FFF/FDM or MSLA/SLA 3d printing? Advantages and disadvantages.

[Vassili Finellis]

I feel great when surfing the internet for 3d printing staff and crossing to articles like this! This will help most of 3d printer users to get more informations about advantages and disadvantages of the most popular as well as price accessibile 3d printing technologies.
Do you like to hear my opinion? Both technologies can give you something that can't give one or the other tech. By meaning this, FDM can give you large and cheap objects as well as SLA can give you small but highly detailed object. And so on... Both of them has mess. You can't make an omelette without breaking eggs .
Here is the link https://www.fabbaloo.com/news/which-...erm=2020-11-15

[Ender5r]

It can be a tough choice, although I suspect that FDM is the right one for most people.

[Vassili Finellis]

It can be a tough choice, although I suspect that FDM is the right one for most people.

Always depends on what you want to make! For example, i use both technologies. FDM for orthopedic devices, MSLA and SLA for model kits!

[Ender5r]

That's what I was getting at. I think most people are making things large enough that FDM makes the most sense. Also, can you do colors with SLA?

[Vassili Finellis]

That's what I was getting at. I think most people are making things large enough that FDM makes the most sense. Also, can you do colors with SLA?

Oh yes you can! There are many tints or opaque colors for coloring SLA resin print outs. Only in Z level!
Here is an example: https://www.3djake.com/3djake/color-...B4S3JHenhMVGNl

[Ender5r]

So, it's a bit like coloring paint: buy a basic color (white for paint; almost colorless for SLA) then add coloring to get what you want.

[roon4660]

SLA holds no attraction for me in a small Montreal apartment. I have no desire to print little action models and have absolutely no desire to smell the fumes. I worked a lot with epoxy resins once upon a time but at least it was in the tropics and everything was open. SLS might be interesting some day when the price comes down for amateurs.

[Ender5r]

I'm with you on the little action models. My daughter, OTOH, is a Mario & Pokemon nut.

If you follow the link @Vassili Finellisl posted, it says there is virtually no smell to that resin.

[roon4660]

I've seen videos that say that they now have less stinky resins but it is a messy setup that requires cleaning and curing. I have no room for that. I have to get rid of my ender if I go with the 2 head printer we are both interested in.

[Ender5r]

Those are much the same reasons DrVAX stated for his abandonment of SLA.

[roon4660]

I totally agree with him. I think prints come out quite a bit more expensive pound for pound also. They have a lot of supports and cleaning solutions (though Mr. clean seems to work) and you need a curing station in my opinion. We don't get all that much sun in Montreal.

[Geit]

I consider resin based printers as more or less pure figurine printers, where you need high detail and not much strength. The price benefits the result in this case.

The only reason I would buy a resin printer for is for creating molds. The next to no layer lines make it perfect to create e.g. molds for silicone casting, which later on can be used to rapidly create models of all kind of material ranging from concrete over wax and chocolate to resign and what not.

There you print one model slow and a little expensive, need next to no surface finish and in the end you can mass produce a specific item at a far lower price point.

I know there are so called tough resins out there, but I guess they are even more expensive than the normal resins. So robust parts from resin are even more expensive.

Resin printing is also more expensive beside the liquid print sauce used to create stuff. You always need to account for single use gloves, paper towels, isopropanol and when you want to change the color of a print you need to have removable tanks or empty and refill the printers reservoir, which also can end very messy very quick.

[roon4660]

I wish someone would join the group that does lost PLA casting in metal. I used to make costume jewelry and played around with metals. I also did a bit of welding and cutting on construction sites. Making a plastic object into metal is a quick way to give it much more value because of course you can do one of a kind things relatively easy.

[Vassili Finellis]

I wish someone would join the group that does lost PLA casting in metal. I used to make costume jewelry and played around with metals. I also did a bit of welding and cutting on construction sites. Making a plastic object into metal is a quick way to give it much more value because of course you can do one of a kind things relatively easy.

I was high class jewelry designer and model maker for over 25ys. Casting all weird metals up to german silver, welding and so on, was my forte. Ask me whatever you want.

[roon4660]

Of course you know what lost wax and lost PLA means. I'm just wondering if there is an SLA resin that can burnout like wax does to cast jewelry. It seems it could make some detailed and smooth metal pieces.