Hi all and again thanks to Ahmet ( from the Yahoo group )for sending a sample to me.
I have tested extensively the Adhesive backing FEP Teflon and am abandoning that
route for now. It seems to have the same problem as straight
polycarbonate/nylon/Polyethylene. It is difficult to separate the resin ( at
least mine )without it actually coming off the glass base. You could be using a
different resin with different results, but for my purposes it does not work.
Cheers!
Sunday, March 4, 2012
Yellow Resin Dye
Hey All,
I have tested a few dyes and have settled on one that
proved most universal. Like many other people have mentioned it here before:
Castin' Craft dye from Environmental Technologies Inc - eti-usa.com
The only difference is the color - Opaque Yellow.
I have tried the transparent amber, yellow, blue, green.
Also I have tested Opaque red and yellow. The latter proved a good absorber or
the UV/NUV/Blue spectra per volume. It was able to limit the polymerization to a
very predictable depth no matter the exposure time. As per the instructions: use
1oz per 32oz or roughly 29gr per liter and at $6 an oz, it is perfect.I have
tested it with about 80ml of resin and 2-3ml dye and is fantastic, you have seen
the results.
I have tested a few dyes and have settled on one that
proved most universal. Like many other people have mentioned it here before:
Castin' Craft dye from Environmental Technologies Inc - eti-usa.com
The only difference is the color - Opaque Yellow.
I have tried the transparent amber, yellow, blue, green.
Also I have tested Opaque red and yellow. The latter proved a good absorber or
the UV/NUV/Blue spectra per volume. It was able to limit the polymerization to a
very predictable depth no matter the exposure time. As per the instructions: use
1oz per 32oz or roughly 29gr per liter and at $6 an oz, it is perfect.I have
tested it with about 80ml of resin and 2-3ml dye and is fantastic, you have seen
the results.
Sunday, February 19, 2012
4 Rings – Last night’s Platform…
Last night I decided to test the printer with some new resin I got from Fernando @ http://www.spotamaterials.com/
Here are some photos and I have added them in the "Gallery" Section above.
Here are some photos and I have added them in the "Gallery" Section above.
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
New and Improved Build Base
We start today's post with an update - repairing the damage done by the "Force". I have decided to make it out of Plexiglas or Perspex. I have contacted a local sign/advertizing company willing to cut it out for me and it was ready in a couple of days and in front of my door. I chose to use 10mm clear plexi since it was standard and readily available. I could have asked for a "black-matte", but it would have delayed the order.
Measurements are:
10mm X 60mm X 70mm
10mm X 70mm X 90mm
and I added 8mm holes with 15mm countersinks for M8 X30 bolt head that are 6mm deep with a spacing measured off the Bracket ( Click Here ) in My case 26mm.
I have cut 3 sets should I need to make one fast ;-)
I had tested JB Weld-Regular with some of the cutout pieces from the Plexi. Seems to hold up the Plexi to Plexi. What I was concerned about was the Plexi to Glass.
You can use some 200 sandpaper to rough the glass and plexi mating surfaces and clean them with Aethanol or Isopropyl Alcohol 96% and some no-lint cloth.
After inserting the bolts and spreading a generous amount of JBWeld ( you can clean it up the oozing after it sets for a few hours ).
Follow the instructions for using JB Weld - I placed it in a warm room @25C. Keep the base on a level surface - glass down, as the JB has not set yet. You can use regular tape to keep the two from sliding.
Result is this:
I have tested it with the same resin ( say ~1300 cP@25 )and it seems to hold up very well for now.
This is Life - I hope to not have to redo it AGAIN?! ;-)
Salutations!
Measurements are:
10mm X 60mm X 70mm
10mm X 70mm X 90mm
and I added 8mm holes with 15mm countersinks for M8 X30 bolt head that are 6mm deep with a spacing measured off the Bracket ( Click Here ) in My case 26mm.
I have cut 3 sets should I need to make one fast ;-)
I had tested JB Weld-Regular with some of the cutout pieces from the Plexi. Seems to hold up the Plexi to Plexi. What I was concerned about was the Plexi to Glass.
