Over the past 4 years I have had several FDM (PLA filament) 3D printers that I have used for advertising and prototyping, the quality of the prints has been good but not necessarily the quality needed for smaller models.I've been waiting for the SLA printer to get a little cheaper as many of those on the market are under $1000.Fortunately, demand for cheaper SLA printers has pushed several printers under $500 .I ended up buying the Anycubic Photon after watching a few YouTube videos Easy assembly straight from the used Bull All you have to do is install the build plate Calibration was relatively easy but instead of the with Following the instructions that came with the printer, I used the Flint Read method, which you can find on YouTube. The touch interface is better than what I'm used to from my FDM printers. I love how it shows you the progress layer by layer. This printer has a hinged door, which was key for me. Others had a bulky case that you had to remove after each print. Cleaning isn't too bad once you get the hang of it. (more on that below) CONS: My only issue was the slicing software. These are really bare bones. Instead, I've used Chitbox with better results. Not for this model, but for all SLA printers. This can get really messy if you don't know what you're doing. The resin is known to be toxic. You must wear gloves! - Again, Postpress is required for all SLA prints! You need to wash the prints with isopropyl alcohol and then cure them. You must wear gloves! PACKING: It was well packed with good insulation. The only problem I had was that the stepper motor wasn't working properly. I contacted support and they helped me with this. It turned out that one of the stepper motor cables had come loose, probably during shipping. I quickly fixed it and started typing within minutes. PRINTING: I didn't get the first few prints. They fell out of bed into a vat. After a few YouTube videos I realized I had made a mistake in the settings. I changed the exposure of the bottom layer to 100 seconds for the first 3 layers and it fixed the problem. The settings differ from other brands and types of SLA resin. In terms of quality, I can't stress enough who should be putting out the incredibly detailed prints. I printed the Eiffel Tower as a torture test. It was printed with a layer height of 0.05mm and a shutter speed of 15 seconds per layer. The reprint was cleaned in isopropyl alcohol and processed with UV light. IMPORTANT: This goes without saying, but I wouldn't call this a beginner's printer, let alone a kids' printer! This applies to all SLA printers. The resin is toxic and can get dirty. You'll need to wear gloves when working with uncured prints, and the prints will need a bit of post-processing. I definitely wouldn't trust any child with these tasks. If you are looking for a 3D printer for your child, check out FDM printing. The SLA requires you to purchase some additional items. Stock up on +91% isopropyl alcohol, nitrile gloves, Tupperware to ONLY use for cleaning (never eat) and UV light for curing. All in all, this is a great SLA printer. I would recommend this to anyone who has experience with FDM printers and wants to upgrade to SLA. If anything changes in the future I will update this review.
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