech-specs/
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Why recommend you in the Form1+ Tech Specs. “Operating Temperature Suggested 18–28° C”
If the resin works better in 35° C
I have not used my printer in this summer because the room temperature was above 28° C , during the daytime.
I suppose the future resin is optimized for 35° C / Form 2 ?
Ole
I would be concerned that at 35 degrees in Form1, the pigment will settle fast as the viscosity will be low. This doesn’t matter to the Form2, as it has a wiper.
Some random thoughts about the Form 2 and discussions.
For Joshk - I have great doubts a Da Vinci 1.0 or ANY filament machine has the resolution of the Form printers.
My earlier comments about me wanting footprint are still true. But don’t confuse as a big complaint. I have had my Form1 for almost a year now. I can “tongue in cheek” compare it to my 4 dachshunds that pretty much do NOTHING on command. We know what to expect from each other. I have had enough experience with my Form1 to know what OUR limits are and have become accepting and comfortable of each other. For my model railroad use it cannot print almost any complete car, but I am big on needing very custom parts. Form1 to the rescue many times over.
Even with the increased reliability of the Form2 without significantly bigger footprint I can’t justify a new purchase. Get in the 10 x 10 footprint range and I will be scarily tempted even if it was $5000.00ish.
Some here have tried other brands of goop in their Form1. I have not and stuck to using the real thing. The $150.00 a bottle IS GETTING OLD though. How about buy 10 get 1 free? I have to be close to that by now! The Form2 seems to have proprietary cartridges. How to they compare operating costs? My CubePro Trio had expensive proprietary filament cartridges which was a major factor in SELLING it.
Bill
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You’re right it’s not the same. During both printing and post-curing the Form1+ prints are able to radius both the lows and the highs created by layer lines. Vapor polishing is similar, but harsher. And of course the laser is more precise to start with.
Totally, I would pay 5K for a Form2 with a 10x10 footprint for sure because you’re right, it just does things the other tech can’t.
Can someone from FormLabs post photos of the new resin tanks and clarify a few things?
I’m very elated at the creative idea of the resin cartridges. So much that I am considering selling my resins and buying all cartridges. At this point, we’ve not been able to see them photographed or being used in a complete workflow.
Is there a cap? Spout on top?
How do you evacuate the resin from the tray if you want to switch resins and use the same tray?
I filter my resin from my Form1+ back into a container after the white pigment irreversibly settled in one of my trays.
If you leave the resin in the tray and do not print for an extended period, will the machine maintenance wipe it regularly?
Thanks!
David, I made this quick walkthrough that I hope you find helpful! As to your other questions…we recommend using a new resin tank when changing resins. Cleaning the resin tank out enough to prevent contamination of your new resin can be tricky. However, the resin tanks can be removed and resin can be poured from the front spout into a container if necessary.
Never pour resin back into a cartridge as it can confuse the filling system.
The great thing about the wiper is that it will automatically mix the resin if you leave the resin in the tray for an extended period.
Thanks Jory, that answered a few questions. It created one more… Is it recommended to remove the cartridge and shake it every so often?
If the cartridge is sitting in the printer for a long period without printing…it’s possible that some shaking could be required. We are still working to make the best recommendation on this before shipping.
Jory
I am not sure if these questions have been asked yet but I was just looking over some of the new features and they just came to me…
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How does the printer connect to a network in say a large corporation? Is it I.T. people friendly for updated IP addresses dynamically or can you set a static IP address?
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When the part now peels/shears from the PDMS layer why do you return the tray back to the original tray position? Wouldn’t be a little quicker as well as less wear and tear on the resin tray to have the tray shear off the part, the mixer stirs the resin, the the part is lowered back into the resin, laser runs and then the tray shears in the opposite direction and then it is a rinse wash repeat?
Just my observations and curiosities.
Your idea is quite good. But in the real world there are a few things that may go wrong. The PDMS could be slightly thicker on one side, and with ‘best’ resolutions that would be very bad. Also, the tank may ride higher on one side of the rails depending on wear, dust, misalignment, etc. For the insanely thin layers like high resolution, and the sake of mass producing a printer, I’m afraid returning to the same spot is going to be the only way around the potential errors.
JoshK is pretty much correct. In addition, the movement back doesn’t really end up adding much time.
Hi there,
after not having printed for a longer time, I have to do some more thorough scraping to get the PDMS clean again.
Could I trust the printer to achieve a perfect job after sitting on the desk for two weeks?
-Phil
That seems unlikely, especially for white resin. You’d still want to thoroughly re-mix before starting a new print. The wiper will help to keep stuff in solution during the print, may help with getting small chunks out of the way, and might potentially help to get O2 near the PDMS.
You know the pressure and scraping force you need to do manually to get old stuck pigment off the PDMS. I’ve seen a Form2 in action up close here in Philly, and it certainly does not appear to be exerting that kind of force or pressure during wiping.
Bonjour
Nous avons reçu la form2 récemment (nous sommes les premiers en France) et nous réalisons actuellement les premiers tests. Nous vous en dirons plus bientôt!
A3D L’Atelier Numérique
N’hésitez pas à les poster sur le topic Français !
Une section Française devrait ouvrir d’ici peu sur ce forum