Top-Down 3D Resin Printers; Beginning the Quest!

As you already know, we have been exploring ceramic 3D printing using a Form2 printer.  While we will still move forward on that front, and we HAVE found the keys to better reliability, I can't escape the sinking feeling that there has to be a better way.

There are three issues.

First, when I spoke to FormLabs about the Form3, they weren't exactly encouraging about using their experimental ceramic resin with the new Form3.  They were distinctly non-commital at the time I asked.

Secondly, the whole idea of a part coming loose from the print plate and falling into the vat of resin is just plan wrong and full of potential issues.  We first faced it with the ProJet 1200 where falling parts, for whatever reason, were a constant threat to the integrity of the vat window.  With all of these hanging-part orientation printers if you don't absolutely get every last piece, no matter how tiny, out of the vat of resin after a support failure, you are going to cause BIG problems and possibly damage the printer.

Third, while I realize that even top-down resin printers will require some supports, the nature of those supports compared to the supports required for keeping a prints from dropping off a print plate in printers like the Form2 should be as different as night and day.  All the Top-Down supports need to do is support... not adherence.  They should, therefore, be somewhat fewer and lighter in structure.

Yet, the Form2 has done a great job at convincing us that we cannot dismiss ceramic resin printing because the detail is amazing and the whole ceramic firing work-flow is shorter than that of powder/binder prints.  It is performing well as a TEST platform.

With all this in mind I began a search for what is known as a Top-Down resin printer.  There aren't very many and the recent past is rife with companies trying to create them via Indiegogo or Kickstarter having disappeared in the dark.

My research, just days old, turned up five potential possibilities.

TOPDOWN CANDIDATE #1:  THE PLUTO

Pluto Kickstarter Page

Pluto Kickstarter Image

 Billed as "The World's Smallest High quality 3D Printer" and introduced on Kickstarter, it seems to have disappeared into the night.  The web site linked to the project no longer comes up/

So that was a bust.

TOPDOWN CANDIDATE #2:  THE JUELL 3D

The Juell 3D  actually looks like an excellent printer!

Juell 3D Printer by Park Dental Research

But, alas, it is designed specifically for the dental industry and seems to require very specific resins from the manufacturer.  I could not find a single instance of the Juell 3D-3 printer being used outside of the dental industry.  Even so, it was well worth learning about.  And, they are, apparently doing VERY well.

TOPDOWN CANDIDATE #3: THE OCTAVE R1

This is an interesting one,
.

https://octave-3d.com/

Octave R1 Top-Down 3D Resin Printer.

This printer was not a barn-nurner on Indiegogo, raising only $ 16,485 toward its goal of $250,000.


Indiegogo Page

Yet, it lives!!!  This fact, alone, is pretty amazing. 

 But, for us, there is one glaring show-stopper... the noise.  Watching the "Walkthrough" video, I realized the noises it makes would drive me crazy.  and, that means it would have the potential of driving our autsim-spectrum students right over the edge.

 So, until that situation changes, we'll not be pursuing that one just yet.  But if you can take the noise, it is well worth exploring.

TOPDOWN CANDIDATE #4: THE MILKSHAKE 3D *

Milkshake 3D Web Site

MilkShake 3D Top-Down Printer

This one definitely has potential. We will be exploring this one further.  

Although it is produced in Hong Kong, they have at least one distributor in the USA.

*  #4: Selected for further review


TOPDOWN CANDIDATE #5: THE GIZMO 3D PRINTERS **

Gizmo 3D Printers Web Site

GIZMO 3D TOP-DOWN Printers

OK!    Now we are talking not just one top-down printer; but, a series of industrial level printers that run EXTREMELY fast!

So far, the last two printers we've listed, #4 and #5, are the only viable options to pursue at this time.  So, while I pursue them through extensive due-diligence research, I'll make sure I report every finding with our readers.

While they are located in Brisbane, Australia, prospective buyers can find a button for scheduling a phone call to talk in person right on the web page.  I will give that a try and report back to you.


But, from the short time I have had since beginning my quest to find a potential Top-Down printer, the Gizmo seems not only to be the biggest; but, by far, the fastest.  This video, from 2017, shows a 19 minute print and from what I understand they print even faster with their latest projectors.

And, they are the only printer that mentions Tethon3D's Porcelite in their documents.  That's a good start

So, we continue toward cramic 3d printing on two different tracks... powder/binder and ceramic resin.  It's one or the pther... it's BOTH.

**  #5: Selected for further review!
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