Beginners guide to resin printing

Resin 3D Printer Technical Help
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I would like share my thoughts and what I have learned over the last 6 weeks. I’m not an expert, but now very comfortable with this process.

Things everyone should buy before you print anything.

Warning :- The trash in this container has nasty chemicals, so don’t leave around if you have small children or animals who might go poking around. Chemical burns are not pleasant! Waterbased resin are much better, less smell, less burns BUT still highly toxic.

  • When you do your recycling don’t dispose of your used paper towels with the other house hold paper because they often have nasty chemicals on them. You don’t want your partner or children to touch these waste products. This waste needs to go to your hazardous waste center,

Setting Up your printer
Step 0
Place the silicon mat on a table which does not have any direct light & then place your printer on the silicon mat! The silicon mat makes cleanup much easier because you will get drips on the table.

Step 1.
Remove the vat/tank and place on your desk.
Now place a piece of paper under on the display and press the home button to move the printer bed down onto the display. The plate will slowly move down on top of the paper. Gently try to remove the piece of paper. It should slide out evenly. If one side of the paper pulls easier than the other you must level the plate! Unscrew the bolts, and now press firmly on the build plate and carefully tighten the bolts.

Use the controls to move the build plate up, reposition the paper and then press the home button again. Test if the paper is nicely clamped and pulls out evenly. Repeat if the paper still does not pull out evenly.

Step 2
Move the build plate higher using the up button. Now place you print vat/tank in position and screw firmly into place. Just finger & thumb tight…

Step 3
Put on your gloves and safety glasses, give the resin a bottle a good shake and pour into the vat/tank but don’t overfill leave 1/4" from the top!!! When the print bed lowers into the resin it will displace about 1/8" of the resin which is why you must never overfill the vat/tank.

Step 4
When we buy a new resin printer we all want to create interesting objects.

But I think you should first do a exposure validation test becomes it saves you lots of time & money going forward. I wasted a lot of resin and caused my self lots of frustration because I thought I could just use some default settings for resin exposure. I assumed the manufacture of the resin provided a reasonable estimate, but I did not understand these times are often based on the RGB technology displays.

This exposure test take about 12 minutes per test and can be used on any resin printer with any resin. Download the test object and watch the video. Its so simple to compare the holes & posts and then adjust the layer exposure up or down based on the test object.

How to use Validation Matrix (Tyler Schubert)

My mono printer only requires around 2 seconds per layer for all the resins I have tried! Your machine may be different!

Printing you first real object
Step 5
Select object you want to print, use your slicing software to prepare the object for printing. Most objects have a side which will never be seen, orientate the model so most of your supports will build into this surface. Models are normally orientated 25 > 45 degrees so the printer prints the model evenly per layer (smallest surface area). Then export the exposure slices to your USB stick.

Double check your build plate & VAT/tank is secure. If you forget to tighten the vat or build plate the print will fail! Nothing worse than an over night print to find you did something silly.

Place the UV hood over the machine and select the model you intend to print. The build plate will move down and expose each layer. Typically a few hours to many hours depending on the height of the model.

Step 6
When your object is complete, remove the UV hood on the printer and the wash & cure station. Take care when handling the UV covers for the printer & wash & cure station, remember your gloves often have nasty chemicals on them that can make a mess on the UV covers. I tend to only handle these once I have removed my gloves and washed my hands. The UV covers are easily damaged, so place on the floor or table with care. I have cracked one of mine because I placed on the tile floor a little too hard.

Put on your nitrile gloves and safety glasses.
Tear off a few pieces of paper towel and place in front of the printer.

Step 7
Add methal hydrate or IPA into one of your pickle containers. This will be your dirty cleaning container.

Add MrClean or Simple Green into your second container OR your wash & cure container. (Some users use IPA in the second wash container)

Step 8
Remove the build plate from the machine place on the kitchen towel. Using the metal scraper that came with your machine in your dominate hand & hold the build plate firmly. Slide the scraper under the printed object. It can sometimes be tricky to pry the object off the print plate.

Step 9
Leave the supports on the object, now wash the printed object in your first container of IPA or Methal Hydrate. I use a brush or tooth brush and lightly scrub the side of the print which has no supports trying to remove resin in the detailed areas. When I’m using water based resin I find a quick 10 > 15 second bath removes almost all the resin. Normal resin might need a few minutes in the first tank.
DO NOTE SMOKE and ALWAYS uses safety gloves. A mask is a good idea.

