An (almost) perfect resin printing setup with one giant problem: Elegoo Mars 3 & Mercury X Bundle!
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 26 ส.ค. 2021
- Thanks to Siraya Tech for sponsoring this video! Check out their resins on Amazon go.toms3d.org/SirayaBlu or from Siraya Tech directly at siraya.tech/collections/all
Resin printers are all pretty good these days, so they can work on getting the setups polished and ironing out oversights from previous generations. But they made their plans without considering the interests of their hardware partner Chitu - and now that everyone is dependent on their parts, they want a bigger slice of the cake.
The Mars 3 and Mercury X bundle were provided by Elegoo free of charge for this review. Elegoo did not have any say in how their machines were reviewed, nor did any money change hands for making this review.
Elegoo have assured that all preorder purchases have been shipped and the machines I received are the sames ones everyone will be getting.
Read the article to this video here:
toms3d.org/2021/09/07/an-almo...
Get the machines shown:
Elegoo Mars 3 on Amazon go.toms3d.org/Mars3
Elegoo Mars on Amazon go.toms3d.org/ElegooMars
Models shown
Medusozoa Mushroom www.prusaprinters.org/prints/...
Terry the Dragon www.prusaprinters.org/prints/...
Chonky 3D print example www.prusaprinters.org/prints/...
Armel the Polar Paladin www.prusaprinters.org/prints/...
Rogue strataminiatures.com/shop/
Product links are affiliate links - I may earn a commission on qualifying purchases (at no extra cost to you)
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It should be noted that Elegoo has released official support for Lychee slicer.
you should be noted this video is from 1 year ago
@@___codeboss___short__yt8159 You should note that the information is relevant and useful.
Not a fan of Chitubox in general so I already use lychee slicer. But you don’t have to use Pro version of Chitubox to use the printer. I have a Mars 2 pro and it’s an excellent printer.
@@___codeboss___short__yt8159 I just got a printer so this is great for me.
@@___codeboss___short__yt8159 confirms that Captain Obvious can be both correct and capable of demonstrating the intellectual capacity of a very slow toddler simultaneously. Well done!
Change is a universal constant but the proliferation of relevant information does not often keep pace. Comments like yours simply prove that, no matter where you go in the galaxy, you will always find idiots in possession of a far greater sense of self-importance than what's warranted. Again, well done!
subscriptions of softwares that don't even need server usage are definitely a dealbreaker for most of makers.
Time to pirate the software. its indeed disgusting.
well, it just stopped me from buying this printer alltogether. So no money for either Elegoo nor chitubox
Nothing is free my boy lol
This particular example seems excessive, but in general subscriptions to software is entirely fair. I hope you don’t expect updates to be free.
It just encourages piracy. But the unit is really cheap for what it can do, I suppose they have to make money somehow.
I like to process my prints with Prusa and then just use Chitu to convert to CTB
"having the parts warm when curing them, supposedly also helps with strength after curing" that sounds like a premise for a pretty interesting video for sure.
Yes! I'd love to see a video that delves into that.
Check out Goobertown Hobbies video about resin chemistry. Really interesting breakdown of the mechanisms behind how 3d resin works, by a chemistry Ph.D. He clearly knows what he talks about.
th-cam.com/video/ht4tbCiFxeM/w-d-xo.html
Sounds like a topic for Stefan ;)
@@hannesw928 yes, exactly!
@ +1, was a great watch by an awesomely smart dude with pictures and stuff to boot. Might not be what OP was looking for, but good watch, none the less.
That's my Dragon!!! Thank you for printing and showing all the sexy close ups, Made my day!
It's a fantastic model, thanks for sharing it!
Great Review of the Mars 3 and wash and cure units! Also, much much appreciated bringing more attention to the Chitu Board/Slicer issues. One thing I'm excited to see coming out of this are multiple teams working on open source boards to directly compete with Chitu. Fingers crossed more changes are on the way.
Chitu is definitely giving board makers incentive!
Thomas could make a video about the open source alternatives and the open source resin printer projects! The chitubox "lockdown" is really annoying (says the guy with Formlabs printers lol, but I do have a Anycubic too..)
