Anyone with experience of the Form1 or Form 2 printers

[wallan 0]

Form 2 is on it's way I have been thinking about maybe getting one.

It cost almost twice as much as a Ultimaker 2, material cost is probably at least 3 times higher and handling it is more messy.

As I see it the only reason for getting one is if it prints with such surface quality that I don't have to fill and sand for a perfect surface.

If I look at my Ultimaker2 prints (25cm figurines), I probably have to put some 20-30 hours into fixing the suface.

If I think like, how much would I be prepared to pay someone to do it for me (it's boring as well) I would happily pay $100-$150 for someone to do it for me.

So, based on that I could say that if I buy a printer models that dont need that surface treatment then It would pay for itself.

At least the cost of one in the Form2 price range would.

But can I really expect to get that finish from the Form1 or Form2 and does the Form printers work and print well.

I have seen complaints of only one print in 10 making it out of the printer without problems.

So, anyone with experience of the Form printers, what do you think?

[SandervG 1,521]

I haven't seen him around in a while, but I know @Solid-Print-3D has both an Ultimaker and Formlabs.

Depending on the shape of your model, you can achieve great surface finish with the Ultimaker. (Overhangs can be tricky). What kind of models are you making that they require so much post processing?

[wallan 0]

I haven't seen him around in a while, but I know @Solid-Print-3D has both an Ultimaker and Formlabs.

Depending on the shape of your model, you can achieve great surface finish with the Ultimaker. (Overhangs can be tricky). What kind of models are you making that they require so much post processing?

25-30 cm figurines / action figures sort of things.

Nude figures is less work but say clothes with folds, buttons etc and hair is hard to fix without losing details.

So as it is I more or less only print nude figures and then sculpt cloth and hair in traditional ways on top of it.

Would be nice to be able to print cloth with folds and all but it means lots of undercuts and supports witch makes a mess of the surface. So it's booth a matter of surface finish in large (no visible lines after spray painting) and how the surface looks after cutting away any support.

[SandervG 1,521]

If I am not mistaken SLA also uses support structures and is submitted to gravity so that may not solve your problem? (it could be that it leaves less scars though).

I think it goes for all 3D print techniques for this stage, that you kinda have to keep the 3D printing capabilities in mind during modeling, 'design for 3D printing', maybe you could also save some time on post processing if you try to work together with the capabilities of your tools?

Do you have any pictures of your prints online? Sounds very interesting and it would be cool to see some of your work!

[wallan 0]

I have some pictures of WIPs posted in some thread I think.

Don't really have much on the web as so far I have mostly been experimenting.

Fixed a picture of a Vampirella (in front of her cave of birth ) WIP for you.

Base, cloth (the little there is), hair are sculpted on top of printed body.

As I have to sculpt much anyway I have also made some experiments where I only print a shrinked version of the body as more of a skeleton on witch I put 1-2mm of sculpting clay. As I have to work on the surface finish and add details manually anyway this way of working don't take more time and it's nice with a model with some more weight.

It also make print quality less important as any defects are covered.

On the other hand, it's not much of a 3D print any more.

[bob-hepple 59]

Wow I really like that,

Formlabs have their new for +2 out which I took a look at, in the TCT show last week I think you would get some pretty cool results with that machine, not sue about the longevity of the print as it reacts to light, although if your going to paint it that would help.

what stopped me from jumping in that direction is the support for the printer in the UK which is none existent and they were not that helpful at the show.

Love your work.

[LePaul 321]

I've had a long conversation for over a year with one of the FormLabs guys.

The biggest problem for me is the size....for small stuff, its outstanding.

Another thing I would advise is to read their forums. See the experiences from end users.

I know there's quite a learning curve for larger models, such that they mention hollowing out parts and allowing an opening for resin to get out while printing.

The improvements are very impressive and the laser woes should be much less now that it is an enclosed setup. I'm really curious how well the wiper-blade setup works in the resin pool.

Another thing to keep in mind is the post-processing. There are some really good reads on their forum about using different chemicals to process the object.

And of course, another thing is the cost of resin versus that of filament.

Truth be told, I would love to have one! But for my immediate needs, an Ultimaker 2 Extended is going to be my next purchase

[gr5 2,172]

for what you are doing I expect the form printers to be worth it. For most people - probably not. I user my printer for more mechanical things and the variety of filaments I can use (nylon, flex filaments, pla, colors, durability, strength) just blows away the resin printers. For a while I believe it was only 4 drab colors - now there are more resins including a "tough" resin which seems to degrade quickly (over a few weeks) for some people. And a flexible resin.

Working with those resin's just doesn't compare to the UM. But the resolution on the form1 and form2 is outstanding.