Do NOT touch your skin when you are wearing the gloves because some resin do nasty chemical burns. One time when removing gloves I did not notice the resin on my wrist and the chemical burn was painful for a few days!

Step 10
Now place the object into the second tank and give it a good wash. I use a wash & cure station so normally put it on a 10 minute cycle. You might need to lightly scrub with a tooth brush detailed areas.

I use Mr Green or simply green in the second tank because it’s easy to find and inexpensive and is not flammable. Some people use IPA or Methal hydrate in both wash tanks.

Step 11
I now wash the object in hot water, hot enough to be slightly uncomfortable with gloves on. The supports can now be easily removed with a gentle action. Place the supports in your plastic recycle bucket.

If you plan to do objects with lots of fine detail, an ultrasonic cleaner works really well, and I use this for the 3rd wash.

Step 12
Put the object on clean paper towel and let dry OR use a hair dryers on cool setting to speed up the process. The object may be slightly sticky because it needs curing.

Step 13
Place in your curing station or place outside on a sunny day. Most objects only need a few minutes to cure.

Step 14
If the print was successful the vat/Tank should be clean with no debris! You can check using the silicon scraper by very carefully brushing the bottom of the vat. NEVER EVER use a metal scraper in the resin tank!!! The plastic FEP is delicate and easily damaged.

Step 15
Everyone experiences failed prints and parts stuck to the FEP sheet in the resin tank! Don’t panic it’s simple process.

Make sure you have your gloves & safety glass on. Place your resin bottle on the desk, place a silicon funnel into the resin bottle & a paint strainer to prevent any debris going into your resin bottle. Very carefully pour the resin from the vat into your bottle. Use a silicon scrapper to wipe any surplus into the paint strainer.

Put the lid on the resin bottle!!! It’s too easy to knock it over which creates a real mess, but you then understand the value of a silicon mat which has a ridge around the edge!

Now wipe the metal part of the vat with a paper towel. DO NOT touch the FEP sheet!!!

Use a alcoholic wipe to clean the fep sheet.

Next I use my finger on the underside of the fep sheet and very gentle massage any stuck resin from behind. Often this is all it takes to remove the resin and just a another alcoholic wipe and you are ready to print again.

Some times resin is stuck very firmly to the fep sheet. In this case I pour a little clean IPA into the vat and scrub lightly with a paint brush trying to work IPA under the edge of the stuck resin. Sometimes I try a very gently push on the back side of the FEP.

If it’s really bad I will leave the IPA i the vat for a few minutes.

Never scrape the FEP sheet! Don’t try to pry stuck resin off with a finger nail!

Slow gentle manipulation is all that is required. Remember the FEP sheet is easily damaged. Even a pin hole in a fep sheet makes a real mess of your display & printer.

If you do damage a FEP sheet, don’t panic, they are easy to replace. Its a skill you will need to learn. FEP sheets are a consumable item.

Enjoy your hobby…

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Excellent write up! I’ve wondered what the procedures are for resin printing. That having been said, I’m now thoroughly convinced I don’t want one.

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Very well done here. I dont have a resin printer, but humour the idea one day. This gives me a good idea of what i may expect and want to be aware of when that day comes.

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The quality of the prints makes it worth the effort for complex parts. But it does require space and a dedicate area. I was on the fence for a long while… FDM printing is easier but surface finish and lack of detail is the drawback. It honestly depends on what you want to produce.

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Thank you, I have watched endless excellent videos, but thought a summary might help some people. Lots of forums, you see the same questions asked. Being able to print small intricate part with a good surface finish is nice.

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Awesome write up! I’ve got to try some of your tricks.

The hot water for support removal sounds brilliant, I’ve never tried that.
I’ve also never tried massaging the back of the fep to remove a failed print, I could have used that this morning!

Just curious if you’ve noticed a difference cleaning with IPA compared to MeanGreen/SimplyGreen?
I use IPA now but I want to try something other than IPA for cleaning.