@@Allmentux well I hope Cura will introduce resin printing options by the time a new board with open-source format comes out.
The price of printers will go up if Chitu is out of the picture, they count on volume to keep the price low. My 2 cents.
@@vfxforge I don't care because I know someone else will enter the space with much better printers.
As much as I appreciate your videos and insights into the engineering side of things, I don't share your optimism on the purpose of cost optimization "... it means that Elgoo has more budget to spend elsewhere on the machine..." Um, yes and no: after 25+ years in marketing and product development, I can tell you that cost optimization is used to improve profits 99% of the time. Even if we consider the Mars 3 to be a "star" on the BCG-Matrix (Growth-market-share-matix) and thus in a category where you DO invest to harvest fat returns, cost optimization is the part that's financing the investment and NOT a mechanism that shifting the price-value ratio in a region that makes the product an exceptional deal (I know you didn't say that).
I will be skipping the Mars 3, and any other printer that has a "software locked" board.
same, once i buy it is mine, not a leashed product. I refuse locked in eco-systems such as this and by example apple.
This is a right to own issue. For me, even more important than to right to repair nowadays.
@@ziggystardog we need the right of ownership movement. I'm tried of this buying a license to use a product bs. I bought a complete product, not a license to build one myself to having to stick to some stupid software.
I was seriously considering the Mars 3 until hearing that. I’m so disgusted with and sick of companies trying to prevent you from fully owning the products you purchase.
"You will own nothing, and you will be happy" - Klaus Schwab
175€ every year is just disgusting and a deal breaker for me.
laughs in anycubic
Yes and for slicer looking like old win95 (basic version), tiny blue button with white icon ? Really ? i using Lychee free and it's more user friendly
thats price for a lifetime liscense for anything else... anually, like s3d is less than that for life
Yeah, that's like one Ender 3 style printer a year. For software that might change in a way we don't want without anyone being able to change it.
Where you get the 175€ lol.
"Almost three freedom sized bottles of Coke." Yup, I LOLed.
I think the best part is that the highest mark on that bucket is exactly 3½ freedom-sized bottles of Coke.
Yeah, you're not supposed to fill it all the way. Though you could!
That was a brilliant joke.
It actually took me a minute to realize this wasn't a failed metric joke but a "fat American" joke instead.
LOL right away when I heard it.
I really need a basic resin printer but I'm never signing up for a machine basically requiring 170$/year
Buy the previous model. Or a competitor. Maybe even write to Elegoo and tell them you didn't buy the Mars 3 because it's locked down.
It doesn’t “require” it, depends on your use. I’m printing mostly presupported and I can easily support on chitubox basic FOR MY USE.
If you design a lot of stl by yourself with only one print can be really limiting, but mind that once supported with the “basic” app you can print infinite copies with just one supporting job.
And the community does it since the beginning of SLA printers 😉
I’m using chitubox basic for my Mars 2 pro and I’m absolutely happy of the free version.
for 130$ more you can get the 2nd year free by buying a 2nd printer if it turns out you could use it.
At that price for chitu pro, if you really wanted it after your free year it might make more sense to buy a second one and both have 2 or flip the first one
I can definitely see that. for not much more than what your current printing experience costs, getting a 2nd printer which would improve your experience greatly seems like the better option.
You get a like for 'almost yeeting your 3d printer across the room' - a brand new sentence
My best friend's 20 year old daughter will approve this sentence. :D
Interesting video!
Soft-locking a machine to a software subscription is a really bad idea for a number of reasons so hopefully there'll be an alternative sooner or later.
Check out the Ath3na board by the Open Print Alliance (the Atlas folks).
1:10 - Amazing, the printer comes with voice recognition and is actually _printing his words_ as he speaks (left side of the image)!
Thanks for this, and for high-lighting the Chitu box licensing issue.
I'd been holding off buying a resin printer until I could order a Mars 3 (the early subscriptions are sold out as I write) .. now I can have another think about my options.
The saturn 4k accepts files from other slicers - with the current firmware at least
Thanks for putting together some great content. I’ve learnt an enormous amount from your videos.
