1 Anycubic Photon Mono SE

The end of December 2020 I purchased an Anycubic Photon Mono SE, an extra FEP film, an off brand UV curing station, and 2L of resin. The printer took a few weeks to arrive. I think the resin came first, within just a few days. After that it sat the box for another two weeks before I had time to take a look. By that time, my leisure time had dwindled, the result of several life factors.

By the time I finally opened up the box, I noticed some damage to the resin vat, probably from shipping. The vendor sent me a replacement FEP and also some funnels since mine didn't have any.

1.1 May 25

I started working on fixing the resin vat.

In hindsight I would have just bought a new resin vat rather than try to fix the one I got that arrived damaged. No real fault on the vendor, but I pulled a few metal slivers out of my hand while fiddling with it today.

I printed the test cube.

1.2 May 26

I cleaned off and cured the model. So far, the fumes from the isopropyl seem much more irritating that the resin. I would even go so far to say that even black and white darkrooms smell worse, though, the resin could be something I humans can't smell that make it bad, so I still need to act carefully.

I also spent as much of my free time reading about how to take an STL file and get it to something the printer actually wants to use. The supplied slicer does not provide source code, let alone a non-Windows or non-Apple version. Other folks I know suggested Chitubox, but I want something free(dom). As an intermediate step, I might use WINE to convert an STL to the .pwms or compatible format, and then duplicating that using PrusaSlicer. Thankfully, VOG already provided a model with supports already in the STL, so that should make comparison easy enough.

1.3 May 27

I printed another test model, a ring, by converting the STL from VOG using the Photon slicer.

1.4 May 31

I didn't have any free time the last few days.

I finally rinsed and cured the second print. I did a better job keeping the fumes under control, but I didn't do a good job cleaning off the top of the ring, so some of the detail got filled in when I accidentally cured some excess resin. Total newbie mistake. I can still see the details, but they aren't as deep. A few hours later, when I had a chance, I trimmed off the supports. I learned quickly that I need to keep the debris from flying off into my face, so I put my hands and the print inside a dry plastic bread bag. I'll sand off the rest later to smooth things down.

Soon after, I started a print of the Dwarfclan Stonethrower, scaled up to 166%.

1.5 June 1

I cleaned off and set the third print out in the sun. I also decided to clean out the printer since I have no plans to print anything else until the weather cools back off.

The disposable funnels with filters don't actually fit the opening of any of my containers or the ones the resin originally came in, so I think I need to get at least one more funnel.

Wearing safety glasses (I have some with seals and vented tops) and a mask (like the one supplied), even with anti-fog lenses, is annoying. They still fog up on the outside. Be prepared for that. It might be a good idea to buy a half-mask for sanding since they usually have a rubber seal around the nose.

I suggest putting down a layer of cardboard underneath everthing while working with the prints. The resin seems quite a bit more brittle than the thermoplatics.

I will probably update this post one more time for posterity if I have any success using PrusaSlicer or something libre.