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The UltiMaker S7 is built on the success of the UltiMaker S5 and its design decisions were heavily based on feedback from customers.

Wow, thanks for the detailed response, i hadnt considered custom supports but this may be the way forward! im not great with 3D but i reckon some columns added in blender may do the trick. So you might want to design supports in such a way that they move the nozzle away for some time, and allow the model to cool (or print multiple models at once). Layer-adhesion and stress-concentrations could also be a factor. Printing tiny vertical models often causes this effect: the filament can not solidify due to the hot nozzle continuously sitting on top of it. The tabs on the side of the supports do almost no damage to the side walls of the model. This model could be printed without supports, but I want more accuracy, since another part has to slide accurately through the opening. The ribs on top are 0.5mm wide and high the inverted stairs at the bottom are 1mm wide and high. This makes them very easy to remove (way easier than standard supports).

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If too small, the model will glue to the support, and separation will be difficult.įree hanging supports, not going down all the way to the bottom, and thus not damaging the lower parts.įront view of these free hanging supports: they stay in place by the stringing of the material. These require good testing: if the gap is too big, the model will fall off. This model is way too small to get in there with a knife.Ĭoncepts of supports, to minimise damage to the model. These are stable and solid supports, so I can grab them with a plier and wiggle them out. Pink and orange supports with custom brim to prevent them from getting knocked over. But special cases might be better off with custom designs. Standard supports are good for standard situations. Test various concepts and dimensions on a small testmodel, before doing large models.

Support structures are always required and post-processing is necessary to remove the visual marks left on the SLA part.If you have a single-nozzle printer, and you can do CAD, then consider designing your own supports in CAD.

The mechanical properties and visual appearance of SLA parts will degrade overtime when the parts are exposed to sunlight.

SLA parts are generally brittle and not suitable for functional prototypes.

Speciality SLA materials are available, such as clear, flexible and castable resins.

SLA parts have a very smooth surface finish, making them ideal for visual prototypes.

SLA can produce parts with very high dimensional accuracy and with intricate details.

The key advantages and disadvantages of the technology are summarised below: Whether you are an engineer, product designer, sculptor, jeweler, or dentist, there's a material for your application. SLA allows for the use of a wide range of materials with diverse physical properties. Today, desktop stereolithography offers affordable, high resolution 3D printing that fits conveniently in your workspace. Originally developed in the 80s, SLA was confined to large industrial machines until recently. When a layer is complete, the part is peeled from the bottom of the tank, letting fresh resin flow beneath, and the platform is lowered once again. The print is built in consecutive layers, each less than a hundred microns thick. Galvanometers direct the UV laser through a transparent window at the bottom of the resin tank, drawing a cross section of the 3D model and selectively hardening the material. At the beginning of the print, a build platform is lowered into the resin, leaving only a thin layer of liquid in between the platform and the bottom of the tank. Depending on the machine, resin is either poured into a tank by a user or dispensed automatically from a cartridge. Upside-down or inverted stereolithography is the most common SLA-system. SLA stands for stereolithography, a 3D printing process that uses a UV laser to cure liquid resin into hardened plastic.

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Download PreForm, Formlabs's free software that prepares your 3D models for printingĪll 3D printing technologies create solid parts from 3D models, layer by layer, among them is SLA.The Form 2 is an SLA 3D printer, meaning that it focuses a laser onto photosensitive resin, instead of using a plastic filament, in order to fabricate solid objects with exceptional levels of detail.

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