You can use some 200 sandpaper to rough the glass and plexi mating surfaces and clean them with Aethanol or Isopropyl Alcohol 96% and some no-lint cloth.
After inserting the bolts and spreading a generous amount of JBWeld ( you can clean it up the oozing after it sets for a few hours ).
Follow the instructions for using JB Weld - I placed it in a warm room @25C. Keep the base on a level surface - glass down, as the JB has not set yet. You can use regular tape to keep the two from sliding.
Result is this:
I have tested it with the same resin ( say ~1300 cP@25 )and it seems to hold up very well for now.
This is Life - I hope to not have to redo it AGAIN?! ;-)
Salutations!
Friday, January 20, 2012
Seems most of you have not seen it
Please look up next to the "About me" and "Other 3D printers" pages - There it is. It's a new section "GALLERY".
Hope you like it.
Hope you like it.
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
First Fully Printed Object
I know I made an announcement and here is the start:
This is the first completely printed object at @43 microns in X and Y. The Z resolution is @25 microns.
The first layer of the base is 200 microns and 9 more layers @ 100 microns @ 8 seconds exposure to over cure the resin so it sticks to the glass better.
The time it took to print it is 2h 45m. It has about 1250 layers including the base, so speed is about 15mm per hour @25 microns.
There is a slight elongation defect since NO vertical compensation was applied and I need more supports. The moment that the inner supports started printing there is a stair step like defect.
It is smooth to the touch and as strong as the plastic from the videos.
It has not been post-cured. I took it off the printer and dropped it in Ethanol 95% - "Spiritus Aethylicus" - and stirred it around. After 10 min it was squeaky clean AND Disinfected LOL.
Went to bed last night @02:00 leaving this:
Only to wake up @6:30 with a result like so:
There are absolutely no problems with the New Build Base ( there will be a post about it ). It held strong and did not see any flex. Once I scraped the excess resin off and wiped most residue off it looks like this:
In the aethanol 95% it goes for 10 min whirl around. I used a small glass jar I had around.
Here are the macro photos:
A close up of the slices:
Here is the link to the album with different photos:
3DLPrint - Ring Album
Hope you come back soon for more...
This is the first completely printed object at @43 microns in X and Y. The Z resolution is @25 microns.
The first layer of the base is 200 microns and 9 more layers @ 100 microns @ 8 seconds exposure to over cure the resin so it sticks to the glass better.
The time it took to print it is 2h 45m. It has about 1250 layers including the base, so speed is about 15mm per hour @25 microns.
There is a slight elongation defect since NO vertical compensation was applied and I need more supports. The moment that the inner supports started printing there is a stair step like defect.
It is smooth to the touch and as strong as the plastic from the videos.
It has not been post-cured. I took it off the printer and dropped it in Ethanol 95% - "Spiritus Aethylicus" - and stirred it around. After 10 min it was squeaky clean AND Disinfected LOL.
Went to bed last night @02:00 leaving this:
Only to wake up @6:30 with a result like so:
There are absolutely no problems with the New Build Base ( there will be a post about it ). It held strong and did not see any flex. Once I scraped the excess resin off and wiped most residue off it looks like this:
In the aethanol 95% it goes for 10 min whirl around. I used a small glass jar I had around.
Here are the macro photos:
A close up of the slices:
Here is the link to the album with different photos:
3DLPrint - Ring Album
Hope you come back soon for more...
Sunday, January 8, 2012
Post Curing and Close-Up Pictures...
Here is the UV Lamp I used for the post cure process and some closeup pictures of the first object printed in layers:
I bought the UV Money Detector for a few euros with a bad power cable and replaced it for small change.
The following picture is ( from left to right ) the Silicone VAT sample, The Teflon Sample and the Teflon Sample Build Base with long burn in Cycle:
You may recognize the first one as it broke in the Video :
Here is a closeup through a X45 mini microscope I had bought for 3-4 dollars from ebay:
The slices are 10 x 0.1mm and the first one is 0.2mm.
And you can see the layer slices in the second one:
Close up of the Bubbles on the surface. Next time I will brush some resin on the glass before dipping it in the VAT with resin.
