Hi I'm Michael I love my 3d printer but dealing with the uncured resin can be a pain.
and if you're not careful it can get all over everything.
So today I'm going to share my resin management guide.
11 tips for handling and managing resin.
The problem with resin printers is...
the resin.
You shouldn't get it on your skin
the fumes can be problematic
and you don't want to accidentally confuse it your coffee creamer.
It's a pain.
The trade-off though is the quality and in my opinion, it's worth it.
But if you're not careful...
well, even if you are careful,
the resin can get on things you don't want it to get on,
So the answer is actually sort of simple.
You just need to have some basic operating procedures
and then follow them.
Here is my resin management guide
11 things you can do to keep things safe
and help contain the mess.
Let's start off with a couple of basics.
My first tip is that I have a cheap plastic tablecloth on my table.
It's probably a three dollar tablecloth.
This is to protect the table and to help contain an accidental mess.
If I have a spill worst case I could just take the tablecloth off
take it out into the Sun for the resin to cure and then dispose of it.
I bought these really cheap rubber mats they were $15 for three.
And there's a link to all of this stuff in the description.
But these have a little lip
so the liquid stays on the mat.
I have one here in the front of the printer so
that when I pull out the build plate I
can set it here to remove the part.
I also have this one on the side for tools.
If I set down anything that's wet with resin it goes on the mat.
Not the tablecloth.
The goal is to keep resin off the tablecloth and keep it on the mat.
To clean these I spray a little IPA on it and wipe it with a paper towel.
The third tip is just to keep your printer station organized.
Let me show you how I have mine set up.
I do keep an open trash can.
what I need to toss something I don't
want to have to open a lid I might have
wet gloves on
oh and use a bag for containment and
easy cleanup there are a lot of
Expendables here I have a roll of paper
towels handy I also keep a terry cloth
towel here as well I consider this to be
disposable so when it gets too dirty
I'll just toss it but usually I am only
using it to wipe off a glove that's wet
with alcohol I've got some good metal
funnels and of course an ample supply of
isopropyl alcohol and I know there are
some other options for cleaning but at
the moment I still prefer IPA but even
if you're using mean green or whatever I
would still keep a supply of IPA mixes
some spray bottles I think these were $7
for the 2-pack and they have IPA in them
I also have some Ziploc jars and glass
jars for storing and recycling IPA
smaller parts I'll wash right in these
jars a small paintbrush in a toothbrush
I'll tell you what those are for later
my allen wrench for leveling the build
plate and of course my gloves and make
sure you don't go for the latex gloves
because they don't protect you well
enough from the uncured resin and other
chemicals instead you need to go for
knit night nitrile
knits rile nitrile anyway use that kind
and these are another expendable item
don't be afraid to reapply gloves often
I go through these pretty quickly next
is my mask and glasses feel free to
comment that my mask isn't good enough
discuss this controversial topic in the
comments and then I have various tips
for cleaning which brings me to tip
number four
I have a tub dedicated for just cleaning
and storing the built plate and I think
this is important um often I'll just
keep the build plate in here in between
prints and I love these tubs I got them
on sale at Joanne's for probably only
three or four dollars each and I got to
say don't use something like a
disposable foil or roasting pan this is
still waiting to happen get some real
tubs here's why I picked this particular
tub for one it's large enough to fit the
build plate and close the lid with it in
there now the bottom of it is square and
flat they stack really well and they
have a lid that snaps on tight and helps
prevent evaporation and they have a
handle for moving them around easily
although I would still support it from
the bottom to make sure it can handle
the weight I have other tubs of IPA for
cleaning the parts two of them I have
one dirty one and one clean one and keep
watching because later I'm going to show
you how I clean the IPA so I can reuse
it tip number five is basic safety
precautions gloves glasses and
ventilation here's my tip about safety
precautions have a reasonable respect
for the dangers and take easy and
appropriate actions and what I mean by
that is don't go overboard but don't
completely ignore it because if you make
the safety step too difficult
you'll start skipping it okay we already
talked about gloves so yeah of course
you should avoid getting uncured resin
