Review on High-Resolution Photopolymer Resin Printer by Monoprice by Tyler Cooley

part of my series of reviews of all the 3D printers I have. I'm a little fan of 3D printing. I've dreamed of this since I first saw an SLA printer on the Beyond 2000 TV show on the Discovery Channel in the 1990's. I first played with them when I was in engineering school in the 2010s. In 2015 I took the plunge and bought my own printer. However, the amazing details of the SLA printer eluded me. They were too expensive. I was about to print my senior design project at SLA at the university, but was told the cost would be astronomical. When I saw what could be done with these MSLA printers and the price, it was too good to go up. After some chatting with my wife, this little kit is finally in my hands. I found that the learning curve was steep and the cost of failure was just as high because the resin was so expensive when I got this machine. It's since disappeared as these printers have become more common, so it's not that big of a deal. Also, the software has improved a lot, as has the size of the user community, so you're not alone. I'm happy to report that I almost never experience print defects on this machine and have no trouble removing supports from my prints. The detail it can reproduce is amazing. I still love my FDM printers for functional parts, but the ability to print something with a smooth surface and thin-walled features that approach injection molding accuracy is amazing. I was even able to make molds for casting pewter with this printer. There are some things you should know: This machine contains consumables: screen and resin pot. The tar vat is most likely well studied. When the printer is used, the tank film will become cloudy, scratches, dents, etc. You need to replace it regularly. The screen wasn't that well known. UV light damages the screen over time and needs to be replaced regularly. The software I received it with wasn't very good. The Creation Studio was functional but not amazing. Many users will probably opt for a cheat box. However, since I knew it was a D7 clone, I bought a license for the Wanhao D7 software which is based on Lychee's mango3d slicer. I quite like it. I don't care about the cap on the car. I would definitely prefer something with hinges. I would also take the one with the control box. I'm having trouble with my printing computer shutting down while printing, which of course will ruin everything you print when printing from your PC. Would I buy this printer again? If you were to ask me in 2018, I would say yes. If you ask me now, I would probably first look at all the new machines that are on the market today. However, if the price is right for you, this machine will work just as well as any. After all, most of these printers share more or less the same parts and basic design.