Full Spectrum Laser is a relatively new player in the 3D printing market, but that hasn’t seemed to cause them any problems. In fact, they’ve just announced a new resin with a very cool property.
The resin is called “Water Washable Resin”, and that’s exactly what it is. You can wash away residual liquid resin with plain old water.
Why is this so important? It’s simply because up to now, most 3D printer liquid resins required special treatment after printing. Here’s the usual sequence:
- Liquid resin is decanted into a 3D printer reservoir.
- 3D printing occurs when a light source optically solidifies some of the liquid resin to form the printed object.
- The printed object is removed from the 3D printer, but is still coated with a thick layer of liquid resin that missed out being solidified.
- The liquid residue must be removed with a bath of isopropyl alcohol or acetone, both of which are not the most pleasant chemicals to work with.
The new resin from FSL3D addresses the final point: instead of using nasty chemicals to finish the object, you just wash it off. There’s no need for a special finishing station, either, which some 3D printers require for such cleaning.
This simplifies the process of 3D printing in resin and makes the process much more compatible with non-workshop environments. While we still recommend that anyone using a 3D printer in a home environment have sufficient ventilation, the ability to avoid acetone in particular is a very good thing. Water is also a lot less expensive than chemicals, too.
While the new resin is certified for use in FSL3D’s equipment, we suspect it may also work in other manufacturer’s devices, too, so long as they permit use of open materials.
The Water Washable Resin is sold in 1L containers at a price of USD$150 each. For now, it is only available in clear format.
Via FSL3D and PRNewsWire
