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SLA printing services

Posted: Wed Aug 30, 2017 3:37 pm
by Dukana
Anyone know a good online store that offers SLA printing?

I'm planning on a new Minty Pi. The parts I got were fine, but I over sanded the button holes and the buttons themselves, and now it's practically useless.

High resolution SLA printing seems to be a good solution. I want something that is ready out of the box and doesn't need to be reworked. But the prices I'm seeing are astronomical. Well over $100? That can't be right, could it?

Re: SLA printing services

Posted: Tue Sep 05, 2017 1:13 am
by neolith
Dukana wrote:
Wed Aug 30, 2017 3:37 pm
[...] But the prices I'm seeing are astronomical. Well over $100? That can't be right, could it?
That sounds about right – unfortunately SLA prints are not cheap.

Re: SLA printing services

Posted: Tue Sep 05, 2017 2:43 am
by moooarcuuuus
Dukana wrote:
Wed Aug 30, 2017 3:37 pm
High resolution SLA printing seems to be a good solution. I want something that is ready out of the box and doesn't need to be reworked. But the prices I'm seeing are astronomical. Well over $100? That can't be right, could it?
SLA is very good and a high effort in comparsion to FDM printing.

SLS is great too, on https://www.3dhubs.com/ you can find guys near you. You can talk to them.

Re: SLA printing services

Posted: Tue Sep 05, 2017 12:05 pm
by ICMF
Dukana wrote:
Wed Aug 30, 2017 3:37 pm
the prices I'm seeing are astronomical. Well over $100? That can't be right, could it?
Yup. SLA is expensive - the machines are smaller, the layers are thinner, the prints are slower, and the material is more expensive. So $100 isn't surprising.

And SLA may not be the perfect solution, either. SLA can resolve finer details, but you're probably going to need to do some finishing on the parts, still.

Couple of suggestions:

First and foremost, all you really need are the faceplate and bezel in SLA. There's no point doing the screen back or base, since they'll be hidden. And the hinge pieces would probably be too brittle in most SLA resins. You'd be looking at $35 - 40 at Shapeways for just those two parts (acrylic is cheaper; high-def acrylate is more expensive)

Second, re-work the files to use less material. Resin is expensive, so you can save some cost by reducing the amount of material used.

Third, play with orientation. With SLA/DLP prints, one of the biggest determining factors in print duration is height - the taller the object, the longer it takes. "Instant quote" pricing algorithms can be dumb, and often just spit out a price based on part volume + Z-axis height. So, if your model is rotated sideways, so it's standing on end rather than laying flat, it'll be a much taller print, and will take much longer to print, so you may get a higher quote. Not *every* website works this way, so it may not make a difference, but it's worth checking to see.

The flip side of #3 is, SLA/DLP printers have small print volumes (especially the cheaper home-use ones), so if your model is oriented flat, those pricing algorithm's may eliminate a bunch of results because your model is too large for their build envelope.

Finally, look at some other options. Shapeways' sintered nylon is pretty inexpensive and should be accurate enough for your needs. The faceplate and bezel would only cost about $15 and you get a wide range of colour choices. Plus, the nylon is really robust, so you could colour match the hinge parts, if you want. And you can save a few bucks if you can sprue the parts together.

Re: SLA printing services

Posted: Thu Sep 07, 2017 11:06 pm
by Dukana
I found someone to print the faceplate on 3dhubs. The material is crystal frosted.... might paint it red to match the peppermint theme, or just stick with it as-is.

Re: SLA printing services

Posted: Fri Sep 08, 2017 2:18 am
by neolith
Dukana wrote:
Thu Sep 07, 2017 11:06 pm
I found someone to print the faceplate on 3dhubs. The material is crystal frosted.... might paint it red to match the peppermint theme, or just stick with it as-is.
That's interesting. Would you mind posting some pictures once you get your model?

Re: SLA printing services

Posted: Fri Sep 08, 2017 5:45 pm
by Dukana
Turns out SLA probably isn't the best option, due to the finished parts being incredibly brittle! I'm going to try another alternative, selective laser sintering (SLS), using nylon. It will be a much more durable finished project.

Since the only piece I'm having an issue with is the faceplace, that's the only part I'm having made. I'll post pics once it comes in. Should be about a week.

Re: SLA printing services

Posted: Tue Sep 19, 2017 11:32 am
by Dukana
Just got my nylon faceplate!
FrontShow
nylon print front.jpg
nylon print front.jpg (1.65 MiB) Viewed 10581 times
BackShow
nylon print back.jpg
nylon print back.jpg (1.75 MiB) Viewed 10581 times
Close upShow
ABXY holes close up.jpg
ABXY holes close up.jpg (1.74 MiB) Viewed 10581 times

Re: SLA printing services

Posted: Tue Sep 19, 2017 1:30 pm
by HoolyHoo
Dukana wrote:
Tue Sep 19, 2017 11:32 am
Just got my nylon faceplate!
FrontShow
nylon print front.jpg
BackShow
nylon print back.jpg
Close upShow
ABXY holes close up.jpg
Looks nice!

Re: SLA printing services

Posted: Tue Sep 19, 2017 11:24 pm
by moooarcuuuus
Dukana wrote:
Tue Sep 19, 2017 11:32 am
Just got my nylon faceplate!
FrontShow
nylon print front.jpg
BackShow
nylon print back.jpg
Close upShow
ABXY holes close up.jpg
Can you say what the price?