on your bare hands but guess what it's
gonna happen a part will poke through a
glove or a splash will happen you'll
accidentally grab the scraper you just
need to have a plan of what you're gonna
do when that happens
Nyx's safety glasses splashes like I
said are going to happen and you really
don't want I PA or uncured resin ending
up in your eye on a side note here I
suggest also wearing them when removing
supports we found this out the hard way
the little support pieces can shoot all
over the place and really early on a
shard ended up in somebody's eye it was
fine and fell right out but now we wear
protective glasses a lot and then
ventilation in my book it's important
because it helps prevent irritation to
the eyes nasal cavities lungs etc the
fumes really do get to me a lot my next
video is about this event system
so keep an eye out for that okay the
next two tips are more like concepts or
ways of thinking about things that I
think will help contain the mess but
before I get to that do me a quick favor
click the thumbs up icon and turn it
blue this will really help me out okay
moving on number six is the concept of
contaminated items and non contaminated
items like I said before when we're
moving parts you get resin all over both
gloves it's unavoidable
and then I don't want to touch something
else with my wet glove and spread the
resin to other items because then
theoretically those items would become
contaminated and I'd need a glove on
anytime I touch those things or I'd have
to clean them up which is a pain so I
have pre decided what items in my print
station are going to be contaminated
items and what items I don't want resin
to ever get on once I have this list
then I just never touch those items with
a wet glove so what's on the list
well for me it's just about everything
for example I don't want liquid resin on
the printer doors the outside of the
printer on the lids to my tubs on the
resin containers the spray bottles or
the box of gloves in fact I think resin
or alcohol on this red Plexiglas in the
door we'll run it I've heard that it can
make it crack and I want my printer to
stay nice I don't even want resin on the
outside of my back or the underside of
it or any of the thumbscrews and I don't
want it on the LCD so almost everything
is on my don't contaminate list the only
things that are on my contaminated list
are the build plate the metal scraper
the funnel and maybe the toothbrush and
of course the mats the terry cloth towel
I don't consider to be contaminated but
I guess it depends on what you wipe on
it
the next concept is the idea of high
risk and low risk activities now what I
mean by risk is risk of getting resin on
your gloves I'll start with high risk
high risk activities I wear two gloves
but pretty much the only high risk
activity is removing the build plate
after printing and then removing the
parts from the build plate that's pretty
much it and when I'm done with the high
risk activities I remove and toss the
gloves even if I'm gonna do something
else that's a lower risk next for low
risk activities I usually have one glove
on and one off dexterity is easier for
me without the gloves but now I have a
hand that can touch non-contaminated
things the things I don't want to
contaminate and I have a hand that can
touch lightly contaminated items and
since I'm right-handed
the right hand is the one with the glove
now you can wear two gloves if it makes
you more comfortable but I think not
having a glove on one hand helps me
remember that hand can only touch
non-contaminated things and when I'm
doing something low-risk
I still try to keep resin from getting
on the glove let's say I'm removing the
lid to the resin I'll use a paper towel
to pop off the seal and still try to
minimize resin getting on my glove other
low-risk activities are going to be
things like pouring resin into the VAT
pouring resin out of the VAT back into
the bottle cleaning parts and cleaning
the build plate and see even when clean
parts there is a fair amount of resin
getting on the glove during that
activity but I still keep one hand resin
free for touching things like the IPA
bottle or anything that's on my
non-contaminated list when a print is
ready to be removed I put on my eyewear
mask and gloves but here's the tip while
my gloves are still clean I handle
anything that I need to that's on that
non-contaminated list and get it all
prepped and ready
I open the printer doors take the lids
off the tubs and loosen the thumb screws
because once I've removed the build
plate my gloves are extremely wet with
resin and if you start touching things
you're gonna get resin all over
everything
so with contaminated gloves I don't
touch the tub lids or open and close the
printer door instead prepare that stuff
before removing the part here's how it
goes I let the part drip into the bat
