Resin (SLA) Printer Tutorial
Resin printers, or SLA (stereolithography) printers, are a type of 3D printer that uses UV light to solidify a liquid resin into a solid model. Because they use light, resin printers can have much higher precision than FDM or filament-based printers. Resin printers are ideal for miniatures, keycaps, and other small, high-detail parts.
Important: The resin printer setup at Seattle Makers is not yet ready for member use. Resin printers require unique safety precautions and they will require a certification and PPE to operate. If you absolutely NEED to print something RIGHT NOW, ask Sam K. for guided use.
We will use PrusaSlicer to slice the 3D files, and another software called UVTools to export them to the printer.
Install UVTools (copy winget command into terminal)
Now we'll install the printer we are using into PrusaSlicer.
Open PrusaSlicer and install the Prusa SL1 printer in the config menu.
Close PrusaSlicer and open UVTools.
Go to Help -> Install profiles into PrusaSlicer.
Select all print profiles. Select "Elegoo Mars 3" under Printer Profiles. Install the profiles.
Re-launch PrusaSlicer.
In the top-right corner, make sure "expert mode" is selected. Change the printer to "Elegoo Mars 3."
Before we open a file, we need to adjust some settings.
Select "Materials." Change "Exposure time" to 3 seconds and "Initial exposure time" to 10 seconds. Different types of resin may require different exposure times; seek the manufacturer's recommendations.
Select "Material printing profile." In both columns, set "Delay before exposure" to 0.5 seconds. Set "Tower hop height" to 5mm. Turn off "tilt".
