Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

Apologies for copying this post (I made it last week) but it was in the wrong forum and I couldn't figure out how/if I could move it to here.... Anyway... here goes..

Once again looking for suggestions to help with my analysis paralysis. I'm looking for recommendations for 3d resin for am anycubic 8k printer and, though I have yet to receive it, a D2 DLP printer.

Cost is a factor but my priorities are durability (which with minis I think means some flexibility) and detail. Does anybody have good experiences with a resin for an 8k printer amd/or a DLP printer that they can share? This stuff isn't cheap so I'd like to start off with something that others have had good luck with. I liked the results on my old sonic mini 4k using the 4k aqua Grey from phrozen but I did find it a tad brittle. That could have easily been my printing settings or that I over cured it though.

Thanks everyone.

Personally I've enjoyed the performance of Aqua 4K Grey. That said you could consider Vulcan resin by Atlas.

Another thing to consider is that, esp at the consumer level, many resins make sacrifices in one area for gains in another. A very durable resin might not hold fine details quite as well; whilst a fine detail resin might hold those details really well, but might be more brittle.

So there's an element of give and take. Some very high performance (high priced) resins can do way better, but are going to cost you way more.



Another option is mixing resins. For example many people mix something like 10 or 20 % Tenacious resin into their regular resin. This gives them some of the improved durability of Tenacious resin, with a lower cost and detail performance of their regular resin.





Also note that you cannot overcure 3D print resins. The resin reacts to UV light until its finished curing then it stops reacting. Once fully cured its even less reactive than cast resins (which discolour with sunlight).

Now people do talk about resins becoming more brittle with overcuring, but what's actually happening is that they are simply undercuring their resins all the time and don't realise it. The resins simply are more brittle than many realise when fully cured (esp lower cost consumer resins).
I notice this especially with people from backgrounds in PVC models such as DnD players; who are very used to literally just chucking models in a box for game night. Though these days even those who've just never handled anything other than, say, modern GW plastics can find resins surprisingly fragile.

Another aspect is that many designers in 3D printing aren't often print and playing with their models or they are sculpting in a larger scale and then resizing in software. Both cases they are simply making super thin details that render nice, but which are functionally less viable for many resins.



From a safety aspect, 3D print resins are hazardous to skin contact unless fully cured, so its advisable to never undercure and to ensure your models are really well cured.

That's been my experience with whole "brittle resin" debate too.

That said, I'm not impressed at all with the new AnyCubic Grey formula. It's obviously a popular resin because it's never out-of-stock and it's dirt cheap, so a word of caution here is probably fair. I used to swear by this resin for lower-res machines because it had just a little bit of "growth" to it, which smooths out pixels and layers nicely at low-res. The new formula, it is said, was designed specifically to eliminate this aspect of the resin because it naturally obscures micro-details. That's annoying, because now the new formula has a tendency to delaminate pixels (not layers, pixels) from sharp corners (they string off like little toxic hairs). The new formula also modifies the surface tension of the resin, which makes cleaning the vat easier, but also messes with adhesion so that vertical details don't come out great anymore.

They've basically ruined this resin. So just be aware that right now (early 2023) there's both new AnyCubic Grey and old AnyCubic Grey floating around, and they're completely different products sold as the same thing.

Yeah supply issues and the fact that most of the consumer market is pretty new means formulas for the same resin vary. Even excluding bad-batches which happen as well.

It's one reason that you should always run a calibration print when using a new bottle of even the same kind of resin.

At least that's good practice for consumers who might buy a bottle a month or a bottle every few months etc.... If you are buying in bulk then there's a good chance most comes from the same production batch. So many merchants (who are often buying in large bulk) often just keep going without doing any calibration prints between bottles until they order a whole new batch.

Thanks guys. Good info. I will have to look into adjusting my cure times. It didn't even occur to me that they may be "undercooked". I have used a lot of Aqua Grey 4k in the past and love it. But between the undercooking and maybe swords that are too breakable and tiny ( sounds like an embarrasing locker room issue ) - I think you may be onto something. I will look at my practices/process closer.

 Solid_jr wrote:
... ( sounds like an embarrasing locker room issue )...