r/resinprinting

So yesterday, the screen on my Phrozen Sonic Mini 4k died. It was my first printer, and lasted me just shy of 5 years. Parts are out of production, so I'm looking at a new printer. I wasn't planning on this expense, and while I can afford something fancy, I'd prefer to go the fiscally responsible route and get something that won't earn me a side eye from the wife.

I'm looking for something not exceeding $300, but is still an upgrade from what I had. I don't do anything professional, and just print minis for me and my friends. Elegoo has a sale right now, and I was looking at the Saturn 3 Ultra for added capacity and overall print quality.

My main concern is that I don't want to get stuck like I did with my Sonic Mini 4k. What's Elegoo's track record on parts support? I like to get the absolute most life out of anything I buy, and I have no experience with Elegoo.

I appreciate any thoughts on the matter.

As Title states. I have primarily used my printers to make functional short term use parts, and router templates where if it broke when removing it wasnt a big deal. I have now designed some end use items that need to be very durable and withstand repeated use.

I need to to bolt to extruded almunimun rails (so it's adjustable) and then the end that hangs off (approx 2-3 inches) will be clamped to the wood using a festool style track clamp.

This particular jig is for custom doors/jambs I build and allows me to route extremely precise and perfect hinge recesses on both the door and the jamb at the same time.

For over 10 yrs I've made jigs out of plywood for this and they work extremely well. However, they lack adjustability in qty of hinges, hinge location, and hinge size. They are also 80" long each and I currently have around 10 of them, taking up so much space.

The goal is to convert to extruded aluminum spine and then separate templates that can be adjusted in qty, position and size of hinge.

There are many other items/jigs I have designed for more end use however this seems to be one of the most demanding, so if I can get a great resin for this then it should work for my other stuff.

Currently using a Uniformation GK3 Ultra. And if need be can follow proper post curing schedules as I am also set up fully for vacuum/pressure casting, mold making, ect. Yes, I could easily print, make molds, and pressure cast using high impact/tensile resins, however for anyone that had experience in this knows what a long, in depth, and expensive task that is to do correctly. In the end, if I have to I will but if I can print instead and skip all the other stuff (aside from post cure process) then Id rather do that.

Hi everyone,

I'm new to resin printing but I've been interested for a while. I tried my first print today, it didn't go well, the resin stuck to the vat, I suspect because of incorrect settings.

My printer is the Mars 5 Ultra, I'm using Elegoo ABS-like 3.0 resin (grey) and my slicing software is chitubox. I was wondering if anyone has a suggestions for some starting settings that I can key in? Totally understand that I will need to mess around with the settings but having a possible starting point would be amazing.

(also in case it helps I'm planning to use it to print miniatures for tabletop)

Thanks so much in advance for helping out this newbie!

EDIT: My base layers were set to 25 seconds, which is why I think it didn’t stick?

So I tried printing some transparent parts for a figure for the first time, and the result is honestly hilarious ( I'm find with roasting in the comments at this point ):

https://preview.redd.it/0d5psasdbebh1.png?width=1536&format=png&auto=webp&s=af28e4db779ba61226cf372aaa72798cb78e0e7e

I used ELEGOO Standard Photopolymer Resin — Translucent on an ELEGOO Saturn 4 Ultra 16K.

https://preview.redd.it/zisj1ebsbebh1.png?width=2048&format=png&auto=webp&s=627ce58b6b0c5b5fd784fcf4c5662db212af95a3

I wanted to ask the gurus here for some advice. When I removed the build plate from the printer, the parts were already yellow. After washing and curing them, they became even more yellow/cloudy, like they are now.

I did some research and found mixed information, which honestly confused me even more. Some people say you’re not supposed to cure transparent resin too much, while others mention putting the parts in an oven at around 60°C for a few hours to reduce yellowing.

These are the print settings I used. They are just the standard CHITUBOX settings I normally use for regular resin:

https://preview.redd.it/y9usnq9rcebh1.png?width=508&format=png&auto=webp&s=1c1c10021ff37965d0f5288a9d722061ecb103fe

https://preview.redd.it/3r86ofkscebh1.png?width=418&format=png&auto=webp&s=1df26f7565dbc5941b33abc935fea6bfdc900b65

What am I doing wrong?

Did I choose the wrong resin? Looking at it now, the resin itself does seem slightly yellowish, but the printed parts came out much more yellow than expected.

Could this also be caused by the print settings?

Is there any way to de-yellow these parts, or is it too late once they come out like this?

Most importantly, how can I avoid yellowing in both the short term and long term when printing transparent parts?

Any tips would be really appreciated <3

Started fdm printing 6 months ago, got 2 elegoo Centauri carbons with around 600 hours each.
I have mostly printed models to paint and sell.
The next step in quality specially for models with skin would be a resin printer. However the risks are something to consider.
I live in Blackpool UK and would put the resin printing setup in a garage that is not insulated, the setup would be:
Elegoo saturn ultra 16k (£340)
Mercury v3 plus (£100)
Grow tent (£60-£100)
Full face breathing and eye protection (£15)
Gloves
Wipes
Lab coat (£20)
2 jugs of 5l IPA (£30)
Accessories such as funnel scrapper etc (£20)
So around £600.
What do you guys think? is it a safe setup?
Anything else I should account for

new user here, owned the printer for a while but only decided to use it now. done the test rook piece included in the usb, but came out welded to the plate... literally shattered to pieces to remove it. so i decided to try things manually, and went for the simplest validation matrix listed in the title. I installed Lychee, picked my printer model, stock settings, printed 1 matrix in the middle of the plate, came out pretty good (I think) it looks clear and visible. just brittle because over cured in the station but thats on me.

I decided to print 6 of them spread throughout the entire plate, to check for uniformity, and it didn't work out as planned. the 3 on the top row come out a sludge, like thinner, way thinner with 0 detail on it, while the bottom 3 came out looking good, however all 6 of them where welded on the plate once again, same exact settings as before. The only difference is that i let them sit on the plate longer than the single test piece (same with the rook!)

so questions are, if you do not remove the printouts relative quickly after they're done, will they weld in place? as for the 6x printout, why did the top row fail and not the bottom one? saturn 4 ultra has auto leveling plate, and plenty of resin in the vat. Also the fact that the top row overlaps with the center area (which came out well in the first print) suggest me it's not about leveling? Later I will try another single print just try figure out whats going on.

any ideas? (film and resin are new)

I'm u currently using a mars 5 ultra for some work items, and it's like 3 times slower than the bespoke resin printers that they make for my field for this purpose. I'm curious as to if I can speed this up to being in the neighborhood of the higher end printers with a different printer.