Octopus Overlords

Having recently gotten back into D&D after a 32 year hiatus (I'll start a thread on that one day) I noticed that the miniatures my friends were using weren't the old lead/pewter ones from my youth but highly detailed figures that were printed out of resin on 3D printers and sold on the internet (Etsy). This intrigued me and after ordering several and realizing how superior they were to what we had back in the "old days" I decided to look into getting a 3D resin printer myself. Turns out these printers are nowhere near as expensive as I thought they would be (still not cheap!) but the process of printing, cleaning and curing these miniatures is more than just a little messy. After researching the process for a couple of weeks I am just about ready to pull the trigger on a new Elegoo Saturn 3 Ultra 12K. But before I take a deep dive into a hobby I know little about, I would like to speak to some folks who have done this and get their advice on 3D resin printing as a hobby.

So, anyone here have any experience with this sort of 3D printing or have any friends/co-workers who do? If so I would just like to hear whatever thoughts you might have on the subject. Watching lots of youtube videos has been helpful but nothing beats hearing about someone's personal experience on the topic.

Big old thread over here, though I guess it's focused on printing gaming bits. I still think it's probably a great resource, regardless.

Thanks for the link. Hentazu's post on resin printing had several valuable nuggets to add to what I have already learned.

Yeah, there are a couple of us that are hip deep into printing for gaming. So if you have questions, ask away. I think about upgrading every once in a while.

hentzau wrote: ↑Tue Apr 09, 2024 11:14 pm Yeah, there are a couple of us that are hip deep into printing for gaming. So if you have questions, ask away. I think about upgrading every once in a while.

Any advice you can give on a first resin printer? I'm looking at a Saturn 3 Ultra 12K right now. The Uniformation GK2 seems to be most people's top pick but since it is over $800 I'm not even considering it.

I found this excellent, detailed guide for setting up your new resin printer. It's the best technical advice I have found :https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Z8f ... Gmo44/edit

Any other online resources you know of to help beginners would be awesome. Your long post in the other thread was very helpful in giving me an idea of everything involved in resin printing.

Apollo wrote: ↑Wed Apr 10, 2024 4:15 pm

hentzau wrote: ↑Tue Apr 09, 2024 11:14 pm Yeah, there are a couple of us that are hip deep into printing for gaming. So if you have questions, ask away. I think about upgrading every once in a while.

Any advice you can give on a first resin printer? I'm looking at a Saturn 3 Ultra 12K right now. The Uniformation GK2 seems to be most people's top pick but since it is over $800 I'm not even considering it.

I found this excellent, detailed guide for setting up your new resin printer. It's the best technical advice I have found :https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Z8f ... Gmo44/edit

Any other online resources you know of to help beginners would be awesome. Your long post in the other thread was very helpful in giving me an idea of everything involved in resin printing.

Well. I bought my printer 3 years ago now, and it's been serving me pretty well, so I haven't been looking at new ones. You can get greater resolution in your prints for the same amount of money now, so that's a bonus.

A couple of other thoughts:

Post print is the part that takes the most hands-on so anything you can do to ease that is a bonus. So I would really budget for either a washing/curing station or a sonic washer or something. Curing can be done via sunlight, but I wouldn't want to do printing without my wash and cure station.

Buy your alcohol and gloves in bulk to save some money.

Put silicone mats with a lip under all of your machines. And have a spare one that you use for post-print cleanup (support removal and the like.)

Find out local ordinances about disposal of the used up IPA. I do a few rounds of filtering through coffee filters and a silicone funnel into clear plastic jars to get it as clean as possible. Then I leave the IPA to cure in the sun for a few days, then pour off again, then throw out the cured waste resin collected in the bottom and take the leftover used IPA to our hazardous materials disposal site.

I know that some of the first resin printers during the boom had tanks without replaceable FEP films...you had to buy a whole new tank to replace it. I don't think that's very common these days, but I would just make sure.

If I had to buy a new printer today, I would probably go Elegoo Saturn. I would like to go with a bigger bed, but then my current wash and cure set up wouldn't work, so I'd have to buy that new too.

Just some more random rambling.

It's one thing that's not talked about much, but make sure you at least research respirators. Resin vapors can cause a range of issues, and most implementations of it really do need some sort of mask.

Thanks! I am planning on grabbing Elegoo's Mercury XS Wash and Cure station at the same time I get my printer. I would like to eventually get a sonic cleaner, but I'm going to wait until I have much more experience. As you said, I believe this is a better option for a beginner like myself rather than a lot of the homemade solutions I see online.

