Formlabs uses a proprietary resin cartridge... it's the paper printers situation all over again, the printers themselves are not that expensive but the disposable ink costs an arm and a leg.

Don't go with Formlabs, support any of the open-platform alternatives.

And also, be aware that these printers require some serious development work (you need solvent to wash away uncured resin (if you ask me, this basically necessitates a chemical hood... Formlabs will happily upsell the "Form Wash" for this for another 699). If uncured resin falls on your floor (which has happened to me a little too many times), boy is it a horror cleaning it up even if you have industrial grade solvents; FDM printers are easier and their "ink" is much, much less expensive by comparison.

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mhb 2 hours ago | parent | next [-]

It says it includes "Open Material Mode" which let's you "...print with any 405 nm photopolymer resin or 1064 nm powder on Formlabs 3D printers..."

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augment_me an hour ago | parent | next [-]

The amount of upselling, extra parts necessary for basic functionality, predatory resin pricing and specific open "modes" that are free to be subjects to amendment by contract makes this seem like a cash grab for investors rather than serious product. Really sour taste in the mouth from this.

Just buy an open source version from China that has the necessary hardware in an open format and let Claude adjust the software if there are concerns.

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jdboyd an hour ago | parent | next [-]

I'm unclear what the open source version from China of a resin printer is. Creatlity and Elegoo don't appear to be at all it as they lock you to the chitubox ecosystem.

	▲	coupdejarnac 12 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		I use prusaslicer and uvtools with my Elegoo Saturn. No proprietary lockin. I also own a Prusa, so I don't feel bad using their software with another brand.

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bsder an hour ago | parent | prev [-]

> Just buy an open source version from China

References and links?

There is currently no open source version of the high resolution monochrome LCDs. The LCDs and their drivers lock you into the Chitu ecosystem.

The problem, as Chitu figured out, is that as soon as you cough up the NRE to make the LCDs and make it publicly available, EVERYBODY will copy you and then there will be no profit left to sink the NRE that you just spent.

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zimpenfish 2 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

* If you buy the "Form Studio 1 Resin Tank Pro" extra at $79 because the included tank "is not compatible with Tough 1500 Resin or materials needing to utilize Open Material Mode"

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y1n0 an hour ago | parent [-]

OMG $79 more! That ruins everything!

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geerlingguy an hour ago | parent | next [-]

You need to buy a tank anyway, which is $50 or so — that works with their new Alpha resins. The slightly more expensive tank is necessary only for their engineering-grade resins (only a couple are certified for the Studio 1 so far) and 'OMM' (Open Material Mode), which as mentioned above, comes out of the box on the Studio 1.

(Not replying to you directly, but generally to this thread)

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onion2k an hour ago | parent | prev [-]

I'm not suggesting Formlabs would do this, but advertising the $79 add-on and then making very few of them available would be a way for a manufacturer to look open while actually not supporting openness.

	▲	avianlyric 22 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		The $79 addon is also needed to use all of Formlabs existing engineering grade resins, which are more expensive than the Alpha resins. The engineering grade Tough 1500 is already validated on the Studio 1, and requires the $79 tank, plus is a major selling point of this printer. There no reason for FormLabs to limit supply of the $79 tanks, it would also limit their ability to sell their more expensive resins to Studio 1 customers, and also removes a clear pathway to get people to upgrade to their more expensive machines, capable of working with their even more complex, and expensive, engineering resins.

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doug_life 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

This printer at least comes with the "Open Material Mode (included)" that lets you print with 3rd party resins. I'm sure the workflow won't be quite as nice as with the Formlabs native resin. That is unless you can somehow refill the old jugs or buy empty ones. Before long I imagine 3rd party compatible containers will show up.

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jdboyd an hour ago | parent | prev | next [-]

What are the open-platform alternatives? I was under the impression that the majority of printers used the CHITUBOX hardware platform internally, which was now locked to the CHITUBOX slicer. Has this changed? That would be wonderful news.

I don't think that Formlabs locks you into their wash and cure stations. Some of their printers lock you into their resin, but it looks like the Form Studio 1 discussed above and the Form 3, 3L, 4, and 4L let you use resin of your choice, although the Studio 1 does require you to buy a special $80 tray.

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pen2l an hour ago | parent [-]

> I don't think that Formlabs locks you into their wash and cure stations.

I would posit from the the getgo the average joe shouldn't consider resin printers, they should opt for FDM printers, because with FDM printers when the printer finishes printing a part... that's it! You more or less just pick it up from the printbed and there you have it... with resin printers, you -HAVE- to wash away the surrounding uncured resin. So, sure, it doesn't lock you into the wash and cure station, but doing it manually is an absolute chore any which way and chances of getting gooey resin on your hands, your clothes, your furniture goes way up and it is the most profoundly annoying thing when it does.

Try out a resin printer at your local makerspace to see what they're all about and the work that's required to print a part and develop it with solvents; for yourself get an FDM printer, they're plenty good enough for the average joe.

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everforward an hour ago | parent [-]

Agreed, but it's worth calling out that some niches more or less require resin.

Anything small and aesthetic is going to basically require resin. Warhammer minis and jewelry (tiny filigree) come to mind.

FDMs have gotten better, but you're still not going to get those fine sub-millimeter details like you can with resin.

	▲	specproc 20 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		Yeah, resin is a must for minis. I outsource to a guy a know who's a jeweller and has his workflow down. Tried doing it myself and hated it.

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2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

[deleted]

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bigwheels 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Do you have any specific recomendations?

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dyauspitr 2 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

If you’ve ever used resin printers, you know the cartridges are a good thing because the liquid inside is basically carcinogenic if it comes in contact with your skin, so a lot of people just don’t do resin printing for exactly that reason and this gets around that.

	▲	2 hours ago \| parent \| next [-]
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	▲	pen2l 2 hours ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		Except you will have failed prints (for me it's 1 out of every 20 with my form 4 with the kinds of parts I tend to print), which will require taking out the tank to clean obstructions and free-floating debris... and when you're having to filter the resin (like so: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/UdX94R3k7YU ), it's exceedingly hard to not get it in contact with your skin.