It is still hard to read your telepromter on the Mars3 :)
I can see Prusa taking over that market with an open source slicer within 2-4 years
Just a shame that there resin is so expensive - but atleast it's not a closed circuit
I am new to 3D printing, I was dead set on buying this as my first printer until I saw this video. There is no way in hell I would ever buy a subscription like that. Hopefully I can find another printer somewhere else.
Did you end up finding a 3D printer to go with?
If you didn't pull the trigger, get a Creality Ender 3 Pro and add a glass bed. HMU with any questions.
@@trisbane4086 no, I ended up not buying anything.
A subscription is for the Pro version. The printer will still work with the Basic version, but the slicer will have fewer features. Hopefully they don't dumb it down too much.
Thanks for the great work that you do. I have trouble painting my makes. A vid on what paints work best with resins would be most helpful.
That comparison of basic and pro Chitu would be awesome
The Mars 3 looks interesting, but as you said, the 2 (Pro) is really good too, for a decent price.
Absolutely. I was constantly wondering if that is a huge detriment or if the basic version is fine for 95% of use cases
100% agree: I'd love to know more about the pro vs standard versions. I know they're subject to change at any time but the distinction is important within the next year for me because I'm getting a mars 3.
2:50 - loving that autocue reflection!
Hi Tom!
Thank you very much for the insightful report! - I do have a follow-up question though. Now that Elegoo has released the "open source" files for the Mars 3, does this change the issue discussed here in any way?
I'm considering this printer (along with the Sonic Mini 4k) for the Black Friday, but I really don't like this kind of closed systems...
Great video as usual!
While it would be interesting to know what extra features are in the paid version I for sure will not get a printer with that kind of lock-in system.
I'm very happy with my first fdm-printer (a prusa mini+). I've been tempted to buy a SLA printer, but I will wait until there is an open alternative.
I just got my shipping notice for the Mercury X bundle. I've been using a homemade solution for cleaning and curing but it was muddled at best. So when the pre-order was available for the Mercury X, I jumped on it. It has been a long wait, still have a few weeks before it arrives but I know it is on its way.
Today the Mars 3 Pro is compatible with Lychee 3.0 software so would imagine the Mars 3 is as well. This video is over a year old now so of course that is an eternity in the software world. That being said, if your only hang up with the machine is the software that problem has been resolved.
i don'´t know who you are but i love you
It is nice to see your sliding text all the time on the Mars 3 cover ^^
Nice auto queue reflexion on the printer 😉other than that thank you so much for this review. It was really helpful!
Being locked into an ecosystem seems like a really bad move for the consumer. They've gotta sweeten the deal a little more if they expect people to accept it, as they aren't truly offering anything special to warrant a subscription service. I get it, they offer a "Free Version" but...for how long? If they decide that they no longer want to offer a free version tomorrow, where does that leave the users? This could no doubt be a real issue if more manufacturers decide to start doing this.
Offer CONSIDERABLY cheaper hardware, Then maybe it would warrant a software aubscription.... However, there are way better options out there. It's just up to the consumer to look for them. Thankfully resin printers aren't the first option for most people entering the 3D printer space.
Great review on the overall experience. Everything that you're mentioning is something that new users should take into account before purchasing... and NOT just how the unit works. Hopefully we won't look back at this review and say "Well, this is how it started." Still creeps me out that it looks like they're trying to lock users into a subscription service for their hobby.
I'm glad I watched this. I'm looking for a resin printer and I would have bought one not knowing it had "locked" software.
That is out of the question for me.
Thomas, you have a fantastic sponsor Siraya Tech, the resin seems awesome!
Fun watching the teleprompt off the reflection on the printer.
I ended up getting a Mars 2 after watching this and yes for a newbie just get the the Mars 2 it prints well enough for your first printer.
Thanks! Great video. Wish I had watched before I purchased. I would love to see a breakdown of the software.
After watching this video I've still decided to get what's pretty much the same bundle with the Mars 3. I think I'm pretty okay with the software being soft locked to Chitubox if I can import models from free software sources. But it was great to be aware of this before deciding to purchase it. Thank you!
