In the company I’m working we have recently acquired a Form 3, mostly to make prototypes and samples.
So far we have only used the standard Grey Resin. I would now like to move into the Tough 2000 resin to build some prototypes that will be installed outdoors and exposed to the weather.
I have read in this forum that the Tough resin was not very durable nor stable. Does anybody have any experience with Tough 2000 in more longer term tests? (6-12 months)
Do you mind if I ask what kinds of conditions you’d expect the print to be under for longer-term use? Are we talking exposed to the elements or largely kept indoors?
Depending on your specific use-case I’d be happy to recommend some potential material options!
UV tends to make photopolymers more brittle as they age.
I’ve also had some thin walled tough 2000 and 1500 parts exhibit really odd warping over prolonged times (1+ years) if they are under any type of load. Thicker parts seem to hold up OK indoors though for prolonged periods of time.
We use T2000 for production parts that are exposed to chemical and UV light, but we know that T2000 wouldn’t be able to handle the abuse by itself. After numerous cycles of testing and coating, we settled on Cerakote as a ceramic paint that handles the elements with no problem and keeps T2000s mechanical properties. Bonds extremely well with T2000, but make sure that the Cerakote cure temp is only 140-150F otherwise parts will deform.
Go to Cerakotes website for local applicators, but most seem to be in the custom gun industry. We found a general coating company here in Oregon that will work with 3D parts.
Any paint that’s fully opaque to UV light will protect the print as well as any other coating. The question for use cases exposed to the elements is how well the coating will stick to the print. If it flakes away with time, any protection it affords will be lost. So the question is more about the durability of the coating than the durability of the coated print…
