Liquid Resin 3D Printer
The Innovation: It's about UV Lasers
The technology behind (most) resin 3D prints is referred to as Stereolithography. And also here's the one-minute description of just how Stereolithography functions:
- In the initial instance, the roller of the printer spreads out a razor-thin layer of fluid polymer. Because this layer is liquid, it will certainly spread out over the whole system making sure that each layer has a regular thickness
- The liquid polymer we utilize is UV sensitive. When struck by a computer-controlled UV laser, the resin will alter from a liquid to strong state. Generally, the laser "draws" the lays out of the print into the resin layer and hardens the components that it touches.
The components that are not touched by the laser will certainly remain fluid
- These two steps are duplicated over and over and also over again. The design is lowered by a fraction, and the roller spreads out a brand-new layer. The laser after that strengthens specific locations of that layer, which will become parts of your 3D print. This is repeated till the design is finished
As soon as the printing process is completed and the whole object has been published, the print is increased from the resin storage tank. The excess liquid will just stream away and also can be reused for various other prints. The prints after that should be eliminated and finished manually (i.e. remove support structure, smoothen surface areas, spray-paint surfaces, and so on).
The Materials: From Tiny Details to Mammoth-Size
There is greater than one product made use of with this modern technology. Actually, we provide four different Stereolithography-based materials that all come with their very own features. Nonetheless, these materials additionally share some attributes: they include smooth surfaces and are great for post-processing.
Mammoth resin: Mammoth resin is printed on one of the largest printers out there ... you thought it, the Materialise Mammoth printers (that's additionally the printer you saw in the video clip above). Previously this resin was called Paintable resin. These printers can publish big parts approximately a dimension of 2100x700x800 mm, which can be spray-painted in several shades.
Transparent resin: Also published on our Mammoth printers, Clear resin is (surprise, surprise) transparent and also can be purchased in numerous shades. As a matter of fact, it is the only clear product that we presently use at i.materialise.com. It could likewise be ordered for parts as much as a size of 2100x700x800 mm.
Gray resin: Gray resin is the terrific all-rounder. It features a terrific level of information, appropriates for little and mid-size versions, and also showcases a smooth, grey surface area. This gray shade makes it ideal for hand- or spray-painting work. That's why this resin is so popular amongst the scale modeling community.
Standard resin: Our latest addition to the resin family. Typical resin comes with a low-budget rate while providing really comprehensive results. To save some even more loan, you could also get Conventional resin with assistance framework, meaning much less time spent in post-processing.