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Anycubic Photon and Mono X 3D DLP Printers


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I am sure I am not the only one to find the LCD control panel hard to read especially the time remaining for the current print job. Well it seems there is now a high contrast software upgrade available which I will download and install later:

https://github.com/Photonsters/photon-ui-mods/blob/master/README.md?fbclid=IwAR0tQORVO9DKD-RyfRQMDLd5kXEjW2kCrXrM92Jzj1XWtUAlJ-GWPXUsOgc

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Good spot Mike. I've just read the Read Me and confirms:

 

1. This software updates the user interface that is separate to the firmware, so it should be compatible with the anti-alias firmware upgrade.

2.  This mod is officially cleared by Anycubic for installation and use and will not void the machine warranty but is not supported by Anycubic. It is reversible.

3. It enables ethernet connectivity. One needs to open the access panel at the back. One has to Chitubox v1.4.0 (or newer) as this has a print to IP address.

 

Ethernet is useful and avoids the need for the other solution which was to use a Raspberry Pi to implement USB over Ethernet.

 

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I've been playing around with the Anti-Aliasing upgrade on my Photon. First up an N Gauge N2 without any Anti-Aliasing applied.

 

20190530_184812.jpg.6cf8471888a3e08f58d7c97cf0f1de80.jpg

 

Not bad at all but the print lines on the boiler are a little disappointing.

 

Next, the same CAD but with a two pixel Anti-Alias applied during printing.

 

2056918730_N2FirstAAAttempt2pixels.jpg.5d817fcb4b7b0121a6afa060fd203bbf.jpg

 

There are still some minor print lines visible but it is a big improvement.

 

The Chitchu software will allow you to applie Anti-Aliasing to the outer 2, 4 or 8 pixels. I'll be running a print using 8 pixels today to see if it negatively affects details.

 

Also some cruel closeups of my GWR County (no AA used here yet) to show the level of detail possible on an N gauge print.

 

20190604_082103.jpg.119809ccb22b59c55ef9501747188fb3.jpg

 

20190604_082149.jpg.40bd5b65bc86f2b8320f0ce3e48fb4c0.jpg

 

20190604_082158.jpg.d192427b701bdaae25ac5264340e1eec.jpg

 

20190604_082213.jpg.c4fc80ed76fd0cc71771aa77173ee5ee.jpg

 

 

 

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7 minutes ago, MikeTrice said:

Thanks Steve, those are exactly the tests we need done. There appear to be mixed feelings about the AA feature as it can make detail less sharp so it will be interesting how you get on.

 

I'm not sure whether increasing the AA level will help or hinder but my initial thought is that, overall the two pixel AA is a good compromise between getting a smoother (but not perfect) surface and keeping a decent level of sharpness.

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4 hours ago, Atso said:

I've been playing around with the Anti-Aliasing upgrade on my Photon. First up an N Gauge N2 without any Anti-Aliasing applied.

 

20190530_184812.jpg.6cf8471888a3e08f58d7c97cf0f1de80.jpg

 

Not bad at all but the print lines on the boiler are a little disappointing.

 

Next, the same CAD but with a two pixel Anti-Alias applied during printing.

 

2056918730_N2FirstAAAttempt2pixels.jpg.5d817fcb4b7b0121a6afa060fd203bbf.jpg

 

There are still some minor print lines visible but it is a big improvement.

 

The Chitchu software will allow you to applie Anti-Aliasing to the outer 2, 4 or 8 pixels. I'll be running a print using 8 pixels today to see if it negatively affects details.

 

Also some cruel closeups of my GWR County (no AA used here yet) to show the level of detail possible on an N gauge print.

 

20190604_082103.jpg.119809ccb22b59c55ef9501747188fb3.jpg

 

20190604_082149.jpg.40bd5b65bc86f2b8320f0ce3e48fb4c0.jpg

 

20190604_082158.jpg.d192427b701bdaae25ac5264340e1eec.jpg

 

20190604_082213.jpg.c4fc80ed76fd0cc71771aa77173ee5ee.jpg

 

 

 

Blown away by how good these are. Great workmanship coming from a lot of your time and effort.

richard

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6 hours ago, richard i said:

Blown away by how good these are. Great workmanship coming from a lot of your time and effort.

richard

 

Thanks Richard, they're getting better now aren't they?

 

Ok, Anti-Aliasing experiments for 2 pixels and 8 pixels (I broke the 4 pixel one!).

 

20190604_191756.jpg.4ae41c7fe6d890c275b0706483a92228.jpg

 

The 2 pixel AA is on the left and the 8 pixel is on the right.

 

20190604_191906.jpg.4706c9a90e80406fb8ebea42fb3fd616.jpg

 

A close up showing the lubricator wheels with 2 pixel AA, some visible lines around the lower part of the boiler.

 

20190604_191916.jpg.1f626902fe17469792aa3a59d5186346.jpg

 

And again the same view at 8 pixel AA. The boiler lines are still there but much reduced and I think they'll disappear completely under a couple of coats of paint.

