With resin printing, there is an art to doing manual supports and proper orientation. Sometimes, more is not the right solution. Keep in mind that with SLA printing, there is a constant tug of war between the build plate, FEP, and weight of the print. Have you joined the FormLabs Reddit or Facebook groups? Usually very helpful printer communities out there.
Appreciate the comment. Formlabs themselves could not do the prints either and made a bunch of excuses. We are using this for industrial applications and can’t afford for the machine to not work and waste thousands of dollars in resin and time.
@@davelelonek5598 yeah I get that. The form labs is a production machine, however each component needs to be prototyped and dialed in if not working after first print. What other resin. printers have you used before the FL?
@@AdventuresonZero our needs are prototypes and tooling. We can’t print 10 of something in the hopes one will come out ok. I’m looking at others now since this is trash.
Wow. I thought formlabs was the best resin printer. I used to send parts to a print service with Form 2s and they also steuggled with failed prints about 50% of the time. He had me model in some supports. So then which resin printer works for you?
I've owned 8x Form 2's and now 3x Form 3's, the part issues OP shows are weird, never seen anything like it. Something is likely up with his machine, and debugging the problem won't be fun but in this case I'm guessing its mechanical somehow. The warping is common in FDM but not in SLA, as SLA printers do not really rely on heat other than to increase the viscosity of the resin. OP should work with support and hopefully they can get this sorted.
@@davelelonek5598 wow, I've decided to not go the resin route. I had formlabs send me some sample prints to evaluate. . They were sticky gummy, I thought they were not cured fully So I put them out in the sun for a couple of hours and now they are gummy and yellowed...ugh. I Ned mechanical parts, so I'm sticking with fdm until SLS has a large enough print volume for under $6k all in. Micronics looks ok but too small and those machines look like they will be full of problems the first year or two.
the resin isn't always the best, may not be the printer. check your resin. Went threw 3 clear resins before I found one that works. Also exposure time varies from resin to resin.
Looks like potentially you got a lemon printer I've had 2 Form 3B's for years with no issues with distortion or chunks missing. For your larger parts potentially it could be the orientation or even that the part itself is too heavy? -- I can attest to that the premium support/service is worth it to be able to talk to a real person rather than an email chain. I'm sorry that you're having this experience -- I'd push to get a NEW printer rather than a refurbished printer. Have used Formlabs products for over 4 years for everything from medtech parts to minatures to jewelry without any problems.
@@davelelonek5598 have you tried hollowing out the larger parts in chitubox with the infill and then saving as stl file & then trying to print it out on the form 3+?
A resin printer, and especially the Formlabs, is simply not suited for the parts you're showing. It's best at printing organic shaped, thin and detailed parts. Thick, solid, flat parts simply don't work. If you're still considering a resin printer because of the surface quality needed I would highly recommend getting a bunch of test prints done.
I looked into Nexa3D and they seemed to have failed as well but for different reasons. The Form did print some good parts and all of a sudden went bad (same part, same file, same material). Seems clear they are not reliable
Assuming this is your first resin printer?
With resin printing, there is an art to doing manual supports and proper orientation. Sometimes, more is not the right solution. Keep in mind that with SLA printing, there is a constant tug of war between the build plate, FEP, and weight of the print. Have you joined the FormLabs Reddit or Facebook groups? Usually very helpful printer communities out there.
Appreciate the comment. Formlabs themselves could not do the prints either and made a bunch of excuses. We are using this for industrial applications and can’t afford for the machine to not work and waste thousands of dollars in resin and time.
@@davelelonek5598 yeah I get that. The form labs is a production machine, however each component needs to be prototyped and dialed in if not working after first print. What other resin. printers have you used before the FL?
@@AdventuresonZero our needs are prototypes and tooling. We can’t print 10 of something in the hopes one will come out ok. I’m looking at others now since this is trash.
Wow. I thought formlabs was the best resin printer. I used to send parts to a print service with Form 2s and they also steuggled with failed prints about 50% of the time. He had me model in some supports. So then which resin printer works for you?
I’m looking for a replacement now.
@@davelelonek5598 phrozen has a new printer. 14k medium size for about $1k.
I've owned 8x Form 2's and now 3x Form 3's, the part issues OP shows are weird, never seen anything like it. Something is likely up with his machine, and debugging the problem won't be fun but in this case I'm guessing its mechanical somehow. The warping is common in FDM but not in SLA, as SLA printers do not really rely on heat other than to increase the viscosity of the resin. OP should work with support and hopefully they can get this sorted.
@@CodySmith they sent a
Refurbished machine then another new. They also printed in house and same issues. Company walked away at that point.
@@davelelonek5598 wow, I've decided to not go the resin route. I had formlabs send me some sample prints to evaluate. . They were sticky gummy, I thought they were not cured fully So I put them out in the sun for a couple of hours and now they are gummy and yellowed...ugh. I Ned mechanical parts, so I'm sticking with fdm until SLS has a large enough print volume for under $6k all in. Micronics looks ok but too small and those machines look like they will be full of problems the first year or two.
the resin isn't always the best, may not be the printer. check your resin. Went threw 3 clear resins before I found one that works. Also exposure time varies from resin to resin.
I’m throwing out the printer and getting a more capable machine
@@davelelonek5598 what are y getting? i was thinking on formlab but now...
@@davelelonek5598 dont throw it away!! i'll take it!!
Looks like potentially you got a lemon printer I've had 2 Form 3B's for years with no issues with distortion or chunks missing. For your larger parts potentially it could be the orientation or even that the part itself is too heavy? -- I can attest to that the premium support/service is worth it to be able to talk to a real person rather than an email chain. I'm sorry that you're having this experience -- I'd push to get a NEW printer rather than a refurbished printer. Have used Formlabs products for over 4 years for everything from medtech parts to minatures to jewelry without any problems.
They sent a refurb and then a new. Problems with all.
@@davelelonek5598 are you having problems with all of the resins or just a few?
@@davelelonek5598 have you tried hollowing out the larger parts in chitubox with the infill and then saving as stl file & then trying to print it out on the form 3+?
@@Generate-3D all but some better then others
@@Generate-3D I don’t want hollow parts.
A resin printer, and especially the Formlabs, is simply not suited for the parts you're showing. It's best at printing organic shaped, thin and detailed parts. Thick, solid, flat parts simply don't work. If you're still considering a resin printer because of the surface quality needed I would highly recommend getting a bunch of test prints done.
I looked into Nexa3D and they seemed to have failed as well but for different reasons. The Form did print some good parts and all of a sudden went bad (same part, same file, same material). Seems clear they are not reliable