Shapeways

As Paul Pointed out earlier prices are dropping.

When I first bought my AnyCubic Photon Resin was between £80 & £120 per litre, now the same stuff is available via Amazon for approx £45 per litre - moving in the right direction.

Print times are the main drawback - and all 3D printing suffers from that, as a very rough guide, based on 0.05 layer height, 12s exposure and 1 off time, print time is approx 1 hour per 10mm height from the build plate.

From what I can find on the tinternet - Shapeways FUD, is a sintering process, so you pack the vessel with the compound, and the lasers fuse the product where required, any powder not fused can be used again - that's the theory, however the powder in close proximity is also effected, and it has been found any more than 10% re-incorp drops the quality of the product for both strength and detail, they were running at approx 50% re-incorp and have had to change, which has serious knock ons to price and environmental issues with disposal of the extra powder not able to be re-used.

Paul

 

I think thier quality level is supposed to be higher - well at least they take the pain of multiple attempts to get it right.

I am finding on larger objects the prints are still soft - especially after rinsing in IPA, and can deform slightly on hardening.

So for a larger white metal master, then it may be worth looking at getting Shapeways to make a brass master, as this would be a one off and maybe justify the cost for a part that could be cast multiple times to off set the cost.

Printing wise, looks like more playing with supports, and maybe using a piece of double sided tape to hold the base flat during the additional curing / drying process. Downside of this, is the longer you leave the supports in place the more clean up work is needed to remove any trace of the supports.

Paul