Anycubic Photon and Mono X 3D DLP Printers

[chris p bacon]

The footplate and boiler bottom look very good, I just used a bit of plasticard but wasn't overly happy with the result.

 

[Alan_LSWR]

On 07/07/2019 at 11:05, MikeTrice said:

Something I have wanted to do, more as a challenge, was to attempt modelling a locomotive chimney and dome. A number of early models cry out for decent chimneys/domes of the correct profile not least of all the old Lima LNER J50. Dave Sutton (Chris P Bacon) of this parish has produced an etched chassis for the J50 so a decent chassis is possible. Why bother when there is a good Hornby model available? Basically I have a couple of these Lima models tucked away for a rainy day so why not?

 

Excellent work there Mike. What software did you use to get those complex curves where the dome and chimney meet the boiler?

 

[Knuckles]

On 07/07/2019 at 11:10, MikeTrice said:

Sometimes more can be learnt by what goes wrong rather than what goes right. Take this early attempt at the footplate:

 

Two things have happened here. First the cleaning solution really needed freshening and it was too saturated with resin, secondly it was taken out in the early afternoon during a very hot period of the day with strong natural UV light being present resulting in the unwashed resin curing almost immediately.

 

Oh yes, that ol' chess nut!  Very true,  been 'had' twice with the sun in full beam.  Now what I do if the sun is clear and strong is to pt water in a jug and do it out of view.  If it's cloudy you can get away with it but yeah, it will solidify a messy flashy film all over the model otherwise.

[Enterprisingwestern]

On 07/07/2019 at 12:05, MikeTrice said:

Why bother when there is a good Hornby model available?

 

Because we are supposed to be railway modellers?

 

Mike.

[MikeTrice]

3 hours ago, Alan_LSWR said:

Excellent work there Mike. What software did you use to get those complex curves where the dome and chimney meet the boiler?

 

Blender. Whether I can remember how I did it is something else.

[flubrush]

3 hours ago, Alan_LSWR said:

Excellent work there Mike. What software did you use to get those complex curves where the dome and chimney meet the boiler?

 

 

I've used Fusion 360 and the methods shown in this thread from a few years ago

 

 

 

Jim.

[JohnGi]

12 minutes ago, flubrush said:

 

I've used Fusion 360 and the methods shown in this thread from a few years ago

 

 

 

Jim.

 

Hi,

 

Also see two videos by quarryscapes in this thread 

 

 

 

John

[monkeysarefun]

This was posted in the Photon Facebook group today and given the speed that posts get lost under new ones  there I thought it worth sticking here

 

There is a lot of discussion in various groups about resin safety.

I see a lot of good information out there, but I also see a lot of bad. I see a lot of 'advice' posted, some good, some very bad. However, in general, I think most people are a little too casual about how they handle resins.

I want to share with you an incident that happened to me this weekend, which is a painful reminder of just how nasty these resins can be.

We are moving to a new print lab, which of course means moving all of the printers. Saturday, when I went to move the Phrozen shuffle, there was resin remaining in the vat, and when I moved it, a bit 'sloshed' out and it began to drip out from the front of the machine as I was carrying it.

I got a little on my arm, and a few drips on the front of my shorts and shirt. It was just a little bit of resin- I wiped what I could off, but I was more worried about what had spilled on the printer, so I set it down, and gave it a good thorough cleaning, which took 15 mins or so. After this, I went back, took off the shorts that had been contaminated, and took a shower, using plenty of soapy water to clean up the area that had been exposed to resin. There was some light redness and irritation, but nothing major.

The next day, I worked several hours inside, getting the machines in my FDM print farm ready to move. There was some slight irritation and redness, but nothing major.

Then, later in the evening, about 24 hours after the resin exposure, it began to burn more, and blisters started to appear. When I awoke the next morning, the blisters had enlarged, so we went to the Emergency room. They directed us to the nearest burn center- Over 2 hours away. The dead skin had to be excised, and as it was over about 10% of me, this had to be done under anesthesia due to the pain. Cadaver skin then had to be placed to facilitate healing.

So- The next time someone tells you that the resins are "not too bad"- Something I hear often- Or that people are over reacting about their hazards, remember this. I am not new to chemical handling- And I had taken proper precautions- I had gloves, Eye protection, etc.

While I should have removed the vat before moving the printer, I was in a bit of a hurry so I just kept going since it was just going to the other side of the room for the moment. And- When I DID have the spill, I should have stopped, cleaned MYSELF up, then gone back and cleaned up the machine. But, I didn't.

This is a fun hobby. But it can be a dangerous one. The best advice I can pass on is the same advice I used to give to new people coming to work for me at prior jobs- Don't fear it, but RESPECT it.

