UV Cure Cube Completed and Reviewed

I’ve built a UV cure cube using 405nm UVA LEDs and a white optics liner material. It is sized to just a bit over the build volume of the printer to create a very small table top box that efficiently cures the parts to finished strenght and hardness. You can see the complete write-up at: http://wp.me/pnP76-xe . The cube will cure liquid resin to fully hardened in roughly an hour, and will harden any part the printer can make in that time or less. If interested, let me know, we are exploring the possibility of making more of these if there is a demand for them.

How many watts is it?

I would be interested if the price is right? What kind of Price Range are you thinking?

Hi Kevin

Very interessted to buy a cure cube. Please let me know how i can get one.

What i nice love vase showed on your pic.

Best regards

Sacha

Total wattage of the LEDs is 7.5W. The link provides all the details of the buildup.

I am working up pricing now. I can put this out in several ways. Kit form with all of the components plus the files to print your own plastic parts (too large for the From 1+, will need an FDM printer available), Kit form with the FDM parts printed on my Dimension printer (as shown in the photos), and assembled form as you see in the images. The kit form could include the LEDs soldered to the boards, ready to install into the box, or loose. The soldering is pretty easy. Assembled, we would do it all for you, RtR out of the box. Kit form will be less costly, but will take a little time to put together. What are your thoughts on this?

I am trying to formulate a solid response to your inquiry, including what forms we provide the cube in, from parts to completed assembly. Share with me how you see this coming to you. The less I do in putting it all together, the lower the price will be. However, if I put it together and test it, I can be sure it is 100% for you when shipped. I cannot warrant anything assembled by others, for obvious reasons… but most of us in the builder universe live with that every day without worries. It’s your choice.

Hi Kevin

Many thanks. Sounds great.

Sacha

Curious why you opted for soldered individual LEDs, as opposed to pre-made strips as I used and posted here with links to all parts a while back (search for “DIY lightbox”). Also, 7.5w does not seem like enough power to me.

Hey Kevin - did you come up with a ‘Kit’ price ??

My primary business is Solid State Lighting and SSL fixture design. I used high end, high efficiency 5mm LEDs as they have a focused directional quality to them (60 degrees FWHM), which makes them efficient at putting light into the part, as opposed to lower efficiency packaged strips, which have lower efficacy and wider distribution. They also have a good characteristic as they heat, in terms of light maintenance that many low end products don’t. The cube is also small, pretty much tight to the build volume of the printer, so the distance to the surface of the part is as short as it can be. The end result in a higher directed efficiency of light onto the target, hence the reduced wattage requirement. With the circuiting separate of driver, I can increase the wattage up to 10.5 with a driver change from 500mA to 700mA, by changing one component, rather that the fixed output one gets from a CV strip with built in drive current control. We’ve found in UV curing that power does not always equate to cure time improvement. The initiators in the resin need a certain amount of light - the chemical reaction is what it is. More light cannot accelerate the reactive cycle, so there is no need for over-kill, and lower power levels avoid heat build up, which reduces LED light output (especially with the 405nm variety) very quickly, that can also distort delicate parts. In all, we are still experimenting with the cube to optimize its performance and trim costs involved. We’re also testing resin response times. So far, curing takes between 60 minutes to 120 minutes, depending on the thickness and complexity of the part. There are hundreds of ways to skin this cat.

Hi Kevin, I’d like one please as I’ve been searching for something suitable for a while. I’d like one fully assembled if possible please. Let me know the costs involved.

Many thanks.

Alex Jones
‘The Little Jet Company’

I am also interested. Can it be machined? or is it designed to be 3D printed on a dimension? I have access to a complete machine shop but not a larger FDM printer.

Sorry to be so late getting back to this. Got jammed up in project deadlines and the From 1+ went on the fritz, so have been putting out fires and herding cats… I will be back…