Which resin to chose for toys?

I printed the 3DBenchy as my first print and the kids let it fall only once and it already broke. This was printed with Standard Resin Black v4.

Which resin would you recommend for printing these kind fo things if the kids want to play with it without it breaking after falling just one time.

Though? Durable? … I can’t decide which one to order…

Durable resin for sure. But I’m not so sure these resins are safe for small kids?!

They aren’t going to put it in their mouth or anything. They are old enough to not do that anymore.
Should be safe, no?

Durable for sure. It is literally impossible to break, although it will deform.

The downside is that Durable can’t be used for very small, intricate parts or big parts with small wall thickness. For small parts or if you need fine details while still getting a relatively durable part then Tough is a good choice. Tough gets stiffer after post-curing, but also a but more brittle, so I’d cure it only partially or not at all to improve it’s shock resistance.

To note that proper post curing is absolutely necessary with Durable and highly recommended with Tough. Your need UV and temp for proper curing and exposure to the sun will not do the trick for engineering resins like it does for standard ones (Grey, White, Clear and Black).

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I would generally agree with the recommendation of Durable for toys that are likely to be dropped, thrown, or otherwise stressed. I would also like to emphasize the importance of post-curing the parts properly, not just for the mechanical properties, but to help get rid of uncured resin. None of our resins are biocompatible except the biocompatible ones, and even those are only biocompatible after a strict post-curing schedule. So, for handling by humans, it’s good to make sure your parts aren’t tacky, and it’s never a bad idea to wash hands between handling Formlabs parts and eating.

Durable for sure. It is literally impossible to break, although it will deform.

Not to be too contrarian, but I can assure you that it is quite possible to break Durable. (and we measure it in the lab). Formlabs has yet to release an Indestructible or Nigh-Invulnerable resin. Tough resin could be good for higher-detail parts, but it is a bit less impact resistant. Grey Pro, Rigid, Elastic, and Flexible could also have roles in some kinds of toys or toy prototypes, but Durable is generally going to stand up to the harshest handling/play conditions, in my opinion.

Yeah my phrasing was a bit too absolute :stuck_out_tongue: thanks for pointing that out ! I still think the “near-indestructible” nature of Durable is advertisable for children toys (in terms of pure mechanical handling, not talking about safety/health concerns which you also warned about), I have trouble imagining a Durable part breaking when dropped or even thrown hard against any surface, which can’t be said about other resins - apart from Flexible and Elastic but they are not suitable for most part which would be printed in Durable or Tough.

We made some spacing rollers for PVC pipe on a roman shade we installed on our outdoor shade cover.

We discovered that rubbing them against a concrete pad will abrade them like a belt sander… and that a windstorm slamming the durable parts on their PVC pipe against the concrete will definitely break them.

by and large, tho- they lasted a lot longer than I expected them to.

Choosing a resin is really no different than this situation. To be more specific, I would frame my response into What are you hoping the end result to be?

I’m also recommending Durable. If color is an issue I’ve found it’s easy to color batches of the resin with Smooth On So-Strong pigments. You don’t want to use a huge amount, but it works fairly well.

Ok… so do you guys still recommend durable more than tough 1500and tough 2000?

For RC car or mini morter car as well?

Durable is probably your best bet for something like an RC car body. But RC car bodies take a significant amount of abuse in the typical and oh-so-common crashes that occur. Unless the RC car is a rock crawler that won’t ever go more than 5 ot 10 MPH, no matter what you print it with it’s likely to suffer some damage in a crash.

If it’s going to be dropped and bonked around, don’t go with Tough 2000. Yes, it’s stronger, but you want a material with a bit of give so it bends instead of breaking.

Example, This is a car from Playforever for age+3 children. These age children might play this toy roughly. Looking for suituable material for toy car like Playforever.

Durable for sure. Maybe Flexible for the tires. Here’s I car I did in those materials:

It’s survived a few drops. Not indestructible, of course, but more durable than the stiffer materials.

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You could also consider ApplyLabWorks “Robust Champagne”. It’s moderately flexible at room temperature, so it’s not going to break on a floor drop. That said, as you get close to freezing it becomes pretty stiff and breakable.

Robust Champagne seems to be much like the kind of material they make sunglasses out of.