Using photopolymer resin to paint with

Experimental
1

I am wondering if anyone has tried to use the resin as a paint, I have the Form2 and love it and got curious as I also produce metal products that the majority of the time I have powder coated which produces a nice polymer protective coating but requires an oven curing operation. So I was wondering if anyone knows of a painting system that utilizes a similar product like the Form Labs photopolymer to paint with.

2 Likes
2

hi,

I am unsure of a photopolymer, but in theory it should work, as long as you don’t exceed the maximum thickness that can be cured by an UV light.

I once used a polyester paint, It looks great. You could look up “Diresta” on Youtube. He uses it, as well.

best regards

3

Thank you, I will check him out on Youtube.

4

Hi,

I’ve used Grey V2 to create masks on aluminum with great results. Don’t know if it would last long term though.

  1. Sand and clean aluminum part to remove oxides

  2. Paint thin layer of resin on region to be masked.

  3. Overlay resin with laser printer transparency printed with mask (inkjet also works but must dry for about a day so it resists IPA). Try to minimize bubbles.

  4. Expose with UV light. I used a compact fluorescent bulb from a silkscreen box. About 3.5 minutes for me. Sun probably works fine.

  5. Peel transparency and clean it and the part with IPA.

  6. Presto, voila and shazam. There’s your mask for painting, etching, etc

  7. Remove mask later using your favorite method. I soak in acetone because I etch so don’t have to worry about it affecting paint. There’s a freeze spray method for removing cured resin from the build platform somewhere in the forum that might work to remove the mask from the aluminum part if you are using paint and can’t use acetone …

Regards

5

I use resin with a fine brush to fix prints all the time. Get a nice UV flashlight.

6

What brand do you recommend for the UV flashlight?

7

I bought this insert for an existing flashlight body: http://tinyurl.com/y79kohqo

8

I’ve had similar thoughts on using a Form 2 compatible resin to give a thin, conformal dip coating to the Fuse 1 nylon parts, although it is much too viscous as is. That’s for another day.

For aluminum parts, I would suggest a clear or yellow chromate (chemfilm), as these coatings are typically used to make aluminum parts wet paint compatible. I would be interested in whether the resins can be thinned out and with what compatible solvent.

9

I’m guessing you could thin it with IPA. I was looking for a way to make it thicker.

10

I will probably wait till I have some empty cartridges that I can wash out with a little IPA and see how that residue works. Thanks for the tip on the UB flashlight insert.