Resin 3D Printing Wasn't What I Expected. AT ALL.

After years of exclusively using FDM or filament-based 3D printers, I finally took the plunge and tried out resin 3D printing for the first time...

In this video I'm going to share what it was like, my conclusions about it, and whether or not you too should consider getting a resin 3D printer.

🎥 IN THIS VIDEO: 🎥
00:00 Introduction
02:19 Unboxing My Anycubic Photon Mono 2
03:50 Setting Up
05:12 Let's Start Printing
07:19 Washing Using The Wash & Cure Machine
10:12 Curing Using The Wash & Cure Machine
11:45 Let's Print More Stuff!
13:00 My Experience
16:55 Conclusion

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[Gamersbstfrind]

I got to say, this video was scuffed, in the best way possible. A lot of 3D printing youtubers do their videos in a way where it seems like they are perfect everytime. And whilebthats beneficial whenbthe goal is just to communicate information, i really appreciate this more realistic look into the process. Because i think its very evident that your experience here is way more similar to what any of us would actually experience using resin for the first time, and you dont really get those expectations from other videos. I appreciate the sincerity of everything in this video

[blacknovella]

I will give you my prespective.. i was an FDM guy, built my printers did my own firmware etc. I wanted to try resin so i got a mars 2 pro. I loved the detail, so much so it got me into painting, and now i have 4 resin machines, 1 mars 3 pro, 1 sat 2, 1 phenom forge, 1 m3 max. I dont use FDM anymore for anything. It def changed my life. Like seriously. I paint for majority of my income now.

[justinchamberlin]

I started my own resin printing journey a few weeks ago, and I prepared by watching a ton of videos and reading a ton of articles on suggestions for beginners - having a silicone work mat, having a big funnel to put those paint filters in when straining out resin or the wash liquid, using a hair dryer to get the alcohol off the print prior to post-curing, and having a room air purifier have all made things go quite smoothly. Also a big plus, though I don't know if it's always recommended for beginners, was getting a flex plate instead of having to chisel prints off of the stock build plate. For what it's worth, having the room air purifier and a box of disposable nitrile gloves has made me feel safe enough, though my intent one day is to put the resin printer inside a grow tent (possibly with some minor heating if needed) that is ventilated outdoors to really keep the fumes to a minimum.

I got a Phrozen Sonic Mini 4K and the smaller Anycubic Wash & Cure station, and have so far printed with just two different resins: SirayaTech Blu Clear V2 and Elegoo ABS-Like Gray...the differences have been quite interesting so far, with the Blu being quite a bit more viscous and having a much stronger smell and the Elegoo resin needing a lot more work to get the exposure settings dialed in just right. I've done a few D&D miniatures, some jewelry-type items, and even a lithophane, something I tried and failed at with my Ender 3 a few years ago.

I'm looking forward to trying to make much more than simple decorative pieces. Things I've read suggest mixing a flexible resin (such as SirayaTech Tenacious) with standard resins really helps improve the overall toughness of prints, whether for miniatures/terrain that see a lot of use or the more functional kinds of prints that are currently still the domain of FDM printers. I'm also having to constantly talk myself out of getting a small electric furnace and/or an electroplating setup (shoutout to Hen3Drik) so I can make metal jewelry with the resin printer...I'm probably one of the small number of people that would rather melt zinc or copper to make solid metal jewelry than try and paint something.

All in all, great video! It's important for people looking to get into a hobby like this one that things won't always go according to plan and that troubleshooting is part of the learning process.

[swdw]

First- excellent video. I'm glad you showed the issues you had.

For anyone watching this, it's worth spending rime watching videos on exposure and supports. Exposure first. The recommended default settings may or may not work depending on your room temperature. The further you are below 25 C, the longer the exposure time you need. The best way to determine this is using the "Cones of Calibration V2." Do a search example to find them.

