What went wrong with this resin print? pics

[Largechris]

Hello, I'm just starting out with 3D printing, on an Anycubic Photon. 

 

I printed the test file, an open cube shape, successfully, beginners luck, very impressive.

 

I then recovered the resin through the supplied filters, and the following day tried to do exactly the same print again.... and failed. 

 

The base worked, was properly attached to the plate, same as before, so I don't think it was a levelling or gapping issue?  I've ended up with a slightly melted cube as per the pictures. 

 

The only thing I can think of was the timer ran down quicker than I thought so it might have been hanging finished for an hour or two, before I removed the print, would that have caused this?

[Pete the Elaner]

My first few prints came out badly & it took a while to learn the right tricks with my laser cutter too, so don't worry, you will get there.

It looks like a minor levelling issue. Did you level it before the second print? I mistakenly believed this it was a 1-off job like aligning the laser cutter, but I have since found out that it needs to be done before every print. Thankfully it is a task which becomes quite quick with practise.

[njee20]

It definitely doesn't need doing every print! I've not levelled any of my four resin printers for dozens of prints. It's much more regular on FDM. Levelling on a resin printer also only really affects the base layers, once it's stuck you're pretty safe, so not the issue here.

 

What's the temperature where you're printing? Given it worked the first time it's not likely to be levelling or exposure, but they are very temperature sensitive. I heat the resin before printing (literally by pointing a heat gun at the vat for 30 seconds), and that hugely reduced the number of winter failures. A handful of layers have stuck to the FEP, so it was close!

 

No problem to leave an item on the bed after printing, I've done so for weeks before, it absolutely won't collapse.

 

You also don't need to filter the resin each time either. Good practice after a failure, in case there are bits floating in the vat, but not necessary every time. Again even after a printer has sat idle for weeks I just give the vat a stir with a gloved finger!

[Largechris]

Interesting, thanks. This is inside my house so everything at a steady 21 degrees. I can easily try and warm the resin a bit, but over the course of four hours printing (for example) it will cool back down to room temperature anyway?

 

Looking at the failed print a bit closer, the bit I've highlighted has printed out as a "plane" rather than the 3D cube structure, like it's kind of fallen apart as it was printing maybe?

 

TBH, I was impressed it worked the first time as the structure is pretty thin and delicate looking. Obviously I will try a few different test projects, so long as I'm not doing anything obviously wrong.

 

My first impression actually was that there were fewer adjustments (ie nozzle temperature etc.) with resin than filament printing, and hence less to setup wrong. 

[JimFin]

37 minutes ago, Largechris said:

fewer adjustments (ie nozzle temperature etc.) with resin than filament printing, and hence less to setup wrong. 

It's a steep learning curve, FDM printing is the easier of the 2 in my opinion!

 

Don't worry too much about the cube, it's notoriously tricky and temperamental.

 

Best to crack on with some projects that interest you and learn from those.

 

Please be careful having  the printer in the house, the resin is toxic and the fumes both when printing and after printing as it gasses off can be harmful and leave a sticky residue over everything nearby if not properly ventilated,

 

 

[njee20]

 

45 minutes ago, Largechris said:

Interesting, thanks. This is inside my house so everything at a steady 21 degrees. I can easily try and warm the resin a bit, but over the course of four hours printing (for example) it will cool back down to room temperature anyway?

 

Looking at the failed print a bit closer, the bit I've highlighted has printed out as a "plane" rather than the 3D cube structure, like it's kind of fallen apart as it was printing maybe?

 

TBH, I was impressed it worked the first time as the structure is pretty thin and delicate looking. Obviously I will try a few different test projects, so long as I'm not doing anything obviously wrong.

 

My first impression actually was that there were fewer adjustments (ie nozzle temperature etc.) with resin than filament printing, and hence less to setup wrong. 

The curing is exothermic, so keeps the resin at temperature. You do need to watch out if you add more resin for a large print, but that’s rarely needed IME. 

 

You’re right that there are very few hardware adjustments to make. Some printers are coming factory levelled, with no mechanism for self-levelling; and I expect that’ll become more widespread. 
 

There are loads of settings to tweak on the print itself though. It doesn’t look like a complete disaster, I’d be minded to try a few more things and see how you get on. I only printed one of those, my first ever print, and it worked fine, but then took me ages to get anything else to print - that was levelling though!

 

FWIW I find resin much easier than FDM.  

[Quarryscapes]

100% a levelling issue. Don't worry though, it'll all come together with practice. You will need to re level periodically, you'll know when because this sort of one sided failure starts happening. Using magnetic build plates can lengthen the interval as you won't be disturbing the build plate so much. 

[Largechris]

Ah yes I can see magnetic build plates would help - in a way I was hoping to avoid buying myriad add ons lol but that would be a handy addition.