It now supports Lychee and Prusa as well.
Great as always! Thank you for your knowledge and share! I would love to see a review of chitubox and chitubox pro of course. I don't have a resin printer... Yet, but I intend to next months 😊🙏
this printer looks really good to me but you are completely right when it comes to the locked down ecosystem.
id rather pay a bit more somewhere else and get a system that is open source, hopefully prusa can deliver something cheaper in the future.
Elegoo and everyone else is upset by this as well.
Elegoo says their Jupiter model will be open source. So it sounds like they may be fighting back.
Yea... I don't see Prusa delivering something cheaper... I also wouldn't be surprised if they pull out of the MSLA 3D Printing Game entirely considering how little they talk anymore about their SLA branch of 3D Printers... Their 3D Printer is the same tech/working principle Chitu runs on, plus a tilting bed, but costs more than five times as much - Hard to sell people on _that_ premise.
Is there any other open source alternative than Prusa? Having encrypted data format is bad, but having"easily reverse-engineerable" one doesn't make everything "open source".
something cheaper hahaha
I use a hair dryer to dry my parts after cleaning in alcohol and also after curing, I give the parts a good wash in soapy water, then dry again with the hair dryer.
For as seemingly simple as the operation of resin printers are it's shocking there isn't already a widely used open source solution.
Part of the reason this worked so well for FDM printers is that nobody was even trying to produce low cost hardware. After the success of FDM and the race to enter the market; now open source has to work on ideology rather than need; which severely reduces the talent pool as many talented people are willing to accept rent seeking good enough and wait for somebody else to oust the rent seekers.
There wasn't a need since Chitu works fine, the boards are apparently reasonably priced and the slicer was free.
Of course, this has now changed.
Atlas is working on (they're almost done) their own open source board called Ath3na. Let's hope that takes off and puts chitu out of business.
@@squishybrain "Let's hope that takes off and puts chitu out of business." Or at least put them back to their place.
@@peterkiss1204 I would take that as well. Competition prevents stagnation or regression of development.
I've been using the PRUSA slicer to generate supports and Chitubox to slice for my Longer Orange 30.
I've been 3d printing for a while now. I even built my own customized railcore. I've been thinking about buying a resin printer, but don't know much about them. A comparison of chitubox and chitubox pro would be extremely helpful.
LoL @ the autocue reflection on the mars 3!
Wow this gave me good ideas like the second rinse in the clean ethanol and the hot air gun drying ... I just let them drip on a paper towel for drying and then cured them afterwards but this sounds like a more thorough method. (I have a mars 2 pro + a simpler washing (just a sealing vat + a magnetic spinner) and curing (elegoo the simplest one) setup).
So glad I watched this. I have a elegoo on the way, just went and ordered an anycubic photon. I hate SW lockin. The elegoo will be returned with a note saying exactly that.
I would really love to see a comparison between different printers for 25 or 32mm (115% scale) miniaturres, that are primed to actually see what the details on a "real" miniature would be like. Black rattlecan primer, with a white (or off-white / grey) zenithal highlight to show some contrast, but keeping both the production cost and production time of the videos low.
Thank you for the video (and the production quality as always) though! :)
Okay thanks this is a honest and fair review.
Oooof, was about to pull the trigger on one of these, glad I watched this, the proprietary slicer is kind of a deal breaker for me
Hey from Ireland Tom, love your work , will you be doing a video on the upgrade for the Prusa SL1 to the SL1S ? Really interested to see what you think
Chitu ... God Damn!
We need to do something open source, or perhaps support Lychee instead.
I'm not a fan of the Lychee business model either. It's ads or a subscription. My printer is not a phone ...
4:03 "Quite a few pickles more"
Man I don't know why that slip made me laugh so hard but damn it did
Me gustan mucho tus videos, explicas todo muy bien y haces muy buenas reviews, gracias !!
Great review, but I’m gonna need a link to buy your t-shirt. Love it.
Definitely curious about the differences between the free and pro versions of the software
I've found the best results for curing most resins to be to cure them in a beaker of warm water. When I do not do this, their surface ends up oily and requires very good cleaning so that my paint sticks them. I read somewhere that most resins require a low oxygen environment to cure and like to be slightly warm. Ergo, hot tap water.