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Hi TurkeyOnRye, the hot water wash makes support removal super easy and reduces damage to the object. I live in a rural area, finding IPA is hard and very expensive. I recently found Methal Hydrate available for DIY & Canadian tire is in-expensive $11 for 4 litres and is similar chemically to IPA.
I like the Mr Green or Simply green for the second wash because its easy to find & inexpensive. IPA or methal hydrate “might” be a little better, but I don’t like using highly flammable liquids.

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Even in the city IPA has been tricky and expensive to source locally, thats the main reason I want to switch off of it.

Thanks for the input!
I think I’ll try out methal hydrate next it seems fairly easy source locally.

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From what I have read, Methal Hydrate is targeted at industry application and is less refined than IPA. It also does not evaporate as quickly and tends to have a more drying effect on the skin. You should avoid ALL skin contact and should be used with great care!

Isopropyl alcohol, frequently used as a solvent and a disinfectant, has less severe toxicity than methanol, but can also cause poisoning.

Both catch fire very easily and toxic, so need to be stored and used carefully if you have children or pets.

Both are toxic and should only be used with nitrile gloves.
I have switched to more heavy duty gloves when handling the first wash. I like the fact they can be re-used and longer than medical gloves if I need to put my hand deep in the first container. The longer glove length really protects the wrist area from splashes!

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Just for reference:

http://websites.retailcatalog.us/1424/mm/isopropyl-alcohol.pdf

neither should go down a drain. No resin or resin contaminated things should either, or in garbage. It complicates the resin printing in Canada. It is what stops me.

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Thank you kitemon, I agree 100% So many newbie’s think water washable is the answer but that’s not true. You have to dispose of your water the same way to protect the environment. I change the oil on my car myself, so taking a larger container of cleaning water & chemicals to our hazardous waste center is not a big deal.

Isopropyl Alcohol is a bit safer, but still toxic.

3D Resin datasheet is also NOT a pleasant read…
Typical 3D resin safety sheet.

Typical Water Washable is slightly less toxic but you must follow the same safety procedures.

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I looked at resin SDS some are slightly better than others but none are non toxic. I work with chemicals everyday. The advise of a chemical worker, read the SDS. Ignorance is dangerous. Knowledge is how chemicals are safe. SDS are the instructions of how to handle chemicals safely, why people refuse to read them is beyond me.

I wonder if you could safely evaporate effluent and cure the remaining resin and have a solid for disposal rather than a liquid?

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I think water wash is likely worse environmentally . I would guess many use wash sinks and don’t collect effluent. Or if they do the volume is much larger, 11$ a gallon will keep the volume to a dull roar.

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Thank you for raising this important issue! So many of us do this as a fun hobby and don’t think enough of the chemical hazards.

You can recycle the IPA or methal hydrate by allowing it to settle and use a Turkey baster to remove the upper part of the liquid, Then use a coffee strainer to filter the large particles. I created a 3D model which helps strain liquid more efficiently if anyone wants this if they want to make one on a FDM printer.

The sludge that remains will harden in sunlight then its easier to take to the hazardous waste center.

The waster water can be left to evaporate. But I’m always concerned that some pet or animal might drink from the container.

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@sgspenceley I am very glad you feel the same. It is an important issue and something that needs to be taken seriously. FDM has its own hazards too it is not like it is a 100% safe alternative. The only advantage is that the filament and the print have the same issues and generally are low to no toxicity. It is the printing part that is the issue.

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@sgspenceley @kitedemon @LEGOManiac

Very True MSDS Sheets label Many things Dangerous!!

Here’s one most of us have to deal with on a daily basis!! and almost No one wears PPE’s around it!

dihydrogen oxide MSDS
https://www.dhmo.org/facts.html

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I laughed way to hard reading this MSDS. It’s accurate too :rofl:

“V 4: TOXICITY DATA (Continued)
Skin : Has been known to cause temporary wrinkling of skin.”
:joy: :rofl:

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LOL the sheet is out of date. So something may have changed…

I still drink it however

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They goofed on a couple of occasions:

Ingestion : Ingestion of large quantities may result in excessive micturation.

They left out the part about excessive water consumption being fatal.

INCOMPATIBILITY: May cause corrosion of ferrous alloys. Avoid contact with all electrical equipment.

Water is actually an insulator, but it’s also a “universal solvent”. It’s the dissolved impurities in water that actually conduct the electricity.

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yes lego especially at 100% purity.

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