[njee20]

It depends a lot on whether you want to print lots of small items direct on the bed. IMO they often no real benefit if you’re printing things away from the bed, I personally use a raft, and just remove from that. However anything small printed direct on the bed can be awkward to remove without damage. 

[Quarryscapes]

11 minutes ago, njee20 said:

It depends a lot on whether you want to print lots of small items direct on the bed. IMO they often no real benefit if you’re printing things away from the bed, I personally use a raft, and just remove from that. However anything small printed direct on the bed can be awkward to remove without damage. 

 

This is a weak argument often put forward - you just remove them the same as you would direct from the bed. 

[JimFin]

The big advantage of a magnetic build plate is the ability to remove a completed print as soon as it has completed printing, put a new magnetic plate on and start another print job immediately, rather that have the printer idle while the resin drains off. Great if you are running a production line.

 

If you are not - it simply adds one more layer of complexity to the process by introducing another number of potential issues such as - weight of print exceeding magnetic grip, magnet adhesion to the plate failing, magnetic sheet warping.

 

They are not a magic cure, you still have to get the supports and orientation right regardless. My thought would be to master those issues with the basic plate and add a magnetic one later if you find the need for workflows. 

[Largechris]

On 25/11/2021 at 11:59, JimFin said:

The big advantage of a magnetic build plate is the ability to remove a completed print as soon as it has completed printing, put a new magnetic plate on and start another print job immediately, rather that have the printer idle while the resin drains off. Great if you are running a production line.

 

If you are not - it simply adds one more layer of complexity to the process by introducing another number of potential issues such as - weight of print exceeding magnetic grip, magnet adhesion to the plate failing, magnetic sheet warping.

 

They are not a magic cure, you still have to get the supports and orientation right regardless. My thought would be to master those issues with the basic plate and add a magnetic one later if you find the need for workflows. 

Ok thanks, I've already clicked on the link to buy a magnetic build plate lol. 

 

I'm assuming that the idea is to leave the build plate permanently attached and after each print just wipe it off in place to clean it?

[monkeysarefun]

At least the "Use a magnetic build plate! / Dont use a magnetic build plate!" argument seems to have  eliminated the "Sand the build plate! / Dont sand the build plate!"  argument.

 

That one was so 2019.

Edited November 27, 2021 by monkeysarefun

[njee20]

On 25/11/2021 at 11:59, JimFin said:

The big advantage of a magnetic build plate is the ability to remove a completed print as soon as it has completed printing, put a new magnetic plate on and start another print job immediately, rather that have the printer idle while the resin drains off. Great if you are running a production line.

 

But that's exactly what I do without a magnetic build plate? If you've removed the model still on the magnetic build plate then surely it still sits somewhere dripping resin?

 

Don't get me wrong, I've thought about adding one to one of my printers, as I totally get it for items printed direct on the bed, but I can't see how it helps reduce downtime? It takes perhaps 30 seconds to remove a print from the buildplate.

[Largechris]

Not going too smoothly with the magnetic build plate I brought. 

 

Now the plate won't home, I realise this is due to the added thickness. The only video I can find is someone putting some new bolts in to lower the optical sensor trigger by 2mm? 

 

I'm getting confused  

[woko]

Hello Chris, don’t get to dismayed, I will admit it is a steep learning curve, but once cracked well worth the crap at the beginning! 

Not sure about this magnetic build plate malarkey, you should have everything you need to print well straight out of the box.

Personally I never bothered with lattice box, just figured it was a waste of precious resin  Got cracking straight into  it took me a lot of failures, and a couple of wins before I stopped the hoofing stuff down the garden path in frustration!

One question I do have though is this the Photon Or Photon Mono? Only I have both and I never rated the Photon, it was very hit an miss, its now mothballed in the garage, where as the Photon Mono is awesome, lovely little machine. 

Cheers

 

Rob

[Quarryscapes]

On 02/12/2021 at 10:47, Largechris said:

Not going too smoothly with the magnetic build plate I brought. 

 

Now the plate won't home, I realise this is due to the added thickness. The only video I can find is someone putting some new bolts in to lower the optical sensor trigger by 2mm? 

 

I'm getting confused  

 

The home feature is dictated by an optical sensor telling the platform to stop moving down once it reaches a certain point. With just the regular build plate this stops above the screen, but with the extra thickness the plate stopped in the same place will actually put the build surface lower than the top of the screen, hence a bit of mechanical conflict.  On a Photon I think you need to put a spacer below the sensor as the bed levelling mechanism doesn't give enough room. On a Mono, you simply loosen the 4 levelling screws and the build plate clamp screw and you have plenty of travel to accomplish levelling. (with Sovol mag plates at least).