Print fail - Maybe it's the orientation? Seeking advice

Alright, So; I’ve been having a blast once my printer finally came back from service (A long, horrible story I’l write here later so as to thank Formlabs for the wonderful support through what was a real ordeal) and I’ve been printing a lot of miniatures for my own brand. Recently; I’ve been meaning to print stuff for others to support the maintenance of the printer itself and here’s the first one. Hollowed, edited, sent it…

After a while, I’ve got two failures: Same character, two versions. One articulated, one simpler.

I first printed the smaller one and had some MASSIVE peeling issues at first. Miraculously; it still came out ok with just a gaping hole on her head and a strange flake pasted to the side. This will be fixed with epoxy so no problem.

Had no luck with the second print: awesome work with the joint pieces and arms… No luck with the body.

Here’s how it looks in preform. You’ll also notice it’s hollowed. If memory serves me well: 2 or 2.5 mm walls.

Now, The head is coming up and that thing is super-massive so before I wasted a bit more material, I wanted to ask around if I’m doing something wrong with the orientation. Model’s got holes, it’s hollow, and I know it shouldn’t be completely perpendicular to the hinge or tank. Any experienced friends who can give an opinion?

Also; I cleaned the mirror today before trying again. Found an amazing Cat hair. She hates the printer (really, she dislikes the noise and steps away from the room as it works) so I blame her. Maybe it just needed cleaning? What’s your opinion?

On a side note: I always get print fails with the black resin… I know that’s got nothing to do with anything but I’m developing an irrational fear of the thing. Gray for me all the way.

seems like it’s generating a lot of vacuum. make a small air hole on the platform side so the hollow can vent.

Interesting… So I knew I had to make holes, but that also means the holes need to be angled towards the bottom preferably?

Exactly. Make sure the holes are facing the build platform. That way air can escape every time a new layer touches the PDMS.

If you point them in another direction, they aren’t functional.

Baagh Failed again. But it appears that the peeling problems began before it could reach the build of the hole, I’m going to flip it and try again, and share pictures if it doesn’t.

Ah well. Double failure with different orientations; new and larger holes, and two different facings tried. It still sticks… I’m really wondering how to fix this. Specially since it’s only wearing out a new resin tank.

Could it be I even have bad resin? I’ve never been able to get anything from the black resin; always print failures. Any kind soul willing to give advice on the situation?

Cheers!

To clean off dust I have been using a Rocket air blaster used for camera equipment. Something my cat really hates.

Once you have a failure, you have to make sure you have no cured resin remains in the tank. Especially in the black, sometimes the remnants are so difficult to spot that the only way to get them out is to strain the tank.

I got a chunk last week, and after chasing it for about ten minutes I was second-guessing if I actually saw it, but I finally got it out; just about the size of a pinky fingernail, and super thin…but guaranteed to screw up a print.

Wish It was that! I actually filtered the whole thing :smiley:

I’ve started to get parts of the model pancake to the bottom of the tank. Filtering the resin and making sure the pdms layer is scraped free of pigment helps. Also Making the walls thicker so the print layers have more to stick to could help.

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