I also like to cheat and remove supports before curing, because they're still a little flexible and you are less likely to damage the print by leaving marks in the fully cured resin, but that is a risk calculation tradeoff because you might damage it with fingerprints, fuzz, or glove prints, as Tom mentions.
The teleprompter is reflected in the printer lid, lol. Anyway, I'm new to printing and just got the Mars 3. Thanks for the video!
Is it easy to remove cured resin from the build plate after you cure the entire thing with the plate still attached?
I was considering that so I'd like to know if that's the better option than have it dripping and sticky to handle.
The size of it is appealing! I could take it to work with me and print while working lol and still have my mono x and m5 at home
I'm new to the hobby and getting ready to buy my first 3d printer(s) this year. I will not look at elegoo or chitu platforms. Also, other reviewers have noted the flaw in this design with movement, the cheaper parts may not last, also another reason I will avoid elegoo going forward. Cheers for the content.
Thanks Thomas!!! Mars 3 out of my list. I can’t accept to be tied to one slicer.
Olá João,
percebi que você é brasileiro. Desculpa a intromissão, mas tens impressora 3D?
Queria uma sugestão pra alguém que quer entrar, assim como (se não sentires desconfortável com a ideia) saber como foi a primeira experiência com impressão em resina?
Obrigado, um bom dia
@@nairocamilo Buenas!! Hoje tenho uma Ender 3, e estou pesquisando ainda sobre resina. Dei uma parada na ideia por causa do alto valor e falta de opção de tipos de resina aqui no BR.
Sometimes it takes a bit of suck to force people over the edge into finally hacking and developing an open source fix for a given problem. We've cracked tougher nuts than this, we'll crack this one too.
Thanks again for taking the time to make a solid review, as always.
EleBOO! Chitublows for this move. I do have all that stuff and it works quite well though. No complaints about the hardware.
"Freedom-sized bottles of coke" killed me XD
Tom, where do you buy your shirts - somewhere around Dingolfing? I really love them!
Yeah, the chitu lockdown does impact some of the available other integrations, like the new Chituboard plugin for OctoPrint which still works with the older firmware.
I didn't even know there was a plug-in for Octo. Last time I asked on the forums it was a straight up no it won't work. What kind of features are there, is it the same as I would get on FDM such as remote printing, monitoring, camera/timelapse etc?
Thanks
@@EaterOvSouls I'm pretty sure the same features, yes. Can't guarantee it though. The plugin was just recently released. The plugin author is active in the OctoPrint Discord server as well and I'm sure would love to get some feedback.
@@jneilliii ok, thanks, I'll be sure to check it out.
Depending on the outcome of discussions with Gina, the plugin author may release a new version that incorporates the new format because apparently it's already been reverse engineered.
I'm plotting out what resin printer I want to get for my first experience, and the hardware of the Mars 3 looked pretty great...but with a closed system requiring a stupidly expensive subscription (let's not kid ourselves about how long the free version of Chitubox will be worth using), I don't think the hardware upgrades are worth it. I might even go so far as to avoid the Mars 2 which also caught my eye - why give Elegoo my money at all when they're willing to engage in such practices with newer printers? From what I've been reading, I could instead get a Phrozen Sonic Mini 4K and an Anycubic Wash/Cure station and still be quite happy with the beginners' resin printing experience.
YES!! do the video on chitu-box please? I'm deciding on my first resin printer in the next month(I have a few creality FDM printers) but im stuck between Elegoo or Anycubic?
Lol bags of milk. Thanks for the Canadian shout out.
Thank you very much for this review. Fortunately, I've held on buying a resin printer until I have a dedicated space for it - I'll probably ignore all the Chiut based printers when it finally comes to me buying a machine. I've had WAY to many cases of "we'll reduce the free version until people start finally buying the pro version" (I am an IT professional :)) to actually trust the free Chitobox free version to actually provide usable features in the future ("Using ChituBox free, you will be able to print anything you like (provided it's a cube not exceeding 56% of the available build volume ).