As for resins, all resins have different exposure times based on the manufacturer. Often the deviations are more than you see between manufacturers with the same type of filament. Then there are significant changes in exposure based on the resin type. Similar to the changes between filament types. ANY change in resin requires testing your exposure at a minimum.

Try printing pre-supported models first as the automatic supports in most slicers can be hit or miss and you'll get frustrated by the support failures.

Everything else he talks about regarding ventilation, safety, etc., is spot on.

[christurner]

I bought my first resin printer this past winter, and once I got over the cold basement issues with a heating pad, it's been great. I have both the Anycubic Mono 4K and the Wash and Cure station and they've both been great. I just installed the flexible buildplate and the prints come out great. I love it for things that I need in detail and the quality is just astonishing. I still use my Ender 3 a ton more but the Mono 4K is an absolutely great printer

[bttvocalist]

you just gained a shit load of respect from me. Thank you for being up front and transparent about the bias in the video. Personally. I dont think it takes away from what is clearly displayed, personally. However, your clarity speaks volumes on your character and how you view your work. Definitely subscribed and excited to see more vid's. Thanks again.

[davidfigueroa]

I've got both, and there's a ton of stuff to learn and work with the resin printers. Just like FDM, each resin is really unique in exposure times, light off times, etc. I will say this - get better resins. The higher quality resins do not have the strong odors that the cheaper ones do. I'm partial to the Elegoo ABS Like resins.. low odor, very strong, and easy to print with. good luck!

[Luptonium]

My wife prints with resin. She loves it. But she worked with UV resin before 3d printing was a thing. Also it's not just for miniatures, it's more dimensionally accurate than fdm due to the smaller layer lines, so I feel you will find it fits in with what you typically print nicely.

[herculeholmes]

A word about 3D resin printing safety: It's not _that_ bad, but I would very much recommend to anyone who wants to get into 3D resin printing to first make sure that there is good ventilation and *extraction.* An open door or window won't help much if the fumes aren't actually being sucked out. I had no problem with my old Elegoo Mars 3 which is quite a small printer, but I immediately experienced toxic effects from the fumes when I replaced it with the bigger Elegoo Saturn 2. Don't take chances with your health or the health of anyone else who may be exposed to the fumes. Don't rely on a carbon filter; I've not seen any evidence yet that a carbon filter - even a big proper one - will remove VOC's.


A mask is fine, but the bigger problem with 3D resin printing is that if the printer is inside the home, the heavier-than-air VOC fumes will slowly build up over the course of a few hours and you may begin to experience toxic effects. I certainly do. My solution was to move my printer outside into a shed away from the house (still a WIP - I'll have to slap together a DIY insulated and heated cupboard if I want to run it during the Winter months) but for those people who have no option but to print inside the home, grow-tents are recommended by some people, and I found out about a pretty cool device called a *hydroxyl generator* which neutralizes VOC's in an enclosed space. They're not cheap though.

[jormungand]

I have only ever used a resin printer, and I love it. It printed amazing quality right out of the box and with a little bit of calibration it only improved. Got some Sirayatech Tenacious to mix with my standard Elegoo grey, and now I have a ton of range of durability for all my needs. I still have yet to try dyes or clear resin though, but really want to because there are quite a few things I would like to do with them (I mostly print scale model kit parts).
Sure, I would like to have a FDM printer for larger less detailed things, but I have heard a LOT of people give up printing because they couldnt calibrate their FDM printer properly. That would never be an issue for me since I have plenty of time and determination, but it still makes it sound like FDM printing is much harder than resin printing, which worked for me right out of the box with no issue.
The two things I would invest in for resin printing are; ultrasonic cleaner, and a UV light with a uv powered lazy susan. And 90%+IPA or a degreaser like Zep Fast 505 or Mean Green (much cheaper than IPA and works almost as well for most all resins, clear resins work better with IPA.)
when using the ultrasonic cleaner, all you really need is a small jewelry one that can hold water to then put a larger container into to hold your IPA that you put your parts in. dont have to use a ton of IPA, just enough to submerge the print. So just use a container that fits your print. the IPA can also be cleaned by letting the resin settle then curing it with UV light, then filtering it out with a coffee filter.
I also recommend a second build plate, a flex flex plate for each, and an extra vat with storage lids for both. Makes it so you have almost no downtime between prints while you swap the plates out or even swap to a different type of resin. and the flex plate lets me print perfectly flat things like miniature bases, coins, , keychains and such; and getting a perfectly smooth flat bottom that comes off the plate with ease and no damage from the putty knife.

