3D Printing, etc.
We recently bought several 3D Resin Printers to upgrade our filament printer. Sometime in the year 2015, we eagerly purchased a Flashforge Creator Pro 3D Printer from Amazon. This printer uses filament to make ABS, PLA, etc models, and works by pushing melted filament through a 0.4 mm nozzle. We quickly discovered that this type of printer doesn't print the tiny details (<0.4mm) that we designed in our jewelry...at all...Enter 3D Resin Printers in late 2020.
The first 3D Resin Printer we purchased is a Qidi Technology Shadow 6.0. We picked it up from Amazon in October 2020. Around the same time, we ordered an Anycubic Photon Mono SE directly from the manufacturer. This printer didn't arrive until late November that year, so we really got our initial training on how a 3D Resin Printer works, on the Qidi Shadow. For a while now, Amazon had this 3D on sale for less than $200...less than what we paid for it in October 2020.
The first 3D Resin Printer we purchased is a Qidi Technology Shadow 6.0. We picked it up from Amazon in October 2020. Around the same time, we ordered an Anycubic Photon Mono SE directly from the manufacturer. This printer didn't arrive until late November that year, so we really got our initial training on how a 3D Resin Printer works, on the Qidi Shadow. For a while now, Amazon had this 3D on sale for less than $200...less than what we paid for it in October 2020.
Since we have started printing items and casting them in Sterling Silver, we have noticed a few problems with the Anycubic Mono SE. This printer was intended to be an upgrade to the Shadow 6, but we accidentally scratched the LCD screen; not to mention, we experienced layer lines in our prints. So, we ordered a new screen from Alibaba, but it didn't come in for months!
So, in stepped a new printer in the meantime. Based on research using Google, YouTube, and Facebook, we pulled the trigger and purchased the Phrozen Sonic 4K Mini (S4KM).
We're glad we did too. This machine is awesome! We're pretty sure the S4KM's 35um X-Y resolution is the finest resolution of any sub-$450 printer on the market. By the way, we printed and casted the rings and parts shown in the pictures on this page using a combination of MakerJuice Waxcast resin and BlueCast X10 resin with Sharpenizer. The MakerJuice is about 1/4 the price of Bluecast X10, but the jury is still out on which resin produces the best results (and least shrinkage). For the price, MakerJuice wins. For speed of printing (using the Sonic 4K Mini), the BlueCast X10 wins.
Even better news! Based on the Phrozen Sonic 4K Mini's performance (and price), we upgraded our 3D Printers collection with the Phrozen Sonic 4K Mighty! Its new features over the Sonic 4K Mini and its price won us over....now we have bigger parts to make.
