Took the plunge and ordered an AnyCubic Photon Mono today. With the Amazon $20 coupon it was only $240. Really considered the Mars 2 Pro but didn't like the charcoal filter arrangement. I like the idea of a filter but not how them implemented it. As soon as a charcoal filter is exposed to air its useful days are limited and after looking at the video on how to change the charcoal out.... ... didn't like the idea of going through that and couldn't actually find a link to replacement charcoal. They could of come up with a better solution to recharging the filter and probably will sooner or later. The printer was going to be $60 more than the mono and I would of paid that if they had a reasonable way to change out the charcoal. I'll have the printer out in some part of the shop so the smell won't be in the living quarters and plan on an enclosure so I can heat it during the cold months and might consider making some type of charcoal filter for the mono if the smell becomes an issue. As far as the heat how warm do I need the printer area to be to not effect the prints? 65-70 ok? I also considered the newer Creality resin printer as it, the Mono and the Mars are basically all built from the same parts and from looking at review videos produce the same results (all great), print at the same speed and really not much difference between them as far as I can see from the specs and reviews. Love my Creality Ender 3 Pro and it will still be my go to printer but it looks like the Creality resin printer might be going through a couple unexplained print problems, maybe fixed since the time the videos I watched were produced. I love the huge support base and videos for the Ender 3 and I'm sure I'll like the same about the Photon Mono. Talking about the Mono what resin would you guys that have one suggest I try for a starting resin. I bought the printer to mainly print small detail items that I can use in conjunction with my Ender prints. I do like using grey filament with the Ender as I usually use a grey primer also before painting. Is grey a good possibility for a resin choice. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I also ordered the Elegoo Mercury Plus 2 in 1 Washing and Curing Machine ($120). It was a tossup between it and the AnyCubic wash and curing machine. The Elegoo was $50 less than the AnyCubic and I couldn't see any real difference to go with one or the other so chose the Elegoo. Both have minor differences but both get really good reviews. To summarize: How warm do I want the print area and any suggestions on resins for small detailed N scale prints. Thanks, Sumner
Congrats - you're going to have so much fun with this printer! For temperature you should be fine at 65-70 although 70-80 would be better as it's well into the comfort zone. I've been using Anycubic Grey lately and really like the results, you can try out 500mL bottle and if you like it get the 1L bottle. Stay away from Anycubic white unless someone can verify that newer batches don't have the shrink problems of batches from last year. I also like Elegoo Black. Cheers -Mike
Thanks Mike, I see maybe a couple different grey choices, this one... https://www.amazon.com/ANYCUBIC-405...ords=Anycubic+Grey&qid=1615852377&sr=8-3&th=1 Also looking at a couple printer reviews I found one person really happy with the following doing miniatures (which I won't be printing) and looks like people mention that it doesn't really have a strong smell. Gets good reviews... https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07VBM4Z7Q/ref=ask_ql_qh_dp_hza Sumner
"You don't know the power of the Dark Side!" Welcome to the Dark Side, we have cookies! J/k, but resin printing is a whole new learning curve. Sometimes messy, stinky and frustrating, the results are far beyond what FDM can do in N scale. Get yourself some denatured alcohol (better cleaner than isopropyl alcohol, cheaper and easier to find), a UV light and solar turntable like the ones on Amazon, and you're set.
That's the one I use. They sell half that size if you want to spend less while figuring out what you like: https://www.amazon.com/ANYCUBIC-405...ords=Anycubic+Grey&qid=1615852377&sr=8-3&th=1 Ditto on this. When Covid-19 wiped out cleaning supplies last year I got a gallon of Klean Strip "Fuel" Denatured Alcohol and was real happy with how well it cleaned the prints. It does smell though as you would expect it to, but so does isopropyl. -Mike
That's the reason I went to DA instead of IPA. Nobody had IPA in stock anywhere, for months! UV turntable: https://www.amazon.com/FUNGDO-Turnt...1&keywords=uv+turntable&qid=1615859010&sr=8-4 UV curing light: https://www.amazon.com/Printer-Curi...eywords=uv+curing+light&qid=1615859065&sr=8-5 One of these works wonder getting under the "raft" of supports to remove from the printing plate: https://www.amazon.com/Liquitex-119...ds=palette+knife+metal&qid=1615859259&sr=8-20
When it comes to resin, each one has its good points and bad points and what works for me might not work for you. I've used several types now and my favourite was Prima, but its out of stock at the moment. Trying this new stuff that you can colour match. Will see how it goes. I strongly dislike water washable resin, it stinks and never really seemed to print particularly well - for me anyway. Probably the biggest thing I've found is it is all down to the print settings, and different resins have different settings. With darker resins I generally use slightly longer exposure times say 40s for a base layer and 3s for normal layers - but thats at 0.05mm layers. If I decrease the layers to 0.02mm I'll normally remove a little time to say 35s/2s. Another factor is the lift speed of the build plate. If you set this too fast it can cause the print to get ripped off the build plate. One of the most handy gadgets that came with mine was an adapter that allows you to hang the build plate at an angle over the resin tank. Didn't even realise I had this until I opened the tool box to replace the FEP. After a print has finished I attach this to the machine and let the plate sit for a while to drain as much resin off the print as I can. Likewise check your drain holes, if your print is hollow, to make sure they are open. Hopefully the attachment bracket for the Elegoo Clean and Cure will accept the AnyCubic build plate, that way you can just dump the build plate straight into the wash cycle, really useful for small parts and saves having to wash the build plate separately. Mostly - Have fun! its a stinky, messy and sometimes frustrating process, but the end results can be fantastic! Baby Yoda I printed at the weekend. Has little claw hands that will hold my power supply cables when I'm not using them.
Thanks, I couldn't find out if the bracket would work for sure or not. If it doesn't I'll adapt it or make a new one. Thanks for the other advice and that goes for the rest of you also, Sumner
I put my printer in an Ikea cabinet in the garage. The room in winter is usually at about 17 degrees Celsius. I just lay a lizard heating pad on top of the vat for 20 mins before printing (on warmer days I don't even bother with that). Then remove the heat, put on the printer cover and start printing. With the cabinet door closed, temp quickly rises to 22 degrees in the cabinet and stays there for the entire print. Inside the printer cover it's probably even warmer. The printer and exothermic reaction of the curing resin keeps everything toasty! Enjoy your new toy!
