Since we are (at the moment) still in the EU, thought it shouldn't make a difference Andy, but you may well be right. Ed
I did print my own, but at the moment it’s blue! (Or I could have had red- only colours I have in stock) and its probably cost me 2p for 15 mins of printing time.
As Paul Pointed out earlier prices are dropping. When I first bought my AnyCubic Photon Resin was between £80 & £120 per litre, now the same stuff is available via Amazon for approx £45 per litre - moving in the right direction. Print times are the main drawback - and all 3D printing suffers from that, as a very rough guide, based on 0.05 layer height, 12s exposure and 1 off time, print time is approx 1 hour per 10mm height from the build plate. From what I can find on the tinternet - Shapeways FUD, is a sintering process, so you pack the vessel with the compound, and the lasers fuse the product where required, any powder not fused can be used again - that's the theory, however the powder in close proximity is also effected, and it has been found any more than 10% re-incorp drops the quality of the product for both strength and detail, they were running at approx 50% re-incorp and have had to change, which has serious knock ons to price and environmental issues with disposal of the extra powder not able to be re-used. Paul
Yes I'm looking at the Anycubic one both the Resin and the Mega for larger STL's. For ABS or PLA Print the fuel tanks took around 2 hours to print.
Paul, You'll have to excuse my ignorance, but what is the difference in quality between Shapeways FUD and your Anycubic. Jim
I think thier quality level is supposed to be higher - well at least they take the pain of multiple attempts to get it right. I am finding on larger objects the prints are still soft - especially after rinsing in IPA, and can deform slightly on hardening. So for a larger white metal master, then it may be worth looking at getting Shapeways to make a brass master, as this would be a one off and maybe justify the cost for a part that could be cast multiple times to off set the cost. Printing wise, looks like more playing with supports, and maybe using a piece of double sided tape to hold the base flat during the additional curing / drying process. Downside of this, is the longer you leave the supports in place the more clean up work is needed to remove any trace of the supports. Paul
Would their brass printing be up to the detail of the FUD though? I’m thinking Detail on axle boxes etc where there is written text. Until tried, I don’t think we will know.
I think your talking more about the versatile plastic here Paul, which is shown well here The FUD or Fine Detail Plastic as it’s now know is documented here as to “How it’s made” sadly, unlike imaterialise.com there is no video. https://www.shapeways.com/materials/fine-detail-plastic Or a video