Oh I took this picture back when I first set it up. It looks much more used now.
Oh I took this picture back when I first set it up. It looks much more used now.
This is definitely a beginner setup if you’ve got the funds for it. I got lucky and received the printer, wash, and cure machines as Christmas gifts, so I only had to buy the ancillary stuff.
Some people make due with just the resin printer, since you can manually wash and cure prints. Depending on the ventilation in your space, you may not need the grow tent either. Having the whole shebang is really convenient, though.
It’s an Elegoo Mars 3 Pro resin printer, Elegoo Mercury bundle for the wash and cure machines. The tent was just a plant grow tent turned sideways that I measured to fit. There is a vent fan to pull the fumes and ducting that runs outside through a window vent adapter. On top of that, I use gloves, eye protection, and a 3m respirator, which I’d say are the things that should definitely not be compromised on. I’ve seen some gnarly posts about people that skipped out on safety gear.
Then it’s just a matter of setting it up and figuring out the initial settings. There’s smaller QoL things you can buy, like better tools than the ones that come with it or a flex plate. It’s a lot to set up initially, but once it gets going it’s worth it. I realized I didn’t have any needle blights for my DnD session this weekend so I printed a bunch out over night. A quick coat of primer and some dry brushing and they’ll be ready to play with.
99% alcohol. It’s probably the main reason for the vent and wearing a mask, since the resin fumes themselves don’t spread very far depending on how long I have the lid off.
I have wondered about it myself, but it hasn’t caused any problems in the 6 months I’ve been printing. The curing station cover is supposed to block 99.95% of UV rays according to Elegoo’s website.
I work with 20 year old legacy spaghetti code, the debugger has become one of my most treasured tools.