Resin Printing Service

3D printing Forge offers high quality resin printing service for variety of purposes.

We recommend resin printing for parts that require very high level of detail. For example, it is perfect for printing intricate organic models or product prototypes to show what it would look like when injection moulded or machined.

Resin printers use liquid resin that solidifies as it is exposed to UV light. These printers can produce parts with incredible detail. Resin printed parts do not generally have visible layer lines like with FDM and can resemble injection moulded parts.

Material choice for resin printers is limited compared to FDM. However, new materials are being released constantly with improved properties.

When to use Resin Printing Service?

If your design meets the following criteria, then there is a good chance that resin printing is a good choice for your parts:

Parts have very small details
Aesthetic parts
Layer lines are not acceptable
High precision is required
Low volume for large parts
Medium/High volume for small parts

When Resin Printing may not be the best option?

The upside of resin printing is the incredible detail it can produce. However, it may not be the best choice if:

Cost is critical
Medium/High volume production for medium to large parts
Mechanical properties are a priority
Standard thermoplastic material has to be used

Resin Printing process

Resin printing builds up components one layer at the time just like FDM, but the printing process is very different.

Resin printing is known as SLA (Stereolithography) or MSLA (Masked Stereolithography). These two names refer to two slightly different processes, but can be viewed as the same for the purposes of this very brief guide.

Resin printers use special liquid resin that solidifies when exposed to UV light. By controlling where and when the resin gets exposed to UV light it is possible to print plastic parts. Same as any other 3D printing technology, the parts are printed layer by layer.

Practical difference between SLA and FDM is that SLA almost always requires the use of printed support structures. These serve the function of holding the parts in place during printing.

In addition to printing process itself, all parts require post processing to remove excess material and supports, and to cure the parts.

Although resin printing is more involved process than FDM, it can produce incredibly detailed parts. It is perfect for things like verifying designs for injection moulding, printing miniatures or prototypes that need to mimic injection moulded parts.

Material choice for resin printing is somewhat limited as it needs to be in a form of UV sensitive resin.

Pros

Can print parts with incredible detail
No layer lines
Great for prototyping for injection moulded designs

Cons

All parts require post processing
Supports are generally required which results in some surface damage
Resins and solvents used require special handling
Standard plastics cannot be used
Limited colour options
Parts are not as durable and impact resistant as some thermoplastics.
Limited UV resistance.

Available resins

We stock resins for different use cases.

Prototyping resins are a great cost effective option for most parts. It provides excellent print details and great looking parts.

For more functional parts we also stock production resins which increase the durability and scratch resistance of the parts.

Resin Print Size

Resin printed part with incredible detail

Resin printed part with very small details

Maximum build size is 320X180X290mm