Tough resin

General Discussion
#1

The transparent blue Tough resin is not in the chart on the resin family page. I love the stuff and have used it for years. What are its properties compared to the others in the chart at the bottom of the page?

IZOD ImpactStrength [J/m]
Elongation %
Tensile strength [MPa]
TensileModulus [GPa]
FlexuralModulus [GPa]
HDT @ 0.45MPa [°C]

I would like to compare it to the new resins. I have used Tough 2000 and it is great but way stiffer that Tough.

I would formally like to ask that you keep it in the lineup if only because it is transparent and a great color.

Cheers
Dave

#2

See https://archive-media.formlabs.com/upload/XL-DataSheet.pdf section titled FLTOTL05.

And here’s an older version of the material properties graphic which still included it: Engineering Materials at a Glance

Also https://support.formlabs.com/s/article/Using-Tough-Resin-V5 although it doesn’t have as much there.

I agree it’s a unique color. If they do ditch it, you may have some luck pigmenting Clear or Durable (of course it wouldn’t have the same properties).

#3

The old Tough family was pretty much un-usable for professionals. Very fast warping, very low dimensional stability in time.
I am glad the Formlabs introduced Durable years ago. This remains the most stable resin of the entire FL library. And as far as we can see, the most stable resin on the market, except for Henkel resins ( which are out of any reasonable price range anyway ).
We would have gone for LCD printers much earlier, would FL not have released this resin.

#4

I do enjoy the color and robustness of the first “tough” resin, FLTOTL05. I have about 3/4 of a container remaining and rationing what I use it on.

I have not noticed the warping Olivier mentioned, but perhaps that’s because the prints I’ve made in the old Tough are of fairly stable shapes.

#5

rkagerer, thanks for the links. That is exactly what I wanted. the old Tough was stronger than any of the new Toughs and still had the Izod of the Tough 2000. I never print it in thin parts. I did see some warping but its positive characteristics are amazing. I ordered a container of it and they still have some left.

#6

I have since printed a thin part in the original blue Tough resin, and noticed it warp when curing.

My other Tough prints do not have this problem as they’re fairly robust shapes.

#7

With thin parts you have to wait until the wash solution has completely evaporated from the resin:

IMG_1544
IMG_15441200×601 60 KB

The one on the right was cured about 12 hour after printing the other was left several days before curing. The wash solution was DPM which doesn’t evaporate as quickly as IPA.

1 Like
#8

@billb Did the ladder on the right look like that when you began curing, or did the warping develop during the cure?

#9

Both ladders were distorted when they came out of the wash. This was model resin, and I have the feeling that thin sections absorbed DPM and when took day to release it.

I’ve recently print one of these piece in grey, washed in IPA, and found no distortion at all.

#10

To milk the most out of the end of my blue Tough cartridge, I’ve been mixing it with clear resin. It diminishes the “toughness” a little, but warpage is reduced, as well. Seems tough-enough for my applications, so I’m happy.