And since a 180 Eur/year actually means each print I do wourd cost aproximately an additional 30 Eur/print, I'll completely pass on that.
when the volume is measured in Canadian bags of milk, you know it means business
Was looking at a Mars 3 hence looking late at this review. It’s now off my list, not paying that. That is £600 over 4 years. Madness
i bet you could 3d print a build plate hanger / adapter for the mercury to hold your older build plates. =) the future is here !
The Chitu lockin is the main thing stopping me from buying a resin printer atm :(
Virtually every other hobby-level resin printer isn’t restricted to a specific software, so you shouldn’t let that restrict you.
Thanks for the reviews, would love to see the Chitu review if you haven't already done it?
Still rocking a Prusa Mk2 after 6 years. Still rocking a Mars after 3 years. Still not worried about all this upgraded stuff to print.
Nice teleprompter reflection
I've been thinking about a resin printer for a while now. The Prusa resin printer is open source, but a lot more expensive, so the choice between it and one of these cheaper options isn't an easy one. With this underhanded move by Chitu, I think the decision is essentially made for me. I'm not going to support this kind of nonsense.
Nice review.. I’m waiting to upgrade my M2 P to see what happens with Elegoo.
And I’m been distracted by the teleprompter reflection on the mars 3 😝
Does the mars pro 2 have the software lock?
I was just about to order one but they're sold out. Good thing I happened to catch this review, $170+ per year for licenses, for a part time user like me, no way. Thanks for saving me a lot of grief.
I like the teleprompter mod for Mars 3.
You are helping things go the right way in 3d community.
I would love to see you do a review of the ICESL slicer
Was interesting seeing your teleprompter rolling on the screen lid of the mars
Looking forward to a comparison of Chitubox Basic vs. Chitubox Pro!
I'd love to see you do a comparison between Chitubox Basic & Pro versions.
Why? I personally won't ever touch Chitu again after these shenanigans
@@squishybrain as someone who is using the .ctb format, I'd like to know what Pro offers over Basic, to better gauge whether the Pro version either has features I need, or features that would improve my workflow enough to justify the expense.
9:00 there was a label on the yellow protective lid that should not be taken off, and is supposed to help control the UV lights.
Yes, please, a full comparison between free and pro
Just curious have you tested any of the various super flexible rubber like resins? There's tons of manufacturers producing it now but I not many from brands I'm familiar with.
great review and looks like great products. i wanted a mars 3 but will be skipping this and all chitu locked printers. the wash and cure station looks to be a buy for me.
Danke für das tolle Video...mein Mars 3 sollte bald kommen.
Kannst Du mich evlt. helfen? Passt die Mars 3 Druckplatte z.Z. nur in die Mercury X Waschmaschine ;) oder passt die auch in eine der anderen/älteren Wash-Stations?
subscriptions and signing files are dealbreakers. I almost was into buying a mars (mars 3 seems not available right now).
that prompter reflection, lol
I love your videos!
I really only use FDM printers but always find the resin printers really interesting, especially the fine quality they can produce.
But one query I have is what do you do with all the contaminated IPA from washing? (Obviously not a consideration with FDM).
Just curious
James
(ps. another great video)
Expose to uv light via sunlight to cure particulates
Thanks Thomas.
My wash/cure station and printer both have an ordinary white paper sticker attached to the inside of the cover. It's an optical/IR sensor, easily implemented. Of course, the easily part should have been done at the manufacturer.
Was looking at the mars 2 as it's pretty cheap... Glad I saw this video I had no idea you need two other devices in addition to the main one (unless they come with it?)
I love how the reflexion of the promper is showing on the red plastic cover of the printer i know what are you going to say before you got the chance to do it
It's like you're reading my mind!
(also, you could just turn subtitles on. Full script in there as well 😉)
I'm thinking about buying a Mars 3 this summer. Do you have some recommendations for protection gear, especially a mask to use for resin printing at home?
Could you please help me out to understand how would this printer or other similarly priced ones differ from a Prusa SL1s? Use case being to print sculptures...
Thanks for that. Ruled out the printer for me. I don't do closed single slicer locked hardware!