We're so happy to announce the Form 3 and Form 3L!

I don’t see any info on a Form Wash for the Form 3L. One would need a very large unit to accommodate this size build.
I guess you would have to convert a top loading washing machine to do it. Otherwise maybe a row of open top 55 gallon drums and a electric winch to dunk the prints in to them and transfer to the next drum.

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Can you comment on the resin spil from the cartridge? And is you finally plan to make a pack which does not include the finishing kit?
I have one still int he box unused since I use the wash/cure and feel kind of wasting money to get yet another one

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Same question asked earlier. Good, I would like a response to that too!
:slight_smile:

Interesting! The product page for the 3L lead me to believe that the lasers are mounted on the same carriage but this comment sounds like they will operate completely independently. Sort of like a project Escher printer.

Have you fixed the catastrophic resin leak problem yet? I’ve opened my Form 2 countless times to clean up resin spills that were not caused by operator error, but due to flaws in your design. Each time it takes almost a day of painstaking work (full disassembly incl. optical cavity, electronics, soaking in IPA etc) to clean up the mess.

  1. The rubber cartridge valve design is flawed. It can fail, dumping up to 1L of resin into the optical cavity / electronics bay.
  2. The wiper design is flawed. a) It is not necessary (I’ve been using Open mode for awhile, with great success, no wiper), and b) when there is a stuck print, it becomes a SLINGSHOT that catches on the stuck print residue and flings resin onto the orange acrylic (cracking and deteriorating the plastic in the process) and ultimately down into the optical cavity and electronics bay.

The above issues are so terrible that I have stopped buying Formlabs resin entirely, and only print in Open mode on my Form 2.

Form 3/L better have a totally separate wet/dry area or I won’t be purchasing. Also, that orange plastic had better be something other than acrylic that can tolerate a splash of resin without destruction.

And finally, while we’re here, have you staffed up your fulfillment center so that resin orders don’t take a week from order placement to shipment? Your competitors are fulfilling resin orders in less than an hour. And their resin is half the price, includes free shipping, and is of comparable or better quality.

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These issue I did learn with my first form1+ and since then I never ever buy a form without the service contract. After 2 years they are spent anyhow :slight_smile:

They are on the same carriage.

How long did the big speaker part take to print that is in all the ads?

The Form 3 (and Form 3L) are designed to both better prevent resin spills altogether, and to mitigate issues from spills when they do occur.

New sensors across the printer - such as improved resin level sensing and cartridge sensing - assist with preventing spills.

The Form 3 Resin Tank can hold a larger volume of resin before overflowing compared to Form 2, so a leaking cartridge is less likely to cause a massive spill. The flexible film at the bottom of the tank is strong and difficult to puncture, but if it is punctured, there are two layers so typically the second layer prevents a leak.

The motherboard and electronics moved from the base of the printer to the back of the tower, and the optics engine, or Light Processing Unit, is fully enclosed.

If a leak does occur, the LPU housing can move over to the right side of the printer where it is protected from resin if a spill is detected. A series of channels and gutters just below the tank direct resin away from important components. A resin mat at the bottom of the printer is designed to absorb resin.

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Super! DKirch. Well describe for us. Thank you! We were all hoping a better design like Form 3. Good job.

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My pleasure! Apologies for the delayed response, but I know this is an important issue for everyone so I wanted to get it right. :slight_smile:

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This is so good to hear. Would consider trading up for this.

@DKirch I currently have a Form2 and would like to buy the Form3 later down the line in a year or 2. Is the Loyalty Discount usable after June 1st 2019?

Terrific.
Thanks for the answer. Now if you guys just made an effort for your existing customers who have no need for a processing kit once again. Just give us an extra tray or a resin bottle instead.

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@DKirch Thanks for the replies in this thread. Any chance on some closeup glamour shots of printed parts? Side-by-sides showing off how much better Form 3 results are vs. Form 2 might help loosen some wallets here.

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Same thing here. I see increased reliability (theoretically… I still dont’ trust Formlabs with close-loop sensor systems) and slightly better quality (unsubstantiated), reduced supports density (no metric), yet no increase in print time, almost no change in print volume. Despite the seemingly drastic changes in the light engine, for the end user it seems more like a Form 2.5. For a new buyer the 3 is a no brainer, but I don’t see any need to the Form 2s we have currently.

Not that it’s an issue TBH. We’re happy with our Form 2 and we’ve been lucky that we didn’t have too many sensors issues… thing is, I would love to upgrade to a more reliable machine with less maintenance, but this alone isn’t enough to justify the purchase.

Very interesting news !

With the new flexible tank and the way it is printing, does that mean it will be eliminating / reducing the peel force at each layer?

As I can see from the Form 3L demo where the parts is placed square / perpendicular to the build plate where previously its not advisable.

If so, effectively the Form 3 will have a bigger build volume than Form 2 without orientating the parts at an angle?

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To be fair, while it is generally not advised it is definitely possible to print surfaces parallel or normal to the BP with the Form 2. Also the print in the Form 3L video is rounded inside so the part is well self-support where there are no supports and without seeing more of the model I would bet that is would print fine on the Form 2 as well (with scaling of course).

Great question! Those are coming soon and as soon as I have them I’ll make sure they’re very visible here for everyone!

i would love to have one but ill consider to buy another form 2 instead form 3. Why?

first of all, compatibility… i guess that form 3 uses different resin tanks. i Have 10 tanks storing resin and switching to another system will be pain in the ass. The main reason i have a formlabs form 2 instead of a chineese dlp brand is the confort and that beautifull family of products (main printed- tanks-cartridges all integrated in a solid module).

Then prize, but more important, form 2 is Outstanding !! I dont get crazy removing supports and the failure ratio is sooooo low… Is form3 worth? mmmm… i dont think so… I run a small company and only with form 2 i sell 1k USD per month in prints… maybe if i get bigger… but Buying another form 2 is tempting