I have recently obtained a friend’s old Formlabs Form 2 SLA printer. I I am an absolute beginner to printing, but I am pretty excited to get into it.

However, the only place that I would realistically be able to put it is on my desk in my bedroom. From everything I’ve read, I need a better ventilated space with more tolerance for a mess than I could possibly provide.

I think that the right call is to just sell it and save up for some FDM printer, but at the end of the day, I have the SLA printer in hand.

I am asking whether these concerns about resin printers are really that bad and if I am actually fine to start learning printing with what I have in my bedroom.

  • EmilieEvansEnglish
    4·
    7 months ago

    Form 2 is challenging to operate for a newbie:

    • laser -> “special” resin required. Formlabs recently moved on to LCDs meaning in the years to come the last third-party manufacturers will stop producing those resins as demand further declines. Leaving the first-party FormLabs as the only option ($100+/kg).
    • Difficult to maintain resin tank. Requires a vacuum oven and an upfront investment of roughly $150 for chemicals. There are conversion kits/prints for FEP film to resolve this limitation.