Reply To: Printing one of the Titan Forge Patreon minis with supports already done!

[blinky465 17028xp 1]

I don’t really know what I’m doing with IPA – I just know that it goes cloudy (the dye from the resin stains it, plus you get resin dissolving into the solution). After a few days, the resin sludge all settles in the bottom (of a clear glass jar) and the sunlight tries to cure it (it’s dissolved in IPA so not very successfully). But you can lift it out, like a sludgy gelatine sheet. Every now and again I’ll run the whole jar through a coffee filter. Then when it’s dyed grey and no longer clears, it’s off to the paints/spirits drop-off at the local tip. I may be doing it all wrong! Some people get a lot of life out of their IPA.

For power, the machine is simply a UV LED array and a stepper motor and a phone screen. There’s a couple of fans in there too, but they use milliamps of current, so not very power-hungry. Very little power consumption. I’d be amazed if it’s more than 20W or so (have you ever seen how bright an 11W LED is?).

Sunlight is great for curing minis. During the winter I used to put mine under a 36W nail lamp for about 20 minutes each side (I’m building one with a rotating table but at the minute they just go under a regular, unmodified nail lamp). Now we’ve got some sunshine in Brighton, I just stand them on the windowsill and turn them when I remember to!

You can *usually* buy IPA from chemists/hardware stores, but I bought a 5L bottle about three years ago online and have maybe used 2L or so for printing since I got my printer in January. 4L should last you a good while!

I got an ultrasonic cleaner to try out, but in all honesty, I don’t think it’s worth the bother. A 15-20 minute soak in isopropyl with a bit of a swoosh around every now and again cleans my minis just fine. My cleaner arrived with a cracked lid and shattered plastic body – each time I use it, it slowly shakes itself to pieces. Another few goes and it’ll be knackered-  I’m not bothered about replacing it. There shouldn’t be anything to clean on your machine – keep resin spills to a minimum (and clean them up immediately if there are any drips) there’s nothing really that benefits from being cleaned; maybe a spot of silicone/lithium grease on the threaded rod every now and again (but mine came with a generous amount smeared on it and it runs smoothly and silently so I’ve not had to do anything to it).

When I very first started printing, I could get 500ml for about £16 and 1L was around £25. Now I see bottles of 500ml advertised at £25 and a litre for £50 or more! Of course shop around and you can find it cheaper, but the general price trend has been steadily upwards.

The trick is not to over-think it. The hardware is actually pretty basic. If you worry about every little detail, you’ll panic about all the tiny little things that can go wrong. But, with proper use (and even a bit of mis-use) the only thing to be careful with is not spilling resin and not spoiling the FEP sheet on the bottom of your tank. This is a consumable and is expected to fail eventually – everyone has to go through the heartache of replacing their FEP, so it’s no disaster if this happens either. Look after your screen (even this is a consumable and will need replacing after about 400 hours) keep the threaded rod clear, and that’s really all there is to it!