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So I have been thinking of getting a 3d printer for a while and I have some questions

- I'm mostly interested in doing 6-15mm stuff and occasionally maybe some 28mm infantry/terrain, what type of printer works best for that?
-Does it give off any fumes or similar? Can I have it next to my workbench or do I need to put into a garage or similar?
-How much would a good "hobby-grade" printer go for? I have saved away some money for this, so I'm willing to splurge a bit if it increases performance.
-Any thing to watch out for?

dyndraig wrote:
So I have been thinking of getting a 3d printer for a while and I have some questions

- I'm mostly interested in doing 6-15mm stuff and occasionally maybe some 28mm infantry/terrain, what type of printer works best for that?

For that scale, you'll definitely want a resin SLA/DLP printer. The Anycubic Photon is pretty popular and affordable.

-Does it give off any fumes or similar? Can I have it next to my workbench or do I need to put into a garage or similar?

Some resins have a little bit of odor, but generally not too bad. If you have an open window you're probably ok.

-How much would a good "hobby-grade" printer go for? I have saved away some money for this, so I'm willing to splurge a bit if it increases performance.
-Any thing to watch out for?

The Photon has a couple models, and range from about $260 USD to about $500. You may also want to look at getting a wash and cure station (you will need to rinse resin prints in isopropyl alcohol, and UV light curing helps). You can DIY that with like an ultrasonic cleaner from Harbor Freight and a UV Nail Polish curing lamp, but Anycubic also has a decent set that isn't that expensive.

Some things to keep in mind is that you will also need:
* A good supply of gloves.
* Lots of isopropyl alcohol for rinsing
* Paper towels out the yin-yang
* Extra FEP films for the resin vats (they're a consumable; eventually you need to replace them)

Also, even the newer resin printers aren't quite "plug and play," and you may have to be ready for a lot of failed attempts whilst you nail down support structures, cure times, etc.

just to add that each resin behaves differently so the amount of time you need to cure each pass depends on the resin more than the printer (and don't mix different resins)

a lot of new folk seem to be getting on fine then as soon as they need to replace their resin and end up getting something different either because it's cheaper/more available/a better colour etc have real problems because they don't realise the cycle time needs to change

More recent printers like the Elegoo Mars come with activated charcoal filters, so it can get pretty stinky with toxic fumes.

Also there seem to be more water rinsable residents s coming on the market now doing away with the need for IPA. However, just because its water rinsable it doesnt make it any less toxic and needs to be handled carefully, and not just washed down the sink.

Are the 1000$+ models worth looking at as a hobbyist? Or are the extra features unnecessary for printing miniatures?

Also, regarding the Anycubic wash and cure station, does that work with other resin printers as well? like the Elegoo Mars series for example?

Valander has it spot on. Definitely go resin. Here is a link to the posts where I had some comparison pics of resin vs. FDM.

https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/0/788814.page

https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/60/788814.page#10840067

I have the Elegoo Mars (not the Pro, but the basic) and you can find these just over $200 now - I thought I saw them for about $209?. This is an amazing machine with pixel resolution of about .047, which is comparable to machine going for much more - even $1000 machines that might have a bigger build plate only go to .050 resolution. So, as a hobbyist, no reason to move the bigger machines.

I have probably made over 500 print runs on my Elegoo and it is a workhorse - I love it.

When buying resin, I go to Amazon and usually the Elegoo or Siraya Tech resin is very affordable and low fumes. My issue now with the COVID is difficulty in finding the isopropyl alcohol to clean the prints. I am using Mean Green, but still with a final diluted alcohol bath (to save on my low alcohol supply) and this has been working OK. Other questions answered:

My Elegoo sits right on my desk next to me all day long - no fumes at all, except just a bit when you open the lid, but it is not bad at all. My Elegoo is about 8.5" x 8.5" and about 16" tall, so very small footprint to fit on your desk. The actual build plate on just about all of the printers in this range (Elegoo, Photon, Longer, etc.) are about the same at around 4.7" x 2.5".
Elegoo has the Saturn out at the $400-$500 mark with a build plate about 7.5" x 4.75" at .050 resolution, so almost right at the Mars resolution. They sell out as soon as they are available, so tough to get them now - this is my next printer to get probably first part of next year.

dyndraig wrote:


Are the 1000$+ models worth looking at as a hobbyist? Or are the extra features unnecessary for printing miniatures?

Also, regarding the Anycubic wash and cure station, does that work with other resin printers as well? like the Elegoo Mars series for example?

Depends on which machine you're talking about, really.

Features you need for that kind of scale work:

* Good resolution, both in layer height (20 microns or better) and in x-y resolution (50 microns or better).

Well, that's really about it. Beyond that, a lot of the differences come down to maintenance costs, replacement parts, longevity of projector/lcd, FEP films, and stuff like that. Some may also have larger build areas, but unless you're planning on printing big pieces of terrain larger than the average size of about 3x5x6 for most lower end resin printers, that's not really necessary (note, though, that as MDSW mentions, larger print areas may come at the sacrifice of resolution). Some of the higher end models have more "support" or built in software or other fancy things like wireless printing with a phone app. Those kind of bells and whistles depend on preference, really.

As for the wash & cure, yeah, the Anycubic one would likely work fine for pretty much any other UV resin done at 405 nanometers wavelength (which is most of them out there honestly).

I have not found any issues at all mixing Elegoo, Siraya Tech, Shine Sing and Nova Stan resins at will, with no ill effects, no major tweaking of times, except for black seems to need a couple more seconds per layer. The thinner the layer, the less time, so at .04-.05 I go with 60 seconds for the first layer, subsequent 7 seconds; higher than .05 go to 8-9 seconds. Black, just add 2 seconds to these and i have no issues. This has A LOT to do with the wattage of your UV light in your machine - I think the cheaper Photon has a lower wattage, so you need to increase these about another 2-4 seconds, I believe.

Also, I frequently tint the resin colors with alcohol inks with great success. The inks from Ranger work perfectly, so i can use white resin and create nearly any color with just a few basic inks - just don't try to over color it, but it works beautifully.

For my wash and cure station I have two tupperware containers (need to be sure they are good quality with tight seal) and I drop the new prints into the first wash which I try to use the 90+% alcohol (hard to find now, so I am diluting a bit and have recently switched to Simple Green for this) then a subsequent 50% alcohol wash for a final clean. Let them dry, remove supports (you can pull just about all of them off by hand or clip) and put into the cure box. I have a fairly large (8x10x8) plastic container lined with tin foil that I cut out a small square at the top to place my UV light (60 watt, I think - bought on Amazon for $20) and use a timer to set for 5-10 minutes, depending on what the part is. Some resins cure perfectly with a bit of flex at the 3-5 minute mark and if left longer will be totally rigid - possibly too rigid if dropped. So, I guess both my wash and cure stations cost about $35 and took maybe 30 minutes to assemble.

UV light on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Curing-Printer-solidify-photosensitive-Output/dp/B07CZD8S8H/ref=sr_1_7?dchild=1&keywords=uv+light+60+watt&qid=1594407162&sr=8-7