The biggest difference I have seen online is in how people clean their prints and what solvents they use. IPA is the most common and that is what I plan on going with for that reason. I plan on soaking the prints in one IPA wash to get off most of the resin then placing the mini into the main washer afterwards to keep the IPA there clean longer. Youtuber Fauxhammer uses Menthylated Spirits (Denatured Alcohol) and swears he has never had to change out his cleaning fluid, which seems incredible. I have also seen people use Simple Green or Mean Green which is non-toxic and less smelly but I'm not sure how long I can use that stuff or whether it can be "recycled" the same way IPA can. Elegoo and others also sell cleaning fluid but since there seems to be little info about using it online I am staying away from it at this point.

I am wondering about slicers. When I first started doing research it seemed that everyone liked Chitubox the best but after more research it seems like Lychee would be a better fit for me. Do you have any thoughts about slicers?

My plan right now is to use one of my bathrooms for my print station. I live alone and that bathroom is never used plus it has lots of counter space, no windows to let in UV rays, and an exhaust fan. Will a typical bathroom exhaust fan, working in concert with the small charcoal purifier that comes on the Saturn 3 Ultra, be enough ventilation in your mind? I'm not going to be printing all the time by any means but I don't want to stink up the house or endanger my health.

Finally, almost every online source on 3D resin printing seems to be a Brit worried about keeping their resin warm enough so that it's in the 20-25C range. One American source quoted 20 to 30C being optimum. Living in Alabama makes me wonder what is the max temp for using resin in case I want to use my garage for printing as I am really not concerned with the resin being too cold. Do you have any thoughts on temperatures?

Thanks for all the info!

Blackhawk wrote: ↑Wed Apr 10, 2024 5:40 pm It's one thing that's not talked about much, but make sure you at least research respirators. Resin vapors can cause a range of issues, and most implementations of it really do need some sort of mask.

I was planning on wearing a leftover covid mask while in the room with the printer and resin. Do you think that will be sufficient considering the printer has a small charcoal filter and the fact that I will be running the bathroom exhaust fan?

Apollo wrote: ↑Wed Apr 10, 2024 5:53 pm

Blackhawk wrote: ↑Wed Apr 10, 2024 5:40 pm It's one thing that's not talked about much, but make sure you at least research respirators. Resin vapors can cause a range of issues, and most implementations of it really do need some sort of mask.

I was planning on wearing a leftover covid mask while in the room with the printer and resin. Do you think that will be sufficient considering the printer has a small charcoal filter and the fact that I will be running the bathroom exhaust fan?

It haven't dug into it extensively for 3d printer formulations, but unless it's a very, very nice mask, no. You need something capable of filtering organic vapors. That usually means a painter's mask. Look at 3M respirators, and make sure you get the organic vapor filters (and change them according to the instructions.) Also, nitrile gloves. Exposure to resin, including through your skin, can cause problems now. Some of them are mild, some are serious, and some people may just develop a strong allergic reaction - enough that they usually can never work with any form of uncured resin again.

Ipa and denatured alcohol are functionally the same thing. Use whatever is more convenient.

FWIW I have 2 resin printers.
A 1st gen Peopoly laser printer and a Saturn 2.
I stopped using the laser one when I mived and didn't have a setup but about a year or so aho I saw the Saturn 2 on sale and jumped on it along with the matching wash and cure station.
I'm not sure if it's standard now but my Saturn came with a USB air filter which seemed to help a lot. Honestly my wife thinks the IPA smells worse than the resin when it's on.
Both of them work great and I've done some small terain, paint toppers, and mini figures.
Now that somr of my printers forever homes are being setup I'll be printing more. Once the room is fully setup I'll probably try printing a lot more.
From what I've seen, most people tend to print large terrain on FDM printers and smaller, more detailed terrain on resin if possible.
Resin printers really shine with tiny details.
If you think you are going to print a lot of large terrain you might want to think about an fdm printer.
It would be cheaper and less messy in the long run.
But if you think that you will NEED tinys details a lot then resin is the way to go.
On a sidenote, the other 3d printer thread covers everything not just gaming. I think it was started there because thats probably the main thing people here print. Terrain, figures, etc...

Where do you find the sites that have the programs for the different things you want to print?

dbt1949 wrote: ↑Sat Apr 13, 2024 10:27 pm Where do you find the sites that have the programs for the different things you want to print?

Just 3d files - usually in .stl format.

The biggest is https://www.thingiverse.com/ - and most of it is free.

