I cant figure out why when I print this head model it prints really bad with Terrible peel distortion lines when the top of the head is in the z direction, when printing the face in the z direction it is much better (though not perfect) I have never had any success printing top of head facing z when this would be the correct position for printing a small head like this. Any ideas as to why it is so bad?
That’s a nice Harrison Ford sculpt, are you printing hollow? If not print with a shell of around 1.5mm and you should see an improvementioned.
Most likely you need to clean the mirrors in the printer: http://formlabs.com/support/printers/form-1/mirror-checking/
Cheers guys.The main mirror is clean and I can see the small back mirror is clean, not sure about the galvos. Though it prints some things fine. I’ve started to think the walls of the model maybe too thin (2mm) as it prints solid objects pretty clean
2mm is not too thin, the vast majority of issues with the Form1/1+ is dust on the mirrors
How does one go about cleaning the galvos? Are they more surface delicate than say the large mirror?
I printed a pipe model at 0.5 today. The results were super smooth. If the galvos had dust would it not have affected this print?
To cover yourself (assuming your printer is under warranty) just open a support ticket and they will send you the document.
They are delicate. I am sure I have been much more cautious then I need to be but I would rather not scratch the surface nor break off the mirrors from the shaft.
Yes, if the galvos were dusty / dirty your pipe model would have most likely come out crummy. You most likely don’t have really dirty galvo mirrors. Can you reorient the model and add a few more supports? It may help. Can you increase the wall to 3 or 4mm? It may waste more resin but it may also help.
here’s the pipe. It looks pretty good so I’m think the issue stems from walls being too thin and 0.25 just not handling that orientation very well. In the past I would get immaculate prints with barely any peel lines. I might try going back to the old version of preform at the time and see if that makes any difference.
So whilst the pipe printed good at 0.50, this watch model looks like crap! Most small models I print at 0.25 I’ve noticed are getting their small details fudged and abit of streakyness. There is always a glossy blobby texture to the bad areas. It seems the worst areas are closer to the hinge which is odd as usually the best details are closer to the hinge. Mirror looks spotless, so its either the tray is wearing out nearer the hinge (pipe was printed away from hinge) or its the new preform? I installed a version from January, the time I was getting perfect prints, and printing the same scene to see if it is different. I also put a watch in the middle of the tank to see if it is the area near the hinge that is wearing out.
So just for the record, with the older version of preform it printed exactly the same. So my next test will be different tank with clear resin. Really hope its not a mirror issue :-\
I would open a support ticket so that you can go ahead and clean the galvo mirrors. The chances of needing to clean dust off the galvo mirrors is very high.
I gave the back mirror under the galvos a mild dry clean, hope that hasn’t affected anything. My last test with clear resin and different tank will decide if its the tank or not.
I have the same problem. It happens with clear resin. My colleague cleaned all the mirrors following a support ticket. We changed the tank and the resin. Still no change in the quality of the print.
Yeah quality is still similar with the clear. I will try with the other printer (will need to swap the mirrors) if its the same than it at least eliminates anything to do with the printer.
Here’s a recent print. Some prints before turned out really good so not sure what’s going on here. I’m thinking it could be the axel rod as I greased it with standard vasseline type grease. Looks like it struggles when getting higher.
So I regreased the axel. Also the clear resin in the tank had turned yellow and had been sitting in there for a good 5 months! I poured it out and put in fresh resin from the bottle that wasn’t yellow. I placed the model in an area of the tank that didn’t look damaged from constant use and the prints are much better, possibly as good as when the printer was new! 
Though I am still reluctant to print larger objects as I think they will still print with shift lines. Not sure what that is down to.
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