Hope you had wonderful holidays!
Cough - Cough - I know the people from the south hemisphere did!
I bought the UV Money Detector for a few euros with a bad power cable and replaced it for small change.
The following picture is ( from left to right ) the Silicone VAT sample, The Teflon Sample and the Teflon Sample Build Base with long burn in Cycle:
You may recognize the first one as it broke in the Video :
The next one is pretty smooth with the exception of small bubbles. Guess the resin should be left alone for an hour after the stirring and shaking:
Here is a closeup through a X45 mini microscope I had bought for 3-4 dollars from ebay:
And you can see the layer slices in the second one:
Close up of the Bubbles on the surface. Next time I will brush some resin on the glass before dipping it in the VAT with resin.
Hope you had wonderful holidays!
Cough - Cough - I know the people from the south hemisphere did!
Saturday, January 7, 2012
The Good, The Bad and The Ugly...
Ok, here goes:
The good... It works fantastic! You have seen the proof in the videos.
The Bad... The teflon lifts up and upon landing it is wrinkled. Needs to be restrained to the bottom of the VAT.
The Ugly...The force is not to be reckoned with. The HDPA build base and the
silicone did not make a strong connection and with the viscosity of the ED3 and ED4 ( 1600@25C and 1080@25C respectively ) it came undone:
Again don't mess with "the force": It cracked the corner of the 5mm glass
silicone VAT I made when experimenting with it.
Lessons learned and will be corrected in the next VATs and Build bases.
Cheers!
The good... It works fantastic! You have seen the proof in the videos.
The Bad... The teflon lifts up and upon landing it is wrinkled. Needs to be restrained to the bottom of the VAT.
The Ugly...The force is not to be reckoned with. The HDPA build base and the
silicone did not make a strong connection and with the viscosity of the ED3 and ED4 ( 1600@25C and 1080@25C respectively ) it came undone:
Again don't mess with "the force": It cracked the corner of the 5mm glass
silicone VAT I made when experimenting with it.
Lessons learned and will be corrected in the next VATs and Build bases.
Cheers!
From the mistakes we learn...
Happy Holidays!
Finally have some time to write in the build log.
Fernando (SpaceCaptain) from the Yahoo group was king to send me small samples of different resins (4 ) before the holidays. I had tested mixing them and Dymax 9663 with Castin' Craft Transparent Amber and here are the results:
The problem I discovered is that not one of the resins was able to cure to a layer less than 0.5mm even at 0.5 seconds cure time. Either my projector is too powerful or the dye is not opaque enough. Also the Dymax did not like a high dye content - it could not cure to a solid like - only to uncured silicone consistency.
The mini VATs I cleaned by polymerizing the resin left inside with a full blast of all white and Isopropyl alcohol. No ill effects.
I did find one good thing - The 2505 burns out with only sooth left:
Before and after ( the wire is a AWG24 ):
I have thought of using the used or fresh yellow (brighter one ) toner from a Xerox machine:
It did not work because it was filled with some Ferric particles and the pigment did not get distributed evenly ( they are Synthetic Wax ).
And finally some more random pics:
Hope it is of some use to you.
Cheers!
Finally have some time to write in the build log.
Fernando (SpaceCaptain) from the Yahoo group was king to send me small samples of different resins (4 ) before the holidays. I had tested mixing them and Dymax 9663 with Castin' Craft Transparent Amber and here are the results:
The problem I discovered is that not one of the resins was able to cure to a layer less than 0.5mm even at 0.5 seconds cure time. Either my projector is too powerful or the dye is not opaque enough. Also the Dymax did not like a high dye content - it could not cure to a solid like - only to uncured silicone consistency.
The mini VATs I cleaned by polymerizing the resin left inside with a full blast of all white and Isopropyl alcohol. No ill effects.
I did find one good thing - The 2505 burns out with only sooth left:
Before and after ( the wire is a AWG24 ):
I have thought of using the used or fresh yellow (brighter one ) toner from a Xerox machine:
And finally some more random pics:
Hope it is of some use to you.
Cheers!
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