I have put on loan a form2 3d printer to be hosted at ATXHS.
For those who arent familiar with it Formlabs makes SLA printers that use liquid resin that is cured with a laser pointer style light source to tell it where to solidify.
You can see an overview video here →
One thing that will be different with this printer however is that it will be a pay to use printer. I used this unit at my job. And I equated it to be 12x the cost of producing the same part on a FDM printer.
Our current plan is to charge $0.30/ml of used resin and $1.00/print job.
This is barely breaking even to pay for the consumed resin, the consumable trays, cleaning alcohol, and replacement platforms.
For now we will only stock clear resin for use with the printer. This is because clear has reasonable properties for most applications, and is takes painting and sanding well. As well as helps extend the life of the trays.
We are currently waiting on getting the cleaning isopropyl alcohol in house before it is open for use. And we will need to have a special training on how it is used. You dont set parts up like you do for FDM so itll be different for anybody who hasn’t worked with SLA before.
A quick overview on the preform software → customer_v2
You can install the software at home to get familiar with the it before using it at the space, as well as getting estimates for time and material usage.
We are waiting for approval of the 3d printer sanitization procedure and for a few more parts are in for the 3D printer room to be available on skedda. I’ll post a reply here when it is open.
Were still trying to figure out how best to work all this out. So some things may change.
Links to consumables:
Long life tank → Buy Form 2 Resin Tank LT
Clear Resin → Buy Clear Resin
Build Platform → https://formlabs.com/store/accessories/build-platform/
Possible Addons if there is enough interest:
Automated Wash Station → Buy Form Wash
UV Cure Chamber → Buy Form Cure
Possible upgrade to newest model if there is large amounts of interest:
Form 3 → Form 3: Industrial-Quality Desktop SLA 3D Printer | Formlabs