Testing The New Tough 1500

I ordered tough 1500 right at the day when it was released. I just got it today and have loaded it on my form 2. I noticed something really interesting. Typically, standard resins are the fastest printing resin beside draft resin. All other engineering resin requires longer printing time at the same layer thickness. However, Tough 1500 is not the case. It prints fast, even faster than clear resin. To give you an idea, the same model printed on clear takes 9 hours, on tough it takes 12 hours. However, on tough 1500, it takes just 6 and half hours. Unbelievable.

I will be mainly testing the resin’s performance on a compliant mechanism that BYU designed. I will comparing the result of it with tough and durable resin.

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That’s a very interesting find considering how much time could be saved especially if it lives up to durability tests. Best of luck I’m curious to see your results.

I had the luxury of beta testing tough 1500 and noticed the exact same thing - it’s very very fast. The resin is also much less viscous than say Durable. The viscosity probably helps with printing speed.

No idea how fast (or slow) it is on the Form 3 though.

How are issues like warping, dimensional stability and heat deflection?

With Tough (and durable as well) it was impossible to get warp-free prints. And the parts collapse under their own weight after a while, not to mention they get soft and deform under regular tap water.

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If I understand it correctly, the tough 1500 is in between durable and tough. We also have warpage and softness issues with durable, so I don’t think this will change.

Yeah, I heard that too. The odd thing is that they’re advertising it for things like eyeglass frames and other long, thin parts that would be impossible to get a decent result with Tough or Durable. So the question is if 1500 is between those in everything or just overall feel. Apparently Testa uses it for “final” parts? That places some demands on stability and precision…

A tesla aftermarket company is using it as far as I understood.

I would love it if formlabs could come up with a real game changer like this carbon resin:

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Ordered the day of release. Printed a few parts and proceed them overnight and I love this resin so far. Quick to print (faster then most), Very good detail & Very durable resin. Will be doing some testing today. Maybe a great resin for toys that will not brake when they hit the floor.

Update: Well after about 12 drop test from about 12 ft they broke from the shock.
Much better then most resins as far as shock breakage.

how was that part assembled? also how big is that part?

@reiten966 thanks for posting this! I’m also working on a compliant mechanism and I just found this post. Did you end up testing Tough 1500 vs Tough vs Durable for compliant parts? if yes, could you share any insights? Trying to figure out which one would be most appropriate for use with compliant parts.
Thanks!

Hi, I have tested all 3 resins and here is my conclusion. In short Tough 1500 is the best among all 3 for compliant mechanisms. Tough 1500 seems to have better compression set(springyness) than Tough and Durable. Tough 1500 also seems to have less fatigue than both Tough and Durable. It is also softer than Tough but more stiff than Durable. I think all in all its great for prototyping compliant mechanisms. And I have got many optimal result from it so far.

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@reiten966 thanks a lot for your input! will try Tough 1500 then. :nerd_face: