The process of processing light-cured 3D prints is significantly different from that of FDM 3D prints. Today I will talk about how to process light-cured 3D prints.
Cleaning 3D prints
After you remove the 3D print, you need to clean the 3D print. No matter how long you print, there will always be some resin on the surface. If you accidentally make it hard, it will slightly distort the true shape of your model. Gently place the 3D print into the alcohol. Make sure there is enough alcohol to completely cover the model parts. Soak for about 10 minutes or wash for 10 minutes. Gently wipe the 3D print with a paper towel to absorb the alcohol.
Clean supports
Use a flush knife to cut the support material flush with the print surface, or as close as possible. In some cases, bracing won’t take much effort at all, but if the bracing is attached to some finer detail, you need to be extra careful not to apply shearing force to it.
Secondary curing of 3D printed parts
While removing any uncured resin is a good start, the step that brings out the quality of a 3D print is the secondary curing of the print. High-wavelength UV cures the entire part for strength and takes longer for thicker, sturdier parts, but there are things you can do to make the entire secondary cure step more efficient. The first step is to find a suitable turntable and the container you need to solidify the 3D print. Most turntables, even the smallest ones, will have a larger base than a 3D print made with an SLA printer. That’s usually your measurement point.
The container itself doesn’t matter, you just need something to bounce light around. This can be paint cans or cardboard boxes. If the container is not reflective, use aluminum tape, which will help reflect light so that all sides of the 3D print can be fully cured. If your UV curing lightbox is larger, you can put the container and turntable into the curing box, or you can fix the curing lamp in some place to illuminate the container. In either case, you want to install it where it can be directly Align the position of the turntable. For small 3D prints, half an hour is enough.
Safe handling and disposal of resin
If you are used to FDM 3D printing with plastics such as PLA, ABS, PETG, or nylon, transitioning to a stereolithography 3D printer is a new experience. Although parts of the process are similar, there are a few key points that differ between the two, the biggest being handling materials safely and keeping the work environment clean. With an FDM 3D printer, you only have to worry about the hot parts and discarding the scrap once you’re done printing and removing the support frame. For stereolithography printing, let’s take a look at how the resin should be handled.
Unlike the plastics used in FDM 3D printing, the resins used in light-cured 3D printing are not inert, and in fact, the uncured resin is irritating to the skin. Whenever using a stereolithography 3D printer, make sure you have the correct personal protective equipment, such as gloves and eye protection.
Be sure to wear gloves when handling resin. This includes pouring resin into the build container, handling the build platform before and after printing, cleaning up printed parts, and disposing of unused resin. The alcohol will help clean up any spilled liquid resin. To clean the area, first try cleaning it in a dark area.
Add resin or transfer color when printing
While you can add more resin to a print while it’s paused to avoid running out in the middle of a print, it’s best to add more resin before printing if you can.
In addition, if you want to add resin, please remove the resin printing tank from the printer first, then pour the resin, and then install the resin printing tank on the 3D printer. This is safer and prevents the spilled resin from ending up in the printer. into or on the printer. But in some cases this is unavoidable and you need to add more to the tank as you run the print simply because the print consumes the entire tank of resin. In this case, use caution when injecting the resin.
If you are changing from one color of resin to another, the best practice is to wait until you are completely out of one color of resin (meaning the print tank is essentially out of resin) and dispose of the remaining colors. Although using the same resin printing tank may cause the two colors of resin to contaminate each other (so clean to avoid contamination), you can use a very fine mesh (such as for cooking, especially stainless steel mesh, This way it won’t react chemically with the resin) and then pour the resin back into the bottle to remove any cured resin or bad prints.