Edited by Atso
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On 31/05/2019 at 16:55, The Great Bear said:

 

That's what I've found with my 4mm coach underframes, except that leaving the supports attached isn't practical so instead I print stiffening beams attached to the top of the underframe which I then cut off when cured, again an hour plus. 

As indicated above, I new to 3D printing but in my research I've come across huge difference in curing time from under minute to your 1 hour. With my small items I cured them for 3 minutes and they seem hard enough. I read that too much UV can make items brittle. I also read that once washed with alcohol the items should be placed in water and then cured under water. This stops oxidation which is an inhibitor to curing. I have 5L of distilled water so I shall use that next time.

 

I used the semi-transparent green resin that came with the printer and I've read that coloured resins like grey need more time, but logic tells me that if they are a solid colour then UV rays will not easily penetrate. A quick google shows that 405nm UV used for curing is near to visible light compared to 200nm which is near to x-rays. Other articles say UV light whilst dangerous to the skin does not penetrate very far below the skin surface.

 

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As the resin is very toxic I decided to build a combined fume & containment box and spray booth.

 

451733831_FumeSprayUnitLR.jpg.6ded74360a7f1d0c39842a632317566a.jpg

 

The white panel on the left fits into a window. The silver box is my UV box (see below). The interior is covered with melanine which I picked up at £1 sheet from a surplus place. It was difficult to source compared to the 70's when I last bought some. The low front wall makes a containment box in case the resin spills. The paint filter panel on the left inside is removable for when doing 3D prints. The top clear perspex folds up and the front clear perspex is held by magnets. There is an LED panel in the top. The 3D printer goes on the right inside the unit. The 6-gang extension socket on the wall on the right feeds through the wall to the garage where there is an UPS so long prints are protected against power failures or glitches.

 

The fan is not explosion proof so for safety I should not use IPA as it is 90% alcohol but it will be OK for spraying acrylics. I'm on the look out for a used explosion proof fan. The fan is controlled by a electronic speed controller (not visible).

 

If I did it again I would make it a bit shorter as it's quite heavy. The unit folds down for storage.

 

118231339_FumeSprayUnitFoldedLR.jpg.3e9d09776844b52efc2fb256190c8cfa.jpg

 

Now you can see the LED panel. I haven't got the hinge arrange quite right so the top doesn't fold completely flat. It was quite a challenge finding suitable hinges especially when I didn't know the search term - I now know they are called cabinet cupboard pivot hinges.

 

Here's the UV box. Only view the following photo with UV safety glasses ;)

 

743421648_UVBoxLR.jpg.906328535be3e764353ccfb4e7f072b0.jpg

 

It's made from a cheap bread bin that started to disintegrate when I converted it, so it needed a good dose of hot glue sticks. The self adhesive LED strips would not stick so they also needed hot glueing as well. The small grey box contains an electronic timer that also drives the turntable. Flowers are optional ;)

 

 

Edited by Alan_LSWR
Added it's a containment box in case of spills
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33 minutes ago, calvin Streeting said:

 

is all resin (used in printing) toxic?

 

I've not read any article that says some resins are not. A quick google gave this article as the first https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/6513/toxicity-of-light-curing-resin

Quote

always treat the material as though it is toxic until documentation tells you otherwise. If all else fails, treat it as toxic and you can't go wrong.

 

Also note that nitrile or neoprene gloves should be used and not the latex type, wear a face mask with a filter and safety glasses as a minimum.  The IPA used to clean is pretty vicious as well. I read about one person who spashed it on his trousers and didn't take immediate action and it badly damaged the skin on his legs. Some people use methated spirits. Take care.

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I managed to get some on my hands early on  and came up in an incredibly  itchy red rash between my fingers which developed into something akin to bad sunburn over the next couple of days.

.Now I take the gloves thing very seriously

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11 hours ago, Alan_LSWR said:

 The IPA used to clean is pretty vicious as well. I read about one person who spashed it on his trousers and didn't take immediate action and it badly damaged the skin on his legs. Some people use methated spirits. Take care.

 

Thanks for raising. That was me. it set off a reaction in the rest of my skin as well. It needed lots of sterioid cream, emolients and steroid tablets for a month to sort it out. Now I'm over-sensitised to concentrated alcohol in contact with my skin, so modelling products with a lot of alcohol in like Microsol I need to be careful with too. I now use water soluble resin (Amera labs) or use normal resins (the Amazon Elego resin being too cheap to resist) a detergent to clean models instead (Keytech Tek 1969).

 

So gloves and covering other areas potentially in contact are a must - I use long cuff gloves, wear a lab coat and an apron and goggles. As for the fumes, some resins are worse than others.

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I'm on the verge of buying a photon,  but hadn't considered fumes. I was going to run it in the kitchen,  but that doesn't seem a good idea now. Would a spare bedroom with the window open be adequate? Unfortunately my shed's at the bottom of the garden with no electric so not practical there without a lot of work.

Also, would a 40 ft (160mm) carriage body or even side fit diagonally on the bed?

