Form Labs Form 1 3D Printer

**Lindros_bigE** · 01-12-2014, 10:33 AM

The Form Labs Form 1 3D Printer seems to be a printer that will print in really high resolution using resin as opposed to filament. It's priced at $3299, and the build area is a bit small, but it can print some really amazing things. Here is a video from CES 2014.

What do you guys think? Worth $3299 or not?

**jimc** · 01-12-2014, 09:05 PM

the form 1 is a really nice printer and i have seen its prints in person however if i was going to go the resin route i would hold off for about 6 months. there are alot of companies either just releasing their new resin printers or are just on the horizon. some priced a hair lower and some a hair higher. i would wait and compare. the solidator was one that impressed me. very large print area and hardens a full layer at a time so its fast. im not sure of the quality of it or its prints since i havent seen anything other than pictures.

**Rainday21** · 01-13-2014, 08:01 AM

This is a great printer. $3299 is a bit pricey, but that's what you can expect to pay for a nice Resin printer like this. Whether you want to wait a few months like jimc says depends on how much of a rush you are in. Printers will always get better and prices will always come down if you wait, but that is ALWAYS the case.

**darkshark** · 01-14-2014, 11:04 AM

I was directed over here from Thingiverse by Macy, so hi everyone.

I just wanted to chime in and say that I own the Form1 printer, so if you have any questions feel free to ask. It really is an amazing printer, though it can be a bit finicky when it comes to thin-walled structures (can print about the thickness of a fingernail before prints start failing) but otherwise it puts out GORGEOUS models. Here's one I printed just yesterday. I have not sanded or primed this in any way yet, it's straight out of the printer.

http://imgur.com/y19BGwB

-Shayne

**LambdaFF** · 01-14-2014, 05:41 PM

Originally Posted by darkshark

I was directed over here from Thingiverse by Macy, so hi everyone.

I just wanted to chime in and say that I own the Form1 printer, so if you have any questions feel free to ask. It really is an amazing printer, though it can be a bit finicky when it comes to thin-walled structures (can print about the thickness of a fingernail before prints start failing) but otherwise it puts out GORGEOUS models. Here's one I printed just yesterday. I have not sanded or primed this in any way yet, it's straight out of the printer.

http://imgur.com/y19BGwB

-Shayne

Hi Shayne,
First congratulations and thanks for posting the photo. Do you have others ?
I have read some nice comments on their software, is it functional and with an easy interface ?
How about supports removing ?

**darkshark** · 01-14-2014, 07:11 PM

The software is extremely simple to use...almost too simple. The software can automatically rotate a model to where it calculates which orientation would be optimal for the generation of support structures, which does an okay job, but you'll almost always have to toy around with orientation manually to get a better result. It highlights areas of your model that -might- fail in shades of red, the darker the red, the more likely it is to fail, which is very very useful. There are only a few buttons in the interface, so anyone can become a pro at it within a few prints.

The support removal process can vary greatly, and it took me a little while to get it down. If you're printing a solid thick object, removing supports is a breeze, just peel it off like velcro (there is an option inside the software that allows you to change the size of the support point that touches your model. Thinner = easier to remove, but less supportive, possible print fails if on tricky objects, Thicker = harder to remove, but offers great support. Working with the resin is an experience in itself. Say you printed something overnight and it finished a few hours before you could begin removing the supports...they will be much harder to remove as opposed to trying to remove them fresh from a recently completed print, as the resin has time to cure/dry a bit while it's sitting there. These are all minor details, the point is that this printer can make some amazing models at amazing quality. I wish the build platform was bigger, but that's about my only gripe.

This was my very first print. Printed at the lowest detail setting. (100 microns)

Second print, again, lowest detail.

(I'd like to note that the models come out feeling "tacky" and a little bit sticky until you let them cure for a little while either out in the sun or under a UV lamp, so the gears didn't spin very well right away)

This Skyrim Giant (get my model for him here! http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:225234) failed in two spots on his chest. I made him hollow, and the walls of the model were probably just too thin for as small as I made him, scaled up would have probably been fine. The other one is the Pokemon Absol.

He's still a little rough from support removal, I've since cleaned it up.