 

. Its a bit of a wake up call if you tend to dismiss the potential danger of the resin on bare skin and are a bit lax on putting on gloves etc whenever handling it. On forums and videos  I have seen and read instances of people saying its a bit over the top or just totally ignorant of the need for protection

 

For instance I was watching a youtube video about the Elegoo Mars resin printer and the bloke who appeared from his initial comments to be some kind of experienced user totally ignored any dangers and got resin all over his bare hands  as he removed the parts from the plate and touched the resin and got it all over his thumb  to demonstrate its goo-iness. Given his other innacuracies (Chitubox is a Chinese  pirate copy of good old US software, the orange lid is  to stop the lasers from burning out your eyes, the bottom of the vat is thin glass, and many more,) I'm not that surprised....

Edited July 23, 2019 by monkeysarefun

[njee20]

The converse of that of course is that one assumes he didn't receive burns requiring a skin graft after demonstrating that (and has presumably done it before), so either the resins are not all the same, or people react differently.

 

I continue to flirt with buying a Photon; any thoughts of where to get one? They're down to £289 on Amazon for the basic printer, but on the "Anycubic Official Store" via Ali Express, shipped from Poland (so no duty etc), they're £240 with a litre of resin by the time you factor in various vouchers that are always floating around. Any reason not to buy one from Poland (if it's a proprietary power supply an adapter may be needed I realise)?

Edited August 5, 2019 by njee20

[sem34090]

Despite being careful, I occasionally get resin on myself and seem to suffer no ill effect from it, but then maybe it's a different resin?

[njee20]

Yes, given their increasing ubiquity I'm sure if people needed skin grafts under general anaesthetic from what sounds like a small splash of resin we'd be hearing a lot more about it! Obviously I don't doubt the story above, and I'm not condoning reckless handling of chemicals, but that has to be an unusual experience.

[Nimbus]

4 hours ago, njee20 said:

Any reason not to buy one from Poland (if it's a proprietary power supply an adapter may be needed I realise)?

The 'adaptor' will amount to an IEC kettle lead, if my experience is still typical.

 

The Nim.

[njee20]

Ta, I thought it was probably either a kettle lead or a figure of 8. Damn, I may have to buy one.

[flubrush]

2 hours ago, njee20 said:

Yes, given their increasing ubiquity I'm sure if people needed skin grafts under general anaesthetic from what sounds like a small splash of resin we'd be hearing a lot more about it! Obviously I don't doubt the story above, and I'm not condoning reckless handling of chemicals, but that has to be an unusual experience.

 

I get a reaction when Phrozen Grey resin gets on more tender areas of skin - i.e. not hardened areas like palms of hands.   I wondered why my left wrist was inflamed and very itchy when I started working with the printer until it dawned on me that when I was pulling the glove off my left hand,  resin on the right hand glove's finger tips was being transferred to the skin on my left wrist and under my watch strap.  I now dunk my gloved fingers in IPA and clean the resin off before removing the gloves.

 

Jim.

[monkeysarefun]

9 hours ago, flubrush said:

 

I get a reaction when Phrozen Grey resin gets on more tender areas of skin - i.e. not hardened areas like palms of hands.   I wondered why my left wrist was inflamed and very itchy when I started working with the printer until it dawned on me that when I was pulling the glove off my left hand,  resin on the right hand glove's finger tips was being transferred to the skin on my left wrist and under my watch strap.  I now dunk my gloved fingers in IPA and clean the resin off before removing the gloves.

 

Jim.

 

I too have had itchiness and redness like  sunburn on places like my wrist if not washed off. I also had one item really stick to the build plate and while trying everything to lever it off at one point I rested the build plate against my stomach without realising that the resin on it was soaking through my top resulting in a red sunburn-y  weal and extreme itchiness where it was resting. Didn't need a skin graft though.. That was Anycubic green btw. I an currently using Monocure grey and white and they seem to be less aggressive when I get them on  me. 

 

As an aside I'm discovering that ambient temperature really plays havoc with my printing. My printer is outside in a tin shed and currently morning temperatures in my bit of Sydney are around 0 to 4 degrees. My usual work process has been to set prints going early in the morning before I leave for work but currently I'm getting a lot of failed prints, and prints that are very 'blobby' ie looking melted and lacking fine detail  which I'm putting down to the resin being too cold to perform as it should.

 

The resin also seems thicker and stays all over the build plate and the finished model rather than dripping off back into the vat making cleaning really messy, especially white resin - I won't tell you what THAT looks like!  I've read of other users heating the build plate and the  resin with a heat gun or similar but I don't have time so I guess at the moment I'll print on the weekends when I am not getting these issues if I set the prints off when the sun is up and things are warm. I guess you UK guys won't be having this issue at the moment! 

