My escape hole got closed using Tough 2000 on Form2!?

My escape hole got closed using Tough 2000 on my Form2. This is my first time using Tough 2000. This was a first print using a brand new batch of Tough 2000 and a brand new LT Tank. I hollowed my print in Mesh Mixer to a wall thickness of .1". I created an escape hole, and placed it facing the build plate. Auto supports generated in Preform. Preform showed no errors or warnings, so I sent it to print.

To be more specific, I placed the side, with the escape hole (that side was flat), parallel to the build plate. Although that side was flat, it was not printed directly on the build plate, it was supported with supports autogenerated by Preform. It seems that the hole was skinned over. Then the piece had a blowout on the side because the escape hole was covered.

Is Tough 2000 giving anyone skinning issues? Any thoughts what is going on here?

Make the hole bigger, or change the orientation so it’s not “orthogonal” to the build plate.

Hi Randy,
Thank you for the response. Good suggestions, but still surprised the hole was filled, I believe it was about a 1/2 inch in diameter. I feel like I should have stayed with standard gray:/

That does seem like it should have been OK. But it’s still worth changing the orientation. Unlike a FDM printer, SLA tends to print better when a part isn’t aligned “square” to the build plate…

True, I discovered that the hard way years ago, but this seems different. I’m running a different model now, no “squareness” going on with this one. Let’s see how it goes. Thanks again for your input:)

Tough 2000 does like to skin over more than other resins. This is a print that I ran this morning which was a test and square to the tray. Has some residual crazing on both parts @ 100 microns and the holes were definitely smaller than spec. You might be able to see the left print which seems to have an extra residue buildup on the last layer which I can’t explain. Adjusted the angle to about 20 degrees and that seemed to help, but for my purposes, I’ll probably be dropping down to 50 micron to get a better finish than I could get square on the tray.

PS. It’s not very happy with fine features either, but Form notes that in their resin writeups.
PPS. This was on a Form3.


Thank you:)

I did these in Tough 2000 last week. They’re about 1/2" in diameter. The slot is for a Micro USB male connector. The larger holes are 2mm and the small hole is 1mm. I wasn’t too careful removing the supports, and obviously no attempt has been made to clean them up yet. The edges and corners are a bit more rounded than I’d like, but clearly nothing got skinned over. And I printed a half dozen of these at the same time.

You’d be inclined to print these oriented flat to the build plate, but I actually printed them standing on edge.

The expressions on their faces look like the expression on mine as I watch the current print. Tough 2000 definitely has the detail of motor oil. Lesson learned. I have pre-ordered the Anycubic Mono X, so curious how it will compare to my old Form 2, or even Form 3.

Problem solved! I had to clean all the optics, now everything is like brand new! Since this resin requires the laser in the Form 2 to be at full capacity, any haze on any of the optics can result in a bad print (as seen in the following collage). My regular resin didn’t care as much, so I didn’t notice it in previous prints, but tough resin does.