Room Temperature Required for Form 2 printing?

General Discussion
1

I am seriously thinking about getting the Form 2. The only place I have to set it would be in my garage on my workbench. What are the temperature requirements?
Thanks!

2

the resin is heated before the print starts. Just how cold is it in your garage??

3

Well in the winter in the mid 40’s and in the summer upper 80’s.

4

Well I finally found the answer to my question. Looks like the winter may be a problem for me… Here is what I found:
Store resin in a cool, dry place out of direct sunlight. The operating temperature for Formlabs printers is 64–82 °F (18–28 °C). For optimal printing, do not exceed this range in storage. Keep containers closed, and do not pour liquid resin back into the original container. Avoid ignition sources. To reduce the risk of pigment settling, resin containers should be gently shaken once a month in storage and before beginning a print. Before starting a print, agitate or stir resin in the tank.

5

Well, what do you know? I had a motor error this morning, and just found your message…it is 54° in my studio right now. I just turned on the heater…

6

Hmmmm. I’m on the fence about buying for this very reason.

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7

How is the odor??? Very strong??

8

There is a slight odor, but it varies with the type of resin. I keep mine in my studio, but actually took my printer on vacation to Breckenridge once and kept it in the guest bathroom. Any printer of this type (SLA) will have some sort of slight odor.

I also do not store resin in the tray on my printer. The castable resins can be a little harsh on the trays, so I’ve gotten in the habit of filtering the resin back into a reusable quart container that I keep in a dark cabinet when I’m printing, so I think that also helps.

What types of things do you want to make? What software will you use for design?

I’ve had my Form 2 for 2-1/2 years, and I’ve been really impressed by the quality of the prints. They also keep making the slicing software (Preform) better and better. I used to make my own supports in ZBrush, but I’ve started letting Preform do them for me. In the past I remember fighting software to try and get “watertight” models, but Preform does an awesome job of setting everything up and letting you mimic the build process in software and find possible problems before you begin to print.

9

Thanks. I’d like to do small models mostly. I’m just limited on space on where I can put a printer. Garage is about the only place I have room. It can get pretty cold here in the winter so those times of year I may not be able to print unless I put some sort of heater there. I”m going to hold my decision until after CES to see if anything new is appoearing. Thanks again for your input, it’s very helpful.

10

I did a fun thing as a joke for a friend…I made a rubber chicken pendant that I cast, then blew it up to the max size on the printer and hollowed it out to make a larger rubber chicken in order to make a mold for an actual rubber chicken. Haven’t gotten around to making the mold yet, but the larger model earned a good laugh at the Christmas party. It was actually the first non-jewelry print I’d made, and I was really impressed with the surface detail.

If you’re making small models, SLA is definitely the way to go. Here are some of the things I considered when I stumbled across the Form 2:

  • Maximum print size…many SLA printers—particularly the DLP versions—had REALLY small build platforms. One I saw was only about 1.5" by 2.5"!
  • Variety of resins available and could I use third-party resins (FL allows in Open Mode).
  • Did it require a dedicated computer while printing? Was it wifi enabled? (for me, was it Mac-compatible?)
  • Did it require a separate DLP projector? One brand I considered required you to purchase a separate DLP printer, which also required a dedicated computer to run it.
  • Did the printer company also make the slicing software?

Everybody plays funny games with regards to resolution, so I found that really hard to compare. I found this article recently when I was talking to a friend about resolution: https://formlabs.com/blog/3d-printer-resolution-meaning/

Also, if you’re printing small models and you haven’t seen this guy’s work, this is one of my favorites. The tracks on his tank were printed as an interlocked model…impressive stuff.
http://forum.formlabs.com/t/t-rex-skull-war-tank/15705

11

That’s funny!! Thanks for the links. I will definitely check them out!

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