Wednesday, September 29, 2010

News about building area, resin, curing time...

Hi Guys, few updates:

1) Building area
  • I am still facing a lot of problems to find the right material for the bottom building area, so far I have tested glass (result: don't work as the resin stick to it), acrylic (result: resin stick to it as well) and polycarbonate (Result: resin does not stick but after some minutes the polycarbonate become opaque because of some chemical reaction and does not work anymore.
  • The plan is to test some other materials within next 2 weeks.
2) Resin and curing time
  • The resin works very well after adding some dyes and this solve completely the issue of curing more than the required layer. I manage to print a small object with amazing quality and no "shadow" on other layers.
  • Now I am using 8 seconds for curing time and I am getting a amazing result.
Cheers,

Jr

5 comments:

  1. Just wanted to mention that you are definitely one of my heroes! This project, and the one before relating to the inkjet + powder project were amazingly awesome. Keep it up!

    Just a crazy idea I thought of while reading your issues with sticking to the window - how about a liquid 'surface'. A layer of immiscible liquid that is heavier than the resin that would sit below the resin and form a barrier between it and the window. Sort of like an oil/water layer, but perhaps using mineral oil or something instead? That would free your 'window' surface material up considerably.

    Just a thought. Hope you find something that works!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Frith,

    Thank you very much for your comment and suggestions!!! I really appreciate that!!!

    The resin solvent is very strong and would easily mix/affect any other liquid in the tray. Another issue would be the alignment of the object with the bottom, as the building surface needs to be very flat.

    I believe I found the solution, I may be able to test in next 2 weeks as I am waiting some materials to arrive.

    I will post some new photos today.

    Cheers,

    Junior

    ReplyDelete
  3. I used to cast resin models using silicone rubber molds, resin doesn't stick to that stuff. wouldn't that be a clue? maybe applying silicone spray on the glass surface would work?

    ReplyDelete
  4. I'm with Floris: I would test some sort of additional layer applied to the glass, so the resin doesn't stick to it anymore. Aren't there a lot of coatings made to glass? Also very very thin ones, like for optics?

    Very excited about your project! Thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hi Floris and Martin,
    Yes, coated glass will be the solution for this issue. I will soon receive a Teflon glass and some other materials for testing.
    Meanwhile I improved a lot the printer software and finish some parts.
    I will post some pictures within this week.
    Silicone spray may not work as it would create a irregular surface.
    Regards,
    Junior

    ReplyDelete

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