Also:

https://www.printables.com/
https://www.crealitycloud.com/
https://www.myminifactory.com/
https://cults3d.com/en

Those are all collection sites, with content from zillions of people. There are also a huge number of individual creators who have their own sites where they sell what they make. Like:

https://www.heroshoard.com/
https://www.fatdragongames.com/fdgfiles/

Also, Kickstarter.com generally has some really good deals.

<sigh> why could this all have been available back when I was heavily invested in such things. I'd would have had 2-3 printers and god knows how many reels of the printing thread. I'd probably never gotten married either.

dbt1949 wrote: ↑Sun Apr 14, 2024 11:56 am <sigh> why could this all have been available back when I was heavily invested in such things. I'd would have had 2-3 printers and god knows how many reels of the printing thread. I'd probably never gotten married either.

Well, I didn't start any of this until well after I got married (to be fair, I dont think this existed at a true consumer level for the 1st 2 decades)
I've had to slow down and save more since I'm now on a fuxed income but I still find ways
Sidenote.. anyone know where I can sell teeth and maybe a used and slughtly damaged kidney. I'm pretty sure I can only live on 1.

Kidney, huh?

Are you grass fed? Organic? GMO free?

Blackhawk wrote: ↑Mon Apr 15, 2024 11:21 pm Kidney, huh?

Are you grass fed? Organic? GMO free?

Well, rightnow pure protein so I'm assuming anyone who users my kidney will gain super strength. Or just install it as a spare third kidney

Punisher wrote: ↑Mon Apr 15, 2024 11:58 pm

Blackhawk wrote: ↑Mon Apr 15, 2024 11:21 pm Kidney, huh?

Are you grass fed? Organic? GMO free?

Well, rightnow pure protein so I'm assuming anyone who users my kidney will gain super strength. Or just install it as a spare third kidney

Oh, no no no. All that protein does not do good things for kidneys. I'm afraid I'll be passing on that offer. I may, however, provide a list of teeth that I may be interested in. I assume that you're familiar with the Universal Numbering System for teeth? If not, I can include a diagram. I'm mostly after molars.

How hard are teeth to install, anyway?

Blackhawk wrote: ↑Tue Apr 16, 2024 12:12 am

Punisher wrote: ↑Mon Apr 15, 2024 11:58 pm

Blackhawk wrote: ↑Mon Apr 15, 2024 11:21 pm Kidney, huh?

Are you grass fed? Organic? GMO free?

Well, rightnow pure protein so I'm assuming anyone who users my kidney will gain super strength. Or just install it as a spare third kidney

Oh, no no no. All that protein does not do good things for kidneys. I'm afraid I'll be passing on that offer. I may, however, provide a list of teeth that I may be interested in. I assume that you're familiar with the Universal Numbering System for teeth? If not, I can include a diagram. I'm mostly after molars.

How hard are teeth to install, anyway?

Gorilla glue should work. I assume thats what dentists use.
Also FWIW I am taking pills to bind the protein and flush ot out so you shpuld be ok. I'll even throw in a 14 day money back guarantee!

I'll only need one.

Blackhawk wrote: ↑Tue Apr 16, 2024 12:39 am I'll only need one.

Well yeah. I'm not sure i could live with zero... maybe we can plan it so that you take mune and i install a 3rd party refurbished one?

Punisher wrote: ↑Tue Apr 16, 2024 12:43 am

Blackhawk wrote: ↑Tue Apr 16, 2024 12:39 am I'll only need one.

Well yeah. I'm not sure i could live with zero... maybe we can plan it so that you take mune and i install a 3rd party refurbished one?

No. You offered a 14 day guarantee. I'll only need one.

And a nice chianti.

Blackhawk wrote: ↑Tue Apr 16, 2024 12:56 am

Punisher wrote: ↑Tue Apr 16, 2024 12:43 am

Blackhawk wrote: ↑Tue Apr 16, 2024 12:39 am I'll only need one.

Well yeah. I'm not sure i could live with zero... maybe we can plan it so that you take mune and i install a 3rd party refurbished one?

No. You offered a 14 day guarantee. I'll only need one.

And a nice chianti.

The warranty does not cover consumption. You take a bite and its yours.

Are you implying that I would consume human flesh!?!

Blackhawk wrote: ↑Tue Apr 16, 2024 11:03 am Are you implying that I would consume human flesh!?!

You're the one who brought up a nice chianti...

Punisher wrote: ↑Tue Apr 16, 2024 7:46 pm

Blackhawk wrote: ↑Tue Apr 16, 2024 11:03 am Are you implying that I would consume human flesh!?!

You're the one who brought up a nice chianti...

Because I knew I'd be thirsty! Geeze!