[Aikano]

This video format is excellent for this type of video, great job!

I’m considering getting a resin printer, but the fume extraction, high toxicity, and space and cleanliness required are sort of a problem, I think I’d want a large enclosed desk with a massive silicone desk surface, and walls a roof and a door, as well as fume extraction and/or a really good air scrubber, there’s not enough space for that now unfortunately

[TheAleksanderB]

I have also recently got my hands on a SLA printer. I got mine from Elegoo and the quality is exceptional with some caviats. I totally agree with you that it is a mess, even other YouTubers are warning about this. If you are careful enough and clean any spillage after each print, it is fine and not that toxic. I am even thinking to get an air purifier for the space that I am using the printer.

Other tips I can share:
- Get silicon covers for the surfaces infront and around the printer. They will save your workbench from the resin and you can easily toss them outside on the sun for a few hours to clean them more easily.
- Get paper towels. I use them on top of the silicon covers when I am moving the prints out of the bed and also cleaning any remaining resin from the tank after transfering the resin back to the bottle and run the clean tank exposure.
- Get plastic cups that can contain around 300-500ml of liquid. I use those for when I need to transfre the excess resin from the tank to the bottle or clean the washing station.
- Try washable resin. I have ordered a few bottles to test it out. They advertise it as nearly odourless, safer and easy to wash with tap water. By the way, depending on what resin you use and how big the objects are the IPA can be used for up to 30 prints.

[logicalfundy]

I'm really bad with messy things and I definitely don't want to be handling toxic stuff . . . so not for me. I'm also the kind of person who is into more functional prints and am not too concerned about layer lines and such, so I'll be sticking with FDM personally. Although a word about reliability: Most of the unreliability really stems from badly built printers. Something like the Ender 3 is very cheap, but it's also terribly built, and I ended up replacing a bunch of parts to make it reliable. If I were to buy another printer, I'd bite the bullet and buy a Prusa. They're known to be great workhorses and they're open source so I can make it my own.

[the_arcanum]

It's always interesting to see how a newcomer experiences first time resin printing. What always gets me on Youtube is how the noxious vapors problem is presented. Depending of the brand, yes, liquid resin can stink. But honestly, the respiratory risk you may encounter with UV resin is WHEN IT'S PRINTING, not just in its uncured or cured state. So it's a good thing the printing chamber is sealed during printing and now printers are sold with active carbon filters inside just for that. The VOC cartridge mask is unnecessary just to fill up the vat. Nitrile gloves (latex won't do) on the other hand are always always mandatory.

BUT there's one moment when putting that mask is necessary: it's when you start handling liters of Isopropyl alcohol to clean the parts. That volume of alcohol can be fairly detrimental to your health, give nausea, headaches and implies a very well ventilated area. Note, Jonathan is not using his mask at that moment when it would be most useful. The solvent handling part of the post processing to me is the main hassle of UV resin printing. IPA is costly, a respiratory hazard, is a pain to recycle or dispose of when it becomes mixed with resin as a cleaning solution but offers the best cleaning possible, industrial degreasers or methylated spirits being close seconds. And none of them are risk free to handle or easy to recycle.