Thanks 

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11 hours ago, monkeysarefun said:

I managed to get some on my hands early on  and came up in an incredibly  itchy red rash between my fingers which developed into something akin to bad sunburn over the next couple of days.

.Now I take the gloves thing very seriously

 

I got a similar reaction under my watch on my left wrist.  I couldn't work out how that happened until it dawned on me that the resin had probably come from my right gloved finger tips when pulling the gloves off.   I now try to rinse my right finger tips before glove removal.

 

Jim.

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2 hours ago, Charlie586 said:

I'm on the verge of buying a photon,  but hadn't considered fumes. I was going to run it in the kitchen,  but that doesn't seem a good idea now. Would a spare bedroom with the window open be adequate? Unfortunately my shed's at the bottom of the garden with no electric so not practical there without a lot of work.

 

Some people do that. Depends how close the window is and how big but the wind may blow the fumes into the house rather than out.

 

What's the floor covering? Worst case scenario is spillage on the floor of resin. This needs to be washed down with IPA (which is toxic and highly inflammable) . So a carpet is a no-go.

 

Also you need to think about the fumes and risk of explosion when washing the items in IPA or meths. So plenty of ventilation is required. I find the utility room ideal as the floor is tiled and I can pop outside to do the washing. The 2 wheelie bins outside the door make ideal work bench for cleaning. Once when raining I washed just inside the open door and managed to spill the washing container. I was glad I had a tiled floor.


I also use a 3M 7502 Reusable Respirator with carbon filters rather than those simple cloth face masks.

 

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3 hours ago, Charlie586 said:

Also, would a 40 ft (160mm) carriage body or even side fit diagonally on the bed? 

 

The AnyCubic Photon has a print volume of 115 x 65 x 155 mm (LxWxH) so it could just fit diagonally. In fact it is recommend that items are printed at an angle. This is because the print head lifts up between printing layers (the items are printed up-side-down under the print head) and as the resin is viscous there is a risk that horizontal surfaces create a suction stopping the resin flowing underneath the print head before it descends to print the next layer (and also distorting what has already been printed). Also the suction can put a strain on the FEP film. If the FEP film ruptures then resin will flood into the printer - a nasty toxic mess to clean up.

 

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I got tempted into buying a Photon in an Amazon flash sale despite (or maybe because of) knowing nothing about CAD or 3D printing.

 

The learning curve has been vertical, and is not over yet. It has somewhat monopolised my limited modelling time, but has eventually yielded a successful print that hopefully will make up into an acceptable SR Banana van.

 

I'm still learning what is and isn't possible, and what might be better done using more traditional methods.

For example, the door locking bars have printed at scale size, with fresh air between them and the body side, which I find amazing, but will not surprisingly be too fragile for a working model and will be replaced with wire.

 

Overall, I'm very impressed with what the Photon can do, especially at the price.

20190614_114629.jpg

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2 hours ago, Alan_LSWR said:

 

Some people do that. Depends how close the window is and how big but the wind may blow the fumes into the house rather than out.

 

What's the floor covering? Worst case scenario is spillage on the floor of resin. This needs to be washed down with IPA (which is toxic and highly inflammable) . So a carpet is a no-go.

 

Also you need to think about the fumes and risk of explosion when washing the items in IPA or meths. So plenty of ventilation is required. I find the utility room ideal as the floor is tiled and I can pop outside to do the washing. The 2 wheelie bins outside the door make ideal work bench for cleaning. Once when raining I washed just inside the open door and managed to spill the washing container. I was glad I had a tiled floor.


I also use a 3M 7502 Reusable Respirator with carbon filters rather than those simple cloth face masks.

 

Thanks. Floor covering is carpet,  I was thinking of placing it in a fairly sturdy plant propagator but hadn't considered washing down. Something will get spilt eventually so I'll have to rethink this. Don't have an extension or utility room so either a shed rebuild or a different type of printer would be more suitable for me.

Thanks for dimensions and diagonal explanation too.

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Just now, Charlie586 said:

Thanks. Floor covering is carpet,  I was thinking of placing it in a fairly sturdy plant propagator but hadn't considered washing down. Something will get spilt eventually so I'll have to rethink this. Don't have an extension or utility room so either a shed rebuild or a different type of printer would be more suitable for me.

Thanks for dimensions and diagonal explanation too. 

 

The filament printers are getting better (finer layers) and I have seen photos of prints that have very little signs of layering but today it comes at a cost - prices will fall. As Trofimow showed with the SR Banana van the print details for resin are amazing especially at the price but the process is messy.

 

Re using a shed. I've not done enough printing myself but I've read that resin printing needs warm stable temperatures so a shed in the winter may be problematic, especially on 6 hour print runs.

 

There is a certain Chinese lady who reviews high tech gadgets on YouTube including 3D printers. It appears she lives in a tower block. There must be some risk (e.g. dropping a bottle of resin that seeps into the flat below). One day the laser cutter she was using caught fire. Luckily she had a fire extinguisher to hand. When handling certain materials she has the gloves, face masks and safety glasses but wears very little clothing!! Humans have a wide spectrum of assessment of and appetite to risk.

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