the form 1+ is a stereolithography 3d printer.today, we’re going to take a look at how it works and put it to the test against parts froman extrusion based machine. let’s start by taking a closer look at theprinter. when we open up the light blocking cover, we can see a build platform inside.this metal plate is where the parts are made. underneath the build platform is aresin tank. this clear window gives the ultraviolet laser a path to cure the resin. to start a print, we’ll upload a file, andfill up the resin tank to the indicator line. you can see the laser passing back and forth inside, hardening the liquid plastic. we’ll take our print out and wash itin rubbing alcohol to get the excess resin off.
the flower comes with supports on it,and we’ll snip them off to finish the piece. stereolithography is known for producing extremedetail, with layers down to four times finer than a human hair. the form 1+ let’s us take advantage of alibrary of materials, so we made some other parts to show what these resins can do. a castable resin gives jewelers and engineersan inexpensive way to produce metal parts. this flexible resin is great for simulatingdifferent textures and as we can see, this tough resin and can really take a hit. now let’s compare how the form 1+ partsstand up against a filament printer. the stereolithography
part comes out nice and smooth, but we cansee and feel the ridges on the cup printed with filament. when we break this sample piece, you can seethat filament parts quickly snap along the layer lines. the sla process creates a chemicalbond, so our prints takes much more force.
types of 3d printing technology,today, we took a look at how stereolithographyprinters work, the types of resins they can print with, and what makes the parts standout against other desktop machines. if you liked our intro to stereolithography 3d printing, check out some of our other videos. if there are more subjects you’d like to see us cover, please let us know in the comments, and we’ll see you next time.
