3D Printing Type of Printer?

Hi,

Resin printers has many downsides if you are not prepared, proper ventilation and protection. They can be messy and resin will get everywhere(trust me lol).

I would suggest you try filament first like neptune 4 which only costs around $200 USD, 0.4 nozzle with 0.2 setting is pretty good already. You might get overwhelmed by the layer lines but many techniques has been invented to counter this such as bondo/glazing putty acetone mix or liquitex modelling paste for less toxic option.

I would only recommend resin printer if you want to print something highly detail but if you want to go with resin just go and make sure to be cautious as much as possible.

 

Ender 3 is a good option too! Both have disadvantages and advantages so research is always a must. Have fun printing your BJD doll

 

Resin printing has problems with fumes and etc and I definitely don't recommend them if you don't have a lot of space (people saying they resin print in their bedroom stress me out!), but I ended up picking starting with resin and getting a filament printer to cover larger prints was.... not a fun adventure...

My crealty filament printer frustrated me to death and made me wonder if I had a broken machine, it was so hard to calibrate.... it's still not calibrated perfectly. And clogged and made smoke one time and gave my dad a nightmare and we now have more fire extinguishers....

Resin printers definitely win in the "time to take it out of the box to finished print" measurement and I found that much less intimidating as a user.

 

I agree on creality, especially their older printer that just don’t work , but later model like Ender 3 V3 SE is becoming much hopeful to work with from what I see and sometimes they are good to start out because you can learn to troubleshoot the problem before going into other brands. To each of their own though, fdm printer is pure luck based situation compared to resin printer.

 

Elegoo is really solid! And their two newer models the Mars 5 Ultra and Saturn 4 Ultra have a lot of new features that make printing easier. The built-in camera is useful for monitoring prints. And the tilting vat and autolevelling has made things go more smoothly.

But even their older machines have been good workhorses. I have used my Mars 2 Pro and Saturn 1 a lot.

Elegoo's customer service has also been pretty good. The only downside is that sometimes their replacement parts get mailed out of China, so it can take a bit to arrive. The USB reader on my Mars 2 Pro broke long after the one-year-warranty and they still helped me get the parts to repair it.

The only Elegoo product I think is kind of jank is their Mercury X Cleaner. The build quality on it is rather meehhhh and it's really easy to accidentally drip resin/isopropyl gunk on the controller knob since it sticks out. I haven't tried other companys' wash-n-cure stations yet to say which one is better, but I would at the very least pick a wash and cure station with a flat control panel whenever upgrade/replacement time comes around.

 

Adding to above, you don’t really need wash and cure station. The washing can be done manually, just old toothbrush and ipa or ultrasonic cleaner to save more cost.

The curing station can be made using strip of uv light attached inside a box, I didn’t buy them because I can make them myself and cost way cheaper.

If you going into resin, I recommend Sunlu resin, they’re cheaper compared to other company and less stinky. The stinkiest resin I ever used was eSun so avoid that. And I sugguest learning TSMC in you slicer of choice because it can be a huge time-saving when it comes to printing time.

 

Water washable is a bit of a mixed bag. It definitely gets cleaner with at least a little bit of alcohol, like 15-20%, but it is also a little hygroscopic even after being cured, so if you leave it wet for too long, the print may warp and break itself. And sometimes it cracks with hollow prints if there is water stuck inside of it.

I tend to dispose of my waste from cleaning prints by waiting for the spent/diluted isopropyl alcohol to evaporate away and the left-behind resin gunk will eventually cure and be safe to chuck into the normal trash. It's a longer wait with water/isopropyl with water washable resins.

Each resin has a different balance of cost and features. And sometimes mixing different ones together can make a print behave how you want. If you're feeling very experimental, you can also mix in mica powders and resin dyes.

 

I been making props and prints for around 5 years now. I use Elegoo for my printers ( currently running a Saturn 3 Ultra and a Mars 4 Ultra). I am soon to order their PLA version for bigger doll furniture and props.

My best advice for 3d printing is what your printing and how much are you planning on playing with what your using. Not all resins are the same. Some are great for just heads, some are better for bodies as they dont dust and have higher resisntance. Some are great for props and small things but not for big bodies like dolls.

My favorite resins for full dolls ( i usually print 1/3 - 85 cms ) is Anycubic DLP Craftman or Resione K+ and TH+ ( they have a BJD resin but its finicky and i dont recomend it for beginngers ).

If your more on a budget and want to experiment ABS Anycubic and budget friendly ABS SInlu might come in handy to test the waters . In therory they work just the same - they just react with smaller exposure times yet they are just more frail to impact and depending on your settings and machine you might have more lines forming and more sanding required on your prints.

But yes Resin Printing is messy so if you want something a little more control chaos ( aka spagetti plastic with easier cleanup ) then a PLA is a good start ( and sometimes more affordable all around considering the cost of the filament vs resin ).

Hope it helps and happy crafting

 

yes i would say Elegoo Saturn, i own a Saturn 3 and an old mars 2 pro. Saturn ist bigger and the prints are nice. The price for the printers is affordable and dont cost a fortune. Buut its a really dirty work, resin is toxic, so you need proper respiratory protection and professional gloves (for chemicals). I am already afraid of working with resin because i got breast cancer. I dont know its because of the resin or coincidence.. but since my diagnosis and surgery I still didn't touch the printer.. I printed my last prototypes on my FDM printer, but its already impossible to make a faceup on this dolls...