What is the LIFE TIME of printed parts?

If I print a 6" statue on the Form2, paint it and sell it, do I have to worry about the thing becoming brittle and falling apart after a couple years??

And is there a recommended resin for long life.?

Most plastics tend to become more brittle with UV exposure and acrylic-type plastics are no exception. Use anti-UV undercoat before painting and you’ll be fine.

I am not aware of any Formlabs resin being better for long-term use, AFAIK they are all equivalent. For figures I would use Grey however, as it will be the best to bring out small details.

Parts are likely to become a bit more brittle with continuous UV exposure, though not to a degree that they’ll begin falling apart. We had a Tough Resin part outside for over a year and subjectively there wasn’t a significant change in mechanical properties.

I made a tub drain filter for a shower that has been subjected to daily water, soap, etc for 8 months now and no wear at all.

We printed an entire countertop water filtration system. 12 parts in total, includes threading and parts “glued” together using resin and UV. The entire thing, except the filtration media (carbon and some other proprietary media) was printed on the Form 2. It has been subjected to demo’s 3-5 days a week for almost a year. Printed entirely in tough, it has withstood a lot of manhandling and remains 100% in-tact, leak free.

EDIT: It goes without saying…we do not drink the water. :slight_smile:

I have Black v1 house numbers that have been VHB’d to the South–East face of my house outside for over two years, including sun, wind, rain, and snow. I haven’t tested their material properties, but they are sitting there happily, it seems.

From my experience they should last a very long time. That is, unless you drop one! They get very brittle if they haven’t been painted. Drop a part straight from curing and it will bounce. Drop it after it has set on my desk for 6 months and it breaks like glass!

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