Found this video about the Elegoo Mars, a $250 USD, UV resin 3D printer, the reviewer compared the print quality favourably to a $4000 printer. It looks like it would be ideal for pattern making, even if you have to stitch several prints together to make a larger pattern. The resin prints are reasonably strong and very detailed.
I haven't seen this machine yet. I can tell you we are still running a B9C resin printer in the jewelry store. Some days it's fantastic and other days a royal pain in the ass. Resin gets expensive and when you invest the stuff in solid block, it has a bitch of a burnout schedule. With that said, it has brought a level of convenience to the shop much cheaper than running next day all over the country to the companies that do this exclusively. When the guys have a failure, they usually try it once more before sending it out and crying uncle. For 250bucks and a hundred bucks in resin, I say go for it. I'd like to send someone a file and see how it prints out a ring. You can even keep the print!
To be honest, I hadn't thought of it in terms of investment casting, I seem to have the resin sand casting process "locked in" mentally. I'd been thinking in terms of permanent sand casting patterns rather than burning it out for investments where it's probably a bad idea.
If that's your plan Mark, I'd be more tempted to go with a tradition plastic pooper machine. Resin printing is much higher definition kinda geared more towards jewelry stuff. David, I talked to my family tonight and they are looking at it now. For a couple hundred bucks, it might be a good backup machine. The b9c ran some prints today without a problem.
Please let us know how it goes if your family gets one, what makes it attractive to me is the smooth finish and the lack of layer separation on the Z vertical axis which are potential issues with filament printers.
Very true, filament printers suck in that respect. I hate the lines. There can be lines with resin prints, but it's usually really really fine. I'll report back if they grab one. Something that makes this thing attractive to us, is the replaceable plastic sheet. The b9c uses expensive trays coated with this expensive coating. It's good for a bunch of prints, but it "burns in" the image of what you are printing. That's what that yeahwhoo was talking about in the above video. When ya cant see through the area, it's time to chuck it.
Another question I have is how slow is the Mars printer, if it's shining a bright UV LED through a repurposed smartphone LCD then the exposures might be longer...this thing might be painfully slow.
I can guarantee your grass grows faster than a resin printer. A ring takes us 3-4 hrs to print. Not fun.
Still think the moai 200 is the best bang for the buck. Sooner or later I'll actually push the button on one... https://peopoly.net/pages/moai-200-sla-printer
