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What about an SLA printer

PostPosted: Wed Jan 16, 2013 4:31 pm
by keos
I am new to this discussion forum so please cope with me .
Since my printer is in the building stage i had to go to an outside source to print a part, and i came across sterolithography printing, and let me tell you i was blown away. So if you guys can build 3d printers, CNC machines, and laser cutters,
What about an SLA printer

Keos

Re: What about an SLA printer

PostPosted: Wed Jan 16, 2013 7:56 pm
by macona
keos wrote:I am new to this discussion forum so please cope with me .
Since my printer is in the building stage i had to go to an outside source to print a part, and i came across sterolithography printing, and let me tell you i was blown away. So if you guys can build 3d printers, CNC machines, and laser cutters,
What about an SLA printer

Keos


SLA is pretty cool. The projector based ones are really neat like the B9Creator. There is also the Form 1 that uses a small laser. The bottom-up method does have some advantages, less resin needed but there are issues with the work sticking to the bottom window.

I have been thinking about giving it a try on my laser cutter doing a more traditional top-down method. It takes more resin but it is simpler to do. And since the laser I use is UV (355nm) it should work with existing resins.

Re: What about an SLA printer

PostPosted: Wed Jan 16, 2013 8:02 pm
by bdring
I know several people working with that. They all get the resins from Bucktown polymers. There are a lot of patents in that area that are frustrating a lot of open source guys.

Re: What about an SLA printer

PostPosted: Wed Jan 16, 2013 10:27 pm
by SystemsGuy
I got to see a lost-wax cast ring made from a print on a B9, and it was pretty stunning. Most of the relevant SLA patents have expired, but 3DSystems did manage to dig one up that's the basis of the Kickstarter/FormLabs lawsuit.

Re: What about an SLA printer

PostPosted: Thu Jan 17, 2013 1:53 pm
by Cre8ivdsgn
I was all excited when Bart mentioned Bucktown because I hadn't heard of them before (there are thousands out there). I then started to take a close look and I didn't get many details. Bucktown seems to be held by ONE Technologies whose owner seems to be Bari Ari or something like that.

Why does this concern me? I work in this part of the industry and I am aware of the health effects of monomer materials, ozone, etc. Some of the MSDS info on the UV curable materials found on the Bucktown site frankly made no sense to me. Now I am an electrical engineer by degree, not a chemical engineer, but still I have never encountered before a "low-VOC" UV curable - all the ones I have seen have had no VOC's!

Many UV curables are skin sensitizers and quite a few folks are allergic to these compounds. High powered UV lamps create ozone and good ventilation should be available to eject the ozone and any liberated (I've heard it described as "boiled-off") monomer. The UV can be intense and it isn't good for your eyes or skin (I once got severe burns on my legs one time when I ran sample parts for a customer and I used a 300W - thank God not a 2000w system - to cure gaskets on large parts).

There are some "safe" UV formulations out there, but be aware there are potential serious health effects from UV materials.

I suppose this is just a reminder to the rest of us that ultimately in this world we are responsible for what we do to ourselves and we do need to occasionally crack open a book on industrial hygene as well as books on mechanics of materials. Just be careful, folks!

Re: What about an SLA printer

PostPosted: Thu Jan 17, 2013 2:24 pm
by bdring
This is an interesting link too.

http://www.buy3dink.com/p/59/uv-resin

Re: What about an SLA printer

PostPosted: Thu Jan 17, 2013 4:47 pm
by sports.racer
bdring wrote:This is an interesting link too.

http://www.buy3dink.com/p/59/uv-resin


Might not want to stand down wind of this stuff http://www.buy3dink.com/MSDS/UVResinBase.pdf

Re: What about an SLA printer

PostPosted: Thu Jan 17, 2013 5:52 pm
by cvoinescu
I'm not sure it's any worse than many two-part epoxies and the like.

Re: What about an SLA printer

PostPosted: Thu Jan 17, 2013 6:26 pm
by bdring
You are trying to scare the wrong group. We play with lasers for fun. :D

Re: What about an SLA printer

PostPosted: Thu Jan 17, 2013 6:34 pm
by macona
I have a friend who suddenly developed a skin sensitivity to epoxy. If she is even near it when it is being mixed she will break out in rashes. We talked to the supplier and it sounds like this is not that uncommon, one day you are fine the next you cant be around it. But this is only till the stuff cures, once it is cured is is pretty inert.

A day or two ago a friend got a small box that I think was intended for final curing of SLA parts. It has a 250w metal halide UV lamp in a fixture that is built into a small flammables cabinet, the ballast is external. Is the resin that volatile?

You can have UV without the ozone. Ozone is caused by the shorter wavelengths which can be filtered out by selection of the envelope glass. Some germicidal lamps are made not to create UV.