Just made a hybrid resin mix (form1 grey with b9 cherry red) and the results were amazing. You can’t really see it as well in the photo, but the surface is smooth and the details are sharp. The light bleed is minimal, therefore the details (such as the cut-out text) do not get softened.
Will post more photos of other things I’m printing using the hybrid resin soon.
Anyone who cares about getting more detail out of your prints, should try this mix (100ml form1 grey and 25ml b9 cherry).
Haven’t tried adding more of the b9 resin, but it’s the next thing on my to do list.
The cross is 50mm tall including that little sprue attachment. Also, it was only printed using the 50 micron setting, so not even the highest setting.
There is definitely more room for even sharper prints by increasing the ratio of the b9 cherry resin. It will of course increase the visibility of the stepping lines, and also may require printing at the 25 micron setting and the ability to adjust curing times.
The prints are looking good, I am interested to see how they turn out printed at a higher resolution. I have been browsing the B9 creator forum and some users there have been able to print similar parts with amazing detail and accuracy. I am curious if the Form 1 can match or beat the level of detail that they have achieved.
Wow, that’s awesome. Very much looking forward to your next set of results - very nice to have a bigger toolbox for the F1 already! I’ll be ordering some Cherry Red then…
@Eric, I did try the 25micron print but there was virtually no difference, only the print time was doubled. In fact there was more stepping lines visible. I’m thinking the 25 micron would require a different mix with higher pigment and less viscosity, to make a difference. It may also require more curing time, per layer, but unfortunately we have no control over that.
@Kevin Holmes, Yes I’m very excited that I can print with a much higher quality on the form1 now. It’s very important for jewelry. Unfortunately, still no luck casting these, because the form1 even in a small amount doesn’t burnout clean. Hopefully they will release a castable resin soon with some properties that are important for jewelers. High resolution, low viscosity, melts like wax instead of smoking, curling and getting crusty.
@ah3000mk1, I don’t have a B9C to try. I’m assuming B9 owners have not reason to try the form1 resin, because they are already pumping out awesome castable prints. The mix I made is slightly softer that grey resin alone, but not by much. The post curing time is a little longer.
@Andy Hudson, Thanks. Here are some images of the new mix print vs the grey resin print. You can see it’s a huge difference. Enjoy.
I will be trying a new mix today, that I think will be even better. Will keep you guys posted.
Thomas, get the B9 cherry red, not the Red. That’s what I used. It has more pigment in it. I imagine for figure prints it should work great also. Like you said, the smallest detail would be sharp and clean.
I have also noticed that the mix is more flexible during printing, so it should help with excessive failures during printing. Also, since it’s higher viscosity, I was not getting the vacuum effect when the layers were peeling off from the Vat. Another big plus!
Sure Jesse. This is from what I know, and in no means am I an expert at this.
If you imagine how the laser cures each layer, when it hits the resin (although this is happening very fast), it creates a dot on the surface of resin. The pigment, or photoblockers, stop the light (UV light in this case) of the laser from penetrating past the layer thickness (50 microns lets say), and also they stop the light from bleeding to the sides from the hitting spot of the laser. When there is not enough pigment or blockers, after your initial layer cures, there is residual curing past that layer, so the next layer is already partially cured, so you can get roughness and loss of detail. You do need some of that residual curing, so that layers stick to each other, but if there is too much you get blurring of details, and bumpiness from over-cured resin. So it’s combination of enough light blocking pigment and lower viscosity that can create a higher resolution print.
So obviously if you want really high resolution for jewelry or highly detailed prints, it’s important to have enough pigment, to stop the light from bleeding through and over-curing past the layer thickness and also to the sides of the dot.
Ultimately I think Form Labs needs to make different resins for different purposes (castable, rigid, flexible, high resolution, etc) , and also, I don’t think it’s a good idea to have the same resin for different layer thicknesses. Because for example, the 25 micron setting would need more pigment and higher viscosity than the 50 micron print, or the 100 micron print. Each resin should be optimized for a specific layer thickness and resolution.
Here are the results of the 1:1 ratio mix of the Form1 Grey and B9 Cherry resins printed at 50 microns. I think this is the best I will be able to get until we get custom curing times setting control in the PreForm software. And they do look much better in person than in the photos.
Hey Monger, thanks for taking the time to explain that, that has really clarified that part of the process and it defiantly makes sense that there should be multiple materials depending on layer thickness especially if it’ll maximize successful prints. Those new prints you did with the 50/50 resin look Tiiiiight!!
