Has anyone with a resin printer tried any water soluble resins ? If so I'd like to hear your opinion.
Thanks
Bob
Thanks
Bob
I would too, seeing as I'm just beginning to journey into the world of 3-D printing.
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Water-Washable Resin 101: Everything You Need to Know Before Getting One
With 3D printing continuously growing in popularity in the past decade, some people are now actively looking for a more environmentally friendly option for their hobbies. While FDM 3D printing is considered more eco-friendly than resin printing, some companies have promoted water-washable resins...
phrozen3d.com
Thanks, Dave, that article answers a lot of questions! The only concern I have is that water soluble resins are more brittle. Also, they may not have the ability to create the details needed for small decorations.
After seeing that video I'm convinced that water resins are not for me. I already have had trouble with small details breaking off my prints. The problem is if your not designing your own parts and using a pre-made .stl file when you scale it down to a smaller size that the original was intended to be some of the fine details are made so small that they are super delicate. I've already destroyed several prints just trying to remove all the supports.
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We tried water-washable resin and in the end went back to standard resins and returned to cleaning with IPA.
Detail reproduction was comparable to standard resins.
However, when using water-washable resin, the wash effort was much more labor-intensive; water alone failed to clean the resin properly. Washing in ethanol also failed. Wash failures resulted in multiple wash attempts greatly increasing the time needed to clean the models. In order to clean the resin properly with just one or two washings, we ended up using IPA anyway.
Hopefully, as resin technology continues to improve, better water washable resins will be formulated in the future.
Detail reproduction was comparable to standard resins.
However, when using water-washable resin, the wash effort was much more labor-intensive; water alone failed to clean the resin properly. Washing in ethanol also failed. Wash failures resulted in multiple wash attempts greatly increasing the time needed to clean the models. In order to clean the resin properly with just one or two washings, we ended up using IPA anyway.
Hopefully, as resin technology continues to improve, better water washable resins will be formulated in the future.
I have had great success with Water-washable Resin.
I use a Elegoo Mars 3 3D Printer and Elegoo Water-washable Resin. Your success depends on experience and execution. Learning to support your 3D items correctly is critical. Such as supporting islands. I use the standard default sets in Chitubox software most of the time. If you hollow out your 3D item you must have an escape hole for cleaning or it will crack eventually. I have been ample to get fine details on crew figures recently 1:48 and 1:64 scale. I have found the Gray Water-washable 3D solution works better than the white. Stronger harder to break. But they will snap especially the smaller parts with enough force. I use 2 Dish buckets/pans for clean up. First 1 warm water and Dawn dish soap. Swish around for about 10 minutes. 2nd pan rinse water. Run under faucet till pan is about fill. They should be clean. I put the dishpans out in the sun. The plastic residue hardens and falls to bottom to be removed when you remove the water. I hope to do video soon. Don't be discouraged. Water-washable Resins work. Attached are photos of The Bluenose crew printed solid that I am working on and will make available online on shapeways.com or I.materialise.com. eventually. I printed at 1:48 and 1:64 with equal details. My models are on my youtube Channel search: Carl Whitten Artist.
I use a Elegoo Mars 3 3D Printer and Elegoo Water-washable Resin. Your success depends on experience and execution. Learning to support your 3D items correctly is critical. Such as supporting islands. I use the standard default sets in Chitubox software most of the time. If you hollow out your 3D item you must have an escape hole for cleaning or it will crack eventually. I have been ample to get fine details on crew figures recently 1:48 and 1:64 scale. I have found the Gray Water-washable 3D solution works better than the white. Stronger harder to break. But they will snap especially the smaller parts with enough force. I use 2 Dish buckets/pans for clean up. First 1 warm water and Dawn dish soap. Swish around for about 10 minutes. 2nd pan rinse water. Run under faucet till pan is about fill. They should be clean. I put the dishpans out in the sun. The plastic residue hardens and falls to bottom to be removed when you remove the water. I hope to do video soon. Don't be discouraged. Water-washable Resins work. Attached are photos of The Bluenose crew printed solid that I am working on and will make available online on shapeways.com or I.materialise.com. eventually. I printed at 1:48 and 1:64 with equal details. My models are on my youtube Channel search: Carl Whitten Artist.
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Nice work, Carl. Great to read that you are having success with water washable resin.
Please be advised that Shapeways declared bankruptcy on July 2 and ceased operations on that date, unfortunately (click here). This is confirmed by a notice we received from the Clerk of Court, United States Bankruptcy Court, District of Delaware, dated July 12th. We are one of Shapeways' creditors and were adversely affected by the bankruptcy, fortunately very minimally.
If you are also a creditor, you now have less than 90 days to file a claim with the Court. For information on how to file a claim, visit the Court's website at https://www.deb.uscourts.gov/ and click on the "Programs & Services" tab - Claims Information.
Please be advised that Shapeways declared bankruptcy on July 2 and ceased operations on that date, unfortunately (click here). This is confirmed by a notice we received from the Clerk of Court, United States Bankruptcy Court, District of Delaware, dated July 12th. We are one of Shapeways' creditors and were adversely affected by the bankruptcy, fortunately very minimally.
If you are also a creditor, you now have less than 90 days to file a claim with the Court. For information on how to file a claim, visit the Court's website at https://www.deb.uscourts.gov/ and click on the "Programs & Services" tab - Claims Information.
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I tried elegoo grey water washable about 3 years ago and, if I remember correctly, the surface finish was poor compared to normal resins sonI didn’t continue using it. However, that was before I had a wash machine. I’ve been meaning to give it another try, even more so after reading Carl’s post. IPA is very expensive and even with a two tub wash, then rinse, process, gets dirty quite quickly. I haven’t tracked this but I’d say I use a litre of IPA per litre of resin.