Formlabs uses a proprietary resin cartridge... it's the paper printers situation all over again, the printers themselves are not that expensive but the disposable ink costs an arm and a leg.
Don't go with Formlabs, support any of the open-platform alternatives.
And also, be aware that these printers require some serious development work (you need solvent to wash away uncured resin (if you ask me, this basically necessitates a chemical hood... Formlabs will happily upsell the "Form Wash" for this for another 699). If uncured resin falls on your floor (which has happened to me a little too many times), boy is it a horror cleaning it up even if you have industrial grade solvents); FDM printers are faster, easier and their "ink" is much, much less expensive by comparison.
* If you buy the "Form Studio 1 Resin Tank Pro" extra at $79 because the included tank "is not compatible with Tough 1500 Resin or materials needing to utilize Open Material Mode"
This printer at least comes with the "Open Material Mode (included)" that lets you print with 3rd party resins. I'm sure the workflow won't be quite as nice as with the Formlabs native resin. That is unless you can somehow refill the old jugs or buy empty ones. Before long I imagine 3rd party compatible containers will show up.
If you’ve ever used resin printers, you know the cartridges are a good thing because the liquid inside is basically carcinogenic if it comes in contact with your skin, so a lot of people just don’t do resin printing for exactly that reason and this gets around that.
Except you will have failed prints (for me it's 1 out of every 10 with my form 4), which will require taking out the tank to clean obstructions and free-floating debris... and when you're having to filter the resin (like so: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/UdX94R3k7YU ), it's exceedingly hard to not get it in contact with your skin.
From the hobbyist perspective, the main thing this gets you is much more precise and detailed prints, so they're very popular in the model making community.
From a professional perspective, this gives you access to a bunch of different materials that open up all kinds of options for prototyping.
I have a noob "reverse" resin creation question. The product page says it has low VOC emissions. Could certain recyclables(e.g. 4,5 HDPE types) create the resin from my stuff at home with low VoC that I could use/sell etc?
My gut would say economically/technologically prohibitive but a low throughput table top recycler seems like a great way to reduce my recyclable garbage.
there are products where you can re-melt and create filament for 3d printers or push it into a mold. Can probably build your own for $500 + a $500 3d printer.
Wow this price is interesting. I guess the Chinese competition is really driving prices down. I do miss the first generation (I think second was too) where they were "true" SLA but they got sued into oblivion by 3D Systems.
As someone who got into FDM printing about a year ago, and still finds it very exciting, this is a really compelling resin printer. It's priced very well for the capabilities, especially in terms of providing everything a beginner might need to be comfortable with resin printing.
That said, I just noticed Costco online has some FDM stuff, which I think is a pretty exciting development, so if I have any money to spend on 3d printing stuff in the near future, I'll probably spend it there. :)
Please, please do NOT buy a resin printer as your first printer; IF you want to print intricate details (where resin excels) at least start with an FDM printer anda 0.2mm nozzle. Lots of information can be found here at r/fdmminiatures.
Resin is extremely toxic and requires a dedicated area and handling and care.
My first printer was resin without a dedicated wash/cure set up and it was difficult enough that I sold the printer and got an FDM. Currently I'm using an Snapmaker U1 and it's really awesome and much easier. It also prints in multicolor seamlessly.
That said, if you do spend the extra for this along with the wash/cure and the voc extractor, the demos are really impressive. It seems like this printer is blazing fast, for single color prints it will print basically anything at better resolution than an FDM in <2 hours, whereas FDM could take anywhere from 4-12+ for a similar part with bigger layer lines.
You can wash manually with some isopropyl alcohol in a wash basin and then cure in the sun. It will be a pain to do, and somewhat inconsistent, but its possible. You can also get a cheaper wash and cure station for other 3D printers that would likely work well enough with some tuning.
Ive been 3D printing for over a decade, SLA printers are just not worth it IMO. There useful for certain applications, especially industry but for home hobbyist, FDM + 0.2mm nozzle would go further as a first 3D printer
Formlabs uses a proprietary resin cartridge... it's the paper printers situation all over again, the printers themselves are not that expensive but the disposable ink costs an arm and a leg.
Don't go with Formlabs, support any of the open-platform alternatives.
And also, be aware that these printers require some serious development work (you need solvent to wash away uncured resin (if you ask me, this basically necessitates a chemical hood... Formlabs will happily upsell the "Form Wash" for this for another 699). If uncured resin falls on your floor (which has happened to me a little too many times), boy is it a horror cleaning it up even if you have industrial grade solvents); FDM printers are faster, easier and their "ink" is much, much less expensive by comparison.
It says it includes "Open Material Mode" which let's you "...print with any 405 nm photopolymer resin or 1064 nm powder on Formlabs 3D printers..."
* If you buy the "Form Studio 1 Resin Tank Pro" extra at $79 because the included tank "is not compatible with Tough 1500 Resin or materials needing to utilize Open Material Mode"
This printer at least comes with the "Open Material Mode (included)" that lets you print with 3rd party resins. I'm sure the workflow won't be quite as nice as with the Formlabs native resin. That is unless you can somehow refill the old jugs or buy empty ones. Before long I imagine 3rd party compatible containers will show up.
