To cure or not to cure, that is the question

General Discussion
1

Do you always/rarely/never cure your parts post-cleaning?
I know it’s common, but some folks I know simply do not ever cure parts, claiming it makes them too brittle.

Would love to know perspective…

If you do NOT cure, why?

  • Yes, I cure. every time
  • Generally, 5 minutes or less
  • Generally, 5-8 minutes
  • Generally, 8-10 minutes
  • I rarely cure
  • I never cure
0 voters
2

I use mostly fast resin and I wash and rinse in water and dry with a towel. I must add these are only test fitting for prototyping

3

Formlabs would always recommend curing parts, but personally, it depends on the resin and its intended use. Engineering materials like Tough, Durable, Rigid, and Elastic resins are formulated to reach their full mechanical properties only after post-curing. Without curing, these resins won’t achieve their intended strength, toughness, or heat resistance because the polymerization process remains incomplete.

Parts that aren’t cured also tend to warp or yellow over time due to unreacted photoinitiators continuing to react under ambient UV exposure, which leads to inconsistent mechanical properties. I’ve occasionally skipped curing with Fast Model or General Purpose resins when it was just for a brief prototyping model or fitment test, but even then, the parts remain softer and less stable over time.

Since Formlabs resins are designed and rigorously tested for optimal cure times and temperatures in Form Cure and Cure L, I’d always recommend following those guidelines to ensure optimal material performance and consistency across prints, as well as safety.

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