I am about to order my printer. Trying to decide which resins to get. A major consideration is printing time.
I noticed on preform when you change resins it can dramatically alter the printing time. For example same exact model, supports and resolution takes 9 hours 35 min with black resin and 7h 3 min with white resin. That’s over 30% difference.
This according to ‘estimate print time’ feature on preform. So two questions:
Is there really such a big difference in printing time amongst different resins?
In general how accurate is the estimate print time feature in Preform
@IsaacKatz: I am not sure about the answer for your first question. For your second question: The estimated print time shown while in PreForm is particularly accurate, based on my print experiences with my Form2. For example, an estimated 2 hours 15 minutes print might have an accuracy of +/- 5 minutes. In addition, the estimated volume of liquid resin to be used on a print has good accuracy as well. I keep a tally of the resin used in each of my prints so I can have an idea of how much total cumulative resin I have used out of a cartridge.
Thanks for your answer @Ken_Smith in that case I guess there is a pretty significant difference in printing time among different resins, which is very useful to know. Thanks!
Grey is a good balance between printing time and quality, Black gives the best detail but the slowest printing time. I highly recommend against using Clear unless you really really need something transparent, otherwise it’s the worst choice
Why is that @Zachary_Brackin? Have you not had good experience printing with clear?
Can you please elaborate what you mean by ‘quality’? I know that with black you can go lower on z but wasn’t aware there is difference beyond that. Would the same print at 100 mic turn out different in black or white as far as details and surface quality?
I have been using only Clear resin without problems since I got my Form2 at the beginning of December 2015, so I am not sure of the negative comment about it. I have not had any issues with the Clear resin.
It has to do with the pigment in the resin, black has the most pigment which blocks the light the most, the light from the laser will extend further than the current layer. The outside of the print will still have some liquid resin stuck to it, and for downward facing surfaces the laser will go through the current layer and cure some of that extra material. More pigment helps reduce that effect so details will end up sharper.
Clear resin has no pigment at all so it can’t prevent the light from going pretty far, so details aren’t nearly as good.
I think though, that Black might be more brittle, because the pigment makes it weaker.