Do you have any specific recomendations?
If you’ve ever used resin printers, you know the cartridges are a good thing because the liquid inside is basically carcinogenic if it comes in contact with your skin, so a lot of people just don’t do resin printing for exactly that reason and this gets around that.
Except you will have failed prints (for me it's 1 out of every 10 with my form 4), which will require taking out the tank to clean obstructions and free-floating debris... and when you're having to filter the resin (like so: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/UdX94R3k7YU ), it's exceedingly hard to not get it in contact with your skin.
I have the sensational $200 bamboo lab printer what would the $700 thing give me more?
From the hobbyist perspective, the main thing this gets you is much more precise and detailed prints, so they're very popular in the model making community.
From a professional perspective, this gives you access to a bunch of different materials that open up all kinds of options for prototyping.
Amazing detail, a resin allergy, and cancer
I have a noob "reverse" resin creation question. The product page says it has low VOC emissions. Could certain recyclables(e.g. 4,5 HDPE types) create the resin from my stuff at home with low VoC that I could use/sell etc?
My gut would say economically/technologically prohibitive but a low throughput table top recycler seems like a great way to reduce my recyclable garbage.
there are products where you can re-melt and create filament for 3d printers or push it into a mold. Can probably build your own for $500 + a $500 3d printer.
Wow this price is interesting. I guess the Chinese competition is really driving prices down. I do miss the first generation (I think second was too) where they were "true" SLA but they got sued into oblivion by 3D Systems.
> "true" SLA
What is that? Why is it better?
As someone who got into FDM printing about a year ago, and still finds it very exciting, this is a really compelling resin printer. It's priced very well for the capabilities, especially in terms of providing everything a beginner might need to be comfortable with resin printing.
That said, I just noticed Costco online has some FDM stuff, which I think is a pretty exciting development, so if I have any money to spend on 3d printing stuff in the near future, I'll probably spend it there. :)
Honest question, what would I do if this is my first 3D printer and I don't have the ability to wash and cure? Or do I and I just don't know it, ha
Please, please do NOT buy a resin printer as your first printer; IF you want to print intricate details (where resin excels) at least start with an FDM printer anda 0.2mm nozzle. Lots of information can be found here at r/fdmminiatures.
Resin is extremely toxic and requires a dedicated area and handling and care.
My first printer was resin without a dedicated wash/cure set up and it was difficult enough that I sold the printer and got an FDM. Currently I'm using an Snapmaker U1 and it's really awesome and much easier. It also prints in multicolor seamlessly.
That said, if you do spend the extra for this along with the wash/cure and the voc extractor, the demos are really impressive. It seems like this printer is blazing fast, for single color prints it will print basically anything at better resolution than an FDM in <2 hours, whereas FDM could take anywhere from 4-12+ for a similar part with bigger layer lines.
You can wash the print in an ultrasonic bath [1] in isopropyl alcohol (IPA).
Then cure using a UV LED strip (5m w USB plug ~2 EUR) inside an empty can (another 2-5 EUR) and a solar-powered rotating base [2].
The light from the LEDs is cures as well as powers the base. All four will set you back less than 50 EUR.
[1] https://aliexpress.com/item/1005010131053964.html [2] https://aliexpress.com/item/1005012796313088.html
We don't have a wash here at our office, we just use a small container with IPA.
We have a UV cure cube, but often I just cure under a $20 amazon desktop UV light.
You can wash manually with some isopropyl alcohol in a wash basin and then cure in the sun. It will be a pain to do, and somewhat inconsistent, but its possible. You can also get a cheaper wash and cure station for other 3D printers that would likely work well enough with some tuning.
Ive been 3D printing for over a decade, SLA printers are just not worth it IMO. There useful for certain applications, especially industry but for home hobbyist, FDM + 0.2mm nozzle would go further as a first 3D printer
Agreed, unless you need to print intricate 3D figurines or high resolution engineering widgets, get a FDM printer and avoid the mess of SLA.
$699 is an incredible price
Honestly a Bambu printer is so insanely easy to use you'd be making printing ^25 harder with this.
For another $250, you can get another box that washes and cures.
Just don't. Resin printers are a pain. Get an FDM (filament) printer first.
How did the preorder form for this product endup #2 here on HN in 10 minutes with no comments?
Theres no new blog or video or news, preorders opened 2 weeks ago
If I had to guess, the latest Applied Science video on YouTube which somewhat showcased it.
The company that made the printer paid a marketing agency to promote it, and the marketing agency posted it here. Where are the spam filters?
I'm not a marketing agency. I just saw it on Applied Science and was impressed that mainstream resin printers were available for that price.
Does it come with MCP integration for Claude/Antigravity CLI?
This is just a naked product advertisement. You literally just posted a link to a product and implied to buy it. I flagged this post.
[delayed]