first then move it over to the mat and
tilt it different ways to drain out all
the resin the dripping resin is all
captured on the mat then I do the very
messy process of removing the parts this
is always messy but I try to contain it
the scraper is contaminated so I can use
it with a wet glove as the parts are
freed I set them in the tub of IPA which
already has an open lid once that messy
part is over
I still do one more thing before tossing
the gloves remember how I have a
dedicated tub for the build plate and
that I opened it before getting my
gloves dirty well with my wet gloves
I've now got resin on top of the build
plate also so you don't want to install
it back in the printer instead set it in
the top of IPA slosh it around and let
it sit there then I take off my gloves
here's a side tip don't set the build
plate in the Sun I had heard that if
something gets resin on it you can just
cure it in the Sun and then it's easier
to clean up well I tried that with a
build plate after my first print and it
was a pain to clean up as expected it
cured but there had been resin all over
it some of it was diluted with IPA which
still cures I had to scrape and scrape
it and it took a while to get it all off
and you don't want cured resin on your
build plate ok now later when I'm ready
to print again I pull the build plate
out and I'll clean it one more time with
the toothbrush to make sure it's free of
resin I'll spray or pour a little more
IPA on it to get it really clean then
set it on paper towels to dry and wipe
it down you don't want any leftover IPA
in those holes when it enters the resin
so make sure that all the IPA has
evaporated and that it's dry before
reinstalling it in the printer I prefer
my VAT to be very clean I don't want any
resin on the outside edge of the VAT or
the bottom of the fehb because then it
would get on the LCD cure there and
cause failures and your prints okay so
in between prints I will wipe gently
over the fit with the plastic scraper
and what I'm doing here is I'm feeling
to see if anything is sticking to the
fab
I'm also clearing any build-up I don't
use anything on the fehb to help prevent
sticking if you do that you might not
want to do this step but since I don't
before
prynt I'll add resin stir it up and
check the fat to completely clean it I
first empty as much of the resin as
possible back into a bottle I use a
metal funnel with a built-in strainer
these work great because they sit right
in the bottle and you don't have to hold
it a little sub tip on my printer at the
frozen transform the VAT does have one
corner that's made to be a pour spout I
didn't notice it at first but using that
corner really helps reduce drips so I
get as much of the resin out as possible
then I wipe that corner off with a paper
towel and set it down on some clean
paper towels not on a mat because that
has resin on it and I don't want to get
resin under the FET so next I'll pour a
little IPA directly into the VAT and
then I use the paintbrush to gently
clean the fehb get in all the corners in
the creases this makes very dirty IPA
but that's okay I pour that cocktail out
into a jar then repeat that one more
time then I continue cleaning with a
spray bottle wiping with a paper towel
and repeat until it's spotless my final
tip is on how to recycle and sort of
purify that super dirty IPA I keep a lot
of these plastic ziplock jars for dirty
IPA I also have some glass jars these
were from spaghetti sauce
I set the jar out into the Sun to cure
leave it out there for a couple hours
then bring it back in to rest after a
day or so the resin settles in the
bottom and forms like a blob I've heard
of people using coffee filters to strain
the IPA but that wastes a lot through
evaporation so I bought a non-porous
strainer this tea strainer has a very
fine mesh and it fits right on top of my
ziplock container strain through this
and you have some IPA that's pure enough
for the next back cleaning I do try to
avoid any of this blob getting into the
strainer get as much of the IPA out as
you can the blob of resin to dispose of
it I pour it out onto an open container
and then take it out into the Sun again
the IPA evaporates and the resin cures
then just toss the blob in the trash
so that's it I hope there's been at
least a couple of helpful ideas here I
want to hear from you guys what are your
tips for maintaining the mess how do you
keep your printer station clean leave a
comment and let us know my next video is
going to be about the ventilation system
that I made that includes a cheap fan to
help circulate the air my video after
that is probably going to be about why
and resin printing we print at an angle
I'll discuss overhangs and supports and
do some experiments on just how much of
an overhang you can get away with don't
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thanks for watching