To reduce cost, I'm using ethanol (aka methylated spirits) for the 1st cleaning bath and IPA for the finish one. The print gets enclosed in a sealed thin plastic tub with the iPA and floated in water for 6mn max in an ultrasonic cleaner with the heat off and always supervised. That's the same way mechanical parts can be cleaned with flammable solvents in a ultrasonic cleaner btw (don't leave them for long, always be present, always put them in a sealed container immersed in water). Parts always come out squeaky clean with crisp details. Remember, you can get a print from a high definition printer but if there's still residue on it because it wasn't cleaned enough, it's going to mar the details of the finished product.

[damonfecitt]

I'm trying to find a gift for my teenage D&D gamer kids and thought this would be fun. I appreciate your well rounded review! I wasn't thinking about the toxic fumes and materials for where they'd do this. You've given me a lot to consider and if the Pros outweigh the Cons. Thank you!

[richfpv]

Quick tip for you, if you put more IPA in your wash station it doesn't smash your prints about, and let your print dry before post curing. Hope you keep it up mate, great video

[Dprintyou]

Great video. I still remember myfirst experience with resin printers. I started with the anycubic photon mono when it was first released, a whopping 2K machine. I now have 3 resin printers including the new 12K phrozen. I have 4 FDM printers and I honestly dont have a preferred way to print. It all depends on what I want to accomplish in the end. Resin has way more clean up than FDM but as you said it takes more time to tweak the prints to get good prints. Definitely now with the new Bambulabs that has drastically changed. Education is the key to resin printing. There are definitely concerns but you just educate yourself. I dont think a full respirator is necessary. I find the IPA is far more of an issue breathing in than the resin. I will never handle resin bare handed but havent found the need for a full respirator, I do wear a mask at all times, at least an N95 rated mask not just a dust mask that they send with the printers. Definitely get the small filters as they help immensely with the smell, I use 2 in my Phrozen printer which is now my go to resin printer. The new resins coming out don't smell as bad either and you can get water washable one as well. The wash and cure systems are a must. On you anycubic cure station you can bend the top portion of the UV bar after you remove the vat to increase the efficacy of the cure.

Love the video and your style!

Oh and Jonathan dont let your mom do resin printing!
😅

[grahamlockley]

Keep playing with resin, I'm happy to watch your excellent vids and learn from your experience, Oh and i can learn a lot whilst avoiding exposure to the fumes :)

[simoncuartasescobar]

Amazing video! I consider that it is a very objective analysis, and you make your opinions very clear as personal. By the way, excellent format for "my experience", incredibly funny.

[esurfrider]

Heheh, it’s always fun watching noobs do resin 3D printing for the first time, having already gone through the hoops myself, now every print comes out nearly every time. Let me offer a couple of useful tips for anycubic resin printing. Before starting that very first print, what everyone must do (but they don’t tell you in the manual) 1) apply a release agent to the inside of the resin vat fep. This is the reason for your first 2 print failures and more failures will occur if you don’t regularly apply release agent to the fep, I do this every time after each print, it’s just a part of clean up process. 2) don’t fill the vat to the max level, just use an amount appropriate to your part to make cleanup easier. 3) anycubic photon slicer requires all models to be sliced in anycubic’s photon slicer mine uses a .pwma file format but they maybe different for your specific printer. If you want to use chitubox or lychee which I do absolutely recommend for generating supports, you’ll want to save the model with the supports as an .stl file and then import it into photon slicer for final slicing, if you slice with any other slicer, your prints will fail (or never even begin) at least this is how it was when I got started a year ago and I haven’t bothered to check if that’s been fixed) but if you run into any problems with that just remember to try and slice only with anycubic’s proprietary slicing software and you will be good to go. And finally 4) the best advice I can give with supports is rotate your models so that they are not parallel to any of the 3 axis and orientate your model with the side you want to be the cleanest opposite the build plate clear of supports. Lastly, there are some tips worth mentioning for cleanup, but this is getting a bit long, go ahead and let me know if you want those as well! Thanks for the video bro! Good luck!