I’m not, you would have to change the chemical structure of the dye based on the light hitting it, people have been trying to do that for decades and the best they have come up with are things that can change between light and dark versions of the same color. Think of how much more advanced optical media would have been if someone could have come up with a multiple color changing dye. LightScribe labels would have been way more cool looking.
So I could imagine a resin with a 2 tone dye in it, but when you print you are hitting it with strong UV to cure it, that would leave the model in the dark or light state, you’d have to go in later with another light source to flip the dye in the areas you want the other tone.
That is a cool idea, I can’t imagine the complexity of a print head that could put down tiny drops of resin accurately, micro-liter syringe pumps? Maintenance would be a nightmare… Or use clear or white resin and only lay down drops of dye?
but at least it’s not impossible for the future, just unlikely ;o). I just wish my painting skills didn’t suck and blow simultaneously for a horrendous result.
I haven’t tried Meshmixer (but I will); I have tried TinkerCAD and gotten useful results out of it, especially as regards a Mid Century Modern-inspired chess set I wanted to design – haven’t gotten around to actually printing it yet, there are still a few tweaks to the design I want to make.
But yes, TinkerCAD is as close as I’ve gotten to having genuine success with a CAD program, and if Meshmixer plays as nice as TinkerCAD does, maybe you’ll have found the tool for me.
That almost works for FDM printers, but not resin printers which print an entire layer at one time like going in for an MRI… plus they’re also wet. The print area is submerged within an entire vat of liquid resin for the entire print process, and doesn’t get “dry” until you take it off the build plate and put it into an alcohol bath or transfer it to a fancy wash station. If you waited for each layer to dry between printing it’d take you years to complete even a single print job.
I think the best you could possibly hope for would be a pimped out wash station that would allow you to transfer the same build plate from your printer over after printing, do it’s wash cycle, then once it’s dry, use the same 3D printing file that was used to do the printing to give the model a 3D surface paint job layer by layer by passing a series of super tiny felt tip pens around the edge of the model. I’m sure it’d cost a fortune, and look way crappier than if you just took a few minutes to sit down and paint it yourself.
It would be impossible for the LCD screen type printers that print upside down, but the type that pump in resin and use a laser or projector to cure the layers as the resin level increases could have colors added somehow to each layer. Some kind of print head would have to move in over the print for each layer. It would be a nightmare mechanically and probably cost a fortune, so unlikely to ever happen. And yes, being liquid it would all have to happen really fast to keep the colors from diffusing away from where they were put down.
Just realized the uncured resin would become colored, so it would have to be thrown out after each print instead of being reused, that would add a lot of cost and waste to each print. Oh well, it was fun thinking of ways it could be done, just no way it would ever be practical.
Had missed this thread previously, 6 weeks doesn’t seem too bad a bump. Have got a raise3D N2 Plus Single to wrangle into shape over the next week or so, for fdm work for my wife and some general large bit printing to refine and mold/cast for myself. Would love to jump to resin, but the maker space at work (many resin printers and a dedicated staff), the locked off space at work ($250k printers there…) and the fact that my house is not of an adequate size and layout for resin… well maybe one day.
Had to look up the Raise3D N2, wow, that’s a pricey one.
Yes, resin takes more space; printer, curing station, big buckets of IPA to wash the prints, plus gloves and respirator, FDM is so much easier to deal with.
The 300 X 300 X 600 print volume is fantastic, and it’s under-priced for what it can do. Newer gens have solved some concerns, but I know a fellow who runs 4 of these, daily, and though always looking to improve he is enamored with them. The secret of course is also using a great slicer, ie paying for one. For a home machine, best fdm of a few years ago at the very least.
For resin, well I’m not jumping in for a 6 digit machine any time soon, but there are a number of nice candidates in the 4k club that are reasonable. Time will tell!
Luckily, have been a cg artist for over 20 years, so modeling and volume and sussing out asset creation is a ‘pfft whatever’ for me and I work pretty much on-the-fly. The printing and arduino and electronics is the tinkering. This thing is also a beast for sorting mold and vac-form bucks, no more carving jelutong or renshape or high density urethane…!
What filament do you use for vacuform molds and bucks? Or do you use the 3D prints as molds to make more durable molds? I would think most of the common filaments would deform under the heat of vacuforming.
‘Both’ on the molds Q (prints as objects to cast materials I can work with more easily and detail, and mold boxes), and mostly just PLA so far. Polymaker and Hatchbox and… maybe Taulman? Not sure what’s in that box. Hm I think it’s PETG. Infill is a little larger, but the heat is only applied to the plastic, and just a few pulls, doesn’t do anything to the buck.
I guess everyone’s mileage varies with that, I watched videos of people trying out 3D printed molds and they complained that the molds started to deform. Only 2 videos so the sample size is low.
