Now here’s a new take on resin 3D printing: full automation, on the desktop.
This new approach comes from Uniformation, a long-time manufacturer of resin 3D printers, who have just previewed an upcoming Kickstarter launch. Their new S1 provides a full resin 3D printing workflow, including printing, washing, and drying — all completely automated.
They explain what they’re trying to achieve:
“From automated printing to washing and drying, S10 is designed to turn a traditionally complex workflow into something as simple as clicking Print — Choose. Click. Create. Our goal is to make high-precision creation more accessible and enjoyable for everyone — while unlocking more possibilities for makers, 3D printing enthusiasts, print studios, print farms, R&D teams, designers, and dental professionals.”
We don’t know much about this system yet, because it has not yet launched. For the printing part, it appears the S10 has the usual modern resin printing conveniences, such as foreign object detections, resin heating, automatic resin feeding, etc.
But the big feature is clearly the full workflow cycle. They show how it works in their launch video:
The S10 has a side-by-side setup, with printing/curing on the left, and washing/drying on the right. There’s a mechanical system on the build platform that is able to not only raise and lower it, but also rotate it.
The print completes, and then the system moves the build plate into a (presumably) IPA bath on the right-hand side. Two bath cycles are used, which should make the wash a bit more reliable.
Then the build plate is rotated into three different positions for drying. Finally, you must mount a UV module on the right to perform the final curing. That part isn’t quite automated, but in all, the system comes pretty close.
They say the S10 has “99% less resin contact,” and that would appear to be the case after looking carefully at the video. There is very little opportunity to be exposed to the toxic resin. With proper ventilation, this could be one of the safest resin systems on the market.
But then, it isn’t yet on the market. This is only a Kickstarter preview, and the company has yet to launch the product. We don’t exactly know when they will do so, nor do we know the product pricing.
Most likely, the pricing will be somewhat higher than you’d see on typical print-only resin 3D printers. Perhaps it could be under US$2,000?
We’ll have to wait and see.
Via Uniformation and Kickstarter