 

 Speaking of that I discovered how quickly UV light sets the resin - I removed my vat from the machine intending to drain the small remainder back into the bottle when there was a loudish bang on the roof. I went out to check it out without remembering  I was carrying the vat..... in the 20 seconds or so that I was out in the sun checking for the noise the resin hardened and I had to scrape it out into the bin. (BTW the bang was a cockatoo in the gum tree dropping a half chewed orange onto my roof. they are natures pranksters.)

Edited August 6, 2019 by monkeysarefun

[MikeTrice]

From memory Anycubic recommend temperatures above 20 degrees. I too found lower temperatures affect the print "sticking" to the build plate so resorted to putting the clean build plate on top of a radiator to warm up.

[Charlie586]

On 05/08/2019 at 10:58, njee20 said:

They're down to £289 on Amazon for the basic printer, but on the "Anycubic Official Store" via Ali Express, shipped from Poland (so no duty etc), they're £240 with a litre of resin by the time you factor in various vouchers that are always floating around. Any reason not to buy one from Poland (if it's a proprietary power supply an adapter may be needed I realise)?

 

Typically, for me, I bought one on amazon for about £340 two week ago, it was during their prime day sale and that price included a discount of £50. They seem to have waited for me to buy then dropped the price. I saw it was cheaper on Ali Express but having never bought from them I went for amazon in case it needed returning under guarantee ( I might be over paranoid there but as it's a large purchase I thought I'd stick to a retailer I know)

 

How often do others have to re level the plate? I've had to do it twice so far, is it normal about once a week? I've printed something everyday but usually only 2 - 4 hours printing.

 

 

[49395]

As part of a small group purchasing a photon between us we’ve just ordered one new off eBay for about £245 delivered, there’s a few similar listings, an example is:

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F392320218838

[njee20]

It’s done! £235 delivered on Anycubic’s own site, with code ANY15 for $15 off. Says they ship from US/EU, assuming they simply use destination as there’s no active choice. 

 

Can’t say I’ll be matching the quality of anything on this thread, but thanks to everyone for their inspiration!

[MikeTrice]

1 hour ago, njee20 said:

Can’t say I’ll be matching the quality of anything on this thread, but thanks to everyone for their inspiration!

You will.

[kipford]

Just ordered one as well as a birthday present. Also nail curer and solar powered turntable from Amazon. Is it worth going straight to the grey resin?

 

[monkeysarefun]

On 09/07/2019 at 00:27, MikeTrice said:

Blender. Whether I can remember how I did it is something else.

 

I'd mucked around in Blender a few months ago but found its interface overly  complex and a bit nutty - right click to select instead of left click like everything else for instance. Yesterday I downloaded the 2.8 release - what a difference. Anyone who's given up on it previously because it seems impenetrable should at least look at a couple of 2.8 videos on youtube to see the simpler look and feel it has now. And yes  left click now selects things, right click pops up a context menu like all other software.....

[MikeTrice]

7 hours ago, monkeysarefun said:

 

I'd mucked around in Blender a few months ago but found its interface overly  complex and a bit nutty - right click to select instead of left click like everything else for instance. Yesterday I downloaded the 2.8 release - what a difference. Anyone who's given up on it previously because it seems impenetrable should at least look at a couple of 2.8 videos on youtube to see the simpler look and feel it has now. And yes  left click now selects things, right click pops up a context menu like all other software.....

I agree, right click select was destinctly odd, however it was configurable and was one of the first things I did. Made all the difference.

 

Sounds as if I might have to learn the new interface.

[Trofimow]

Anycubic have announced a new plant-based resin, supposed not to have the nasty smell....

 

https://www.anycubic.com/pages/photon-sold-100000

[Alan_LSWR]

Thanks for the heads up on the plant based resin. I've just ordered a bottle at $29.99 to try it. On clicking "buy" the next screen pops up with £25 which seems the going exchange rate, but then the rest of the order reverts to $. Delivery is free with a choice of 2 groups of carriers - I choose FedEx. Payment is CC or PayPal. I choose PayPal but it said I would be charged £25.85 so I backed back in the browser and changed to credit card. Let's see if that is nearer to £25.

 

No receipt / confirmation screen just "Thanks for your order - We’re getting a lot of orders right now. You should receive confirmation by email or text soon. If you don't receive it in the next hour, let us know."  - Got the email quite quickly with a URL to my order details.

 

Amazon normal resin is currently £16 to £19 depending on colour. So like organic food this plant base stuff is a bit more expensive. Let's hope Amazon or others discount the plant based type. Based on existing discounts they are likely to charge £26-£27.

 

Postscript: If you go to the link given and click on "buy" it takes you to https://www.anycubic.com/products/anycubic-plant-based-uv-resin . If you then page down there is useful information about layer exposure times and also note to say use at 25C to 30C and wash in either alcohol for 30 seconds minimum or in washing up solution. Plus one should still take care to avoid skin contact.

Edited August 10, 2019 by Alan_LSWR
Added Postscript