Doug Hoyte on Nostr: It depends on what you want to print. For me, I did FDM printing (the regular "melt ...
It depends on what you want to print. For me, I did FDM printing (the regular "melt plastic filament using a motorised hot end") for years and was never totally happy with the results or the process. Calibrating and maintaining the machines is a ton of work (some more than others of course). There's always a compromise between speed and quality, and even with the slowest/best settings you're always going to have visible layer lines and other small defects.
Last year I bought a resin printer (Elegoo Saturn 3 Ultra) and this has completely changed the hobby for me:
* Almost no maintenance. Once you've got it setup it pretty much just works. There are some exceptions naturally, but in general they need a lot less babysitting than FDM machines.
* Quality is incredible. The detail can be absolutely stunning -- way beyond what even the best FDMs are capable of. I've printed stuff for people and they literally did not believe me that I printed them ('you just ordered this on Amazon bro, this is clearly injection molded').
* Much better options for materials. There's somewhat more variety of resins than there are filaments, plus you can mix them: Want a red tinted plastic with a bit of flex to it that glows in the dark? No problem, just needs some experimentation with the proportions.
* Speed. If you're just printing one thing then FDM is probably faster (though the Saturn 3 Ultra can actually go quite fast). BUT resin printers really shine when you're printing lots of things at the same time. Once you have your model perfected, suppose you want to print 10 copies. With an FDM printer that's roughly 10x the time. For resin, assuming you can fit all of them on the bed, it takes the same time as printing 1, since each layer has a constant exposure time.
There are some downsides to resin though:
* You need to buy and store extra devices, like washing and curing stations.
* My garage is now filled with dangerous chemicals and I had to install a ventilation system to expel toxic fumes (how toxic they are is actually debatable, but I'm playing it safe).
* I have to periodically drive to a sketchy Chinese warehouse to buy 99% pure isopropyl alcohol in bulk. And getting rid of the waste is complicated/annoying. Look into your options for chemical disposal. Don't even bother trying the water washable resins, you'll just go alcohol eventually.
Anyway, I had fun with FDM for years but at this point I'm much much happier with resin printing. Everyone's situation and goals are going to be different, I just wanted to give you my perspective. You'll have a blast with whatever you choose. Good luck!
Last year I bought a resin printer (Elegoo Saturn 3 Ultra) and this has completely changed the hobby for me:
* Almost no maintenance. Once you've got it setup it pretty much just works. There are some exceptions naturally, but in general they need a lot less babysitting than FDM machines.
* Quality is incredible. The detail can be absolutely stunning -- way beyond what even the best FDMs are capable of. I've printed stuff for people and they literally did not believe me that I printed them ('you just ordered this on Amazon bro, this is clearly injection molded').
* Much better options for materials. There's somewhat more variety of resins than there are filaments, plus you can mix them: Want a red tinted plastic with a bit of flex to it that glows in the dark? No problem, just needs some experimentation with the proportions.
* Speed. If you're just printing one thing then FDM is probably faster (though the Saturn 3 Ultra can actually go quite fast). BUT resin printers really shine when you're printing lots of things at the same time. Once you have your model perfected, suppose you want to print 10 copies. With an FDM printer that's roughly 10x the time. For resin, assuming you can fit all of them on the bed, it takes the same time as printing 1, since each layer has a constant exposure time.
There are some downsides to resin though:
* You need to buy and store extra devices, like washing and curing stations.
* My garage is now filled with dangerous chemicals and I had to install a ventilation system to expel toxic fumes (how toxic they are is actually debatable, but I'm playing it safe).
* I have to periodically drive to a sketchy Chinese warehouse to buy 99% pure isopropyl alcohol in bulk. And getting rid of the waste is complicated/annoying. Look into your options for chemical disposal. Don't even bother trying the water washable resins, you'll just go alcohol eventually.
Anyway, I had fun with FDM for years but at this point I'm much much happier with resin printing. Everyone's situation and goals are going to be different, I just wanted to give you my perspective. You'll have a blast with whatever you choose. Good luck!