J3DTech Guide To Resin 3D Printing
J3DTech Guide To Resin 3D Printing
Beginners - Advanced
I use Siraya Tech Navy Gray, with 15% Tenacious Obsidian Black for all my examples and prints.
This guide is based on Lychee Pro, you can Download the Free Version Here.
I recommend printing a plate of the Lychee Cleaners whenever you have some leftover resin.
They work great and can be reused or tossed with the sheet of cured resin and all your
shameful failures.
Vat method
This is my preferred method.
Why: Pros/Cons:
Faster: Messy?:
1. No need to clean the build plate 1. Your gloves get messy.
2. No need to remove the VAT
3. No need to clean the LCD Some Skill Required:
Cleaner: 1. The FEP is resistant to
1. The paper method leaves resin oils, and pressure. If you don’t keep
paper Xbers on the LCD. New paper & a pressure while you tighten, you
very clean build plate only reduce this. may need to level again.
a. Even if your VAT has standoffs, 2. On Ball joint printers. It can be
the FEP can still touch the surface a little harder to make sure the
it’s placed on. Assuming you use plate is lined up with the LCD.
LOTS of paper towels in the area. However it does not need to be
The tiny paper Xbers will be perfect as there are large
attracted to the statistically positive tolerances on these printers.
FEP.
2. No layer compression typical with paper
leveling. This will lead to better print quality
and much better adhesion to the build
plate.
Apply medium pressure on the plate. Lightly tighten in an X pattern. This will change depending
on your printer but the theory is the same. Don’t make them tight on the Xrst pass.
Paper Method
If you're more comfortable with paper leveling, or your printer is 13" and larger:
● Use a sacriXcial FEP sheet as your leveling method.
○ Will protect your LCD from resin that may get through the paper from the build-
plate.
● If you don't have a spare FEP sheet, I recommend using 2 pieces of normal paper, or 1
if it’s very thick.
1. Verify that
your build plate
is level
2. Calibrate your
Burn-in time.
3. Check and set
Z-Offset
Comes with a
unique version of
Boxes of
Calibration if you
wish to link them
together! For
funsies only.
Why do we care about the Z-offset?
Layer Crushing is when your print is shorter than it should be. This is often because the printer
is starting at a height below the set layer thickness.
A few things to remember before you get started calibrating your printer.
1. Most resins require 20c or even up to 30c. At the bottom of this guide I have some
heater options. If you’re trying to print and calibrate below 20c, get a heater, it will
improve everything.
2. You will need to develop your own calibration proXle for each resin type, and layer
thickness. For example, a clear or fexible resin will need very different settings then a
hard opaque resin.
○ Don't ever use a proXle you found online, they are not calibrated to your printer.
○ Resin Tensile Strength - The maximum stress that a certain material can hold
before it breaks.
2. Light off Delay / Wait Before Print - A short pause after the printer has fully
retracted and before the UV light turns on to cure the resin.
a. Gives time for the printer to come to full rest. Lesser known fact: When the
motor stops, the printer is still moving. Until the printer's fex is fully at rest.
b. Gives time for bubbles to escape
c. I've seen little beneXt above 3.0s. Unless you have a very large printer or use a
very thick resin. There is also a great article that goes into detail here.
3. Layer Thickness
This is how thick each print layer will be. The lower the number the thinner the layer.
Gaining more detail at the cost of longer print times.
1. Objects with lots of curves or steep edges can benefit from more layers as it
will reduce stepping. This is represented in the image below. The sharper the
angle (the top) the more apparent stepping becomes.
2. Once you have decided what layer thickness you want to calibrate your printer
at, we can move to the next setting. (Default and most common is 50um)
3. I print at 30um for show pieces, however larger objects like terrain and props
for a D&D set, I recommend 50um or higher. However you will need to develop a
new proXle.
*Many resins recommend not printing lower than 30um or 0.03mm. It’s possible to
print at 20 or 10um. However you will want a slow retract speed (60mm/m) and light off
delay of 4s or higher.
4. Exposure time
Use your resin's recommended UV settings. This is the setting we are printing the
calibration tool to adjust.
a. How long will each layer be exposed to the UV light?
b. Your slicer will have two settings for this. Burn-in / Bottom layers and Normal
Layers.
5. Lift Distance
Set this to 6mm. This setting will depend on the size of your printer and how stiff your
FEP sheet is at any given time. The larger the printer, the more your FEP will flex. If
you’re using a flexible resin you will also want to increase this setting.
c. Pro Tip: To calibrate, watch a print during the burn in layers. You will see/hear
it pop from the FEP. See how much further it travels. You want at most 2mm of
6. Lift speed
Set to this 40mm/m - 50mm/m. This is how fast the build plate will rip the model off of
the FEP after each layer.
d. The faster the lift speed the higher chance of layer separation, support failure
and build plate separation.
e. The faster the lift speed, the faster your print will Xnish.
7. Retract Speed
Set this to 60mm/m. This is how fast the build plate will lower.
f. With larger printers, it's VERY important to slow down the retract speed. Lowering
the plate with a large print will put a lot of pressure on the FEP and, more
importantly, the screen. Some plates (like the Mega 8K one) have holes. The purpose
is to limit the pressure to avoiding killing your expensive 8K screen.
8. Anti-aliasing
Leave this off for all calibration tests. Will be discussed further in the guide.
2. For Exposure time, use your resin manufacturer recommended settings. This can
always be calibrated later.
a. On Burn In Layers, this will directly impact how well the print sticks to
the build plate.
b. Every resin is different, calibrate this for each resin, printer and layer
height.
i. Go up or down by 4s till it comes off easily but still holds Xrm.
c. Develop a different burn in Exposure Time for each size of print.
i. Small = calibration print or small parts
ii. Medium = Minis or parts of a larger print
iii. Large = Terrain or a very large statue
d. Using Navy Gray a “Fast Resin” I've found my numbers are around:
i. 15-24s for small
ii. 27-34s for medium
iii. 35-40s for large
3. Transition Layers will transition away from the burn in layer settings to the normal
layer settings.
4. Your printer may not have a dedicated Light-off Delay for Burn in Layers. If it does
not, keep it at 1s.
5. Lift Distance Set this to 25% higher for Burn in Layers over Normal Layers. This is
because these layers will be the most dipcult for your printer to remove from the FEP.
The result of larger cross sections and longer burn in time.
6. Lift Speed should be slow for burn in layers. No greater than 40mm/m. This is
because as stated before, these layers are very dipcult to remove from the FEP.
7. Retract Speed needs to be set very slow for Burn in Layers. This is because the build
plate is trying to push the resin against the LCD under incredible pressure. So much
pressure that the frame and arm of your printer will fex and bend.
g. If your model is hard to remove from the build plate remove 4s from Exposure
Time till they are Xrm but easy to remove.
h. If your models keep falling off the build plate and your exposure is already
above the resin manufacturer recommended. Try the following Instead of
burning out your LCD light by adding more Exposure time.
i. increasing surface area on the build plate by using a larger raft.
ii. Slowing down your retract speed to 40mm/m or lower.
iii. If your printer does not have a separate retract speed for burn in
layers. Try lowering it down to about 60mm/m.
test ]le.
Copy to a USB
Use a high quality USB. The provided USB
can cause data corruption and failed prints.
Continue reading for how to Squeegee your FEP as the preferred method. If you don't have a
silicone spatula see “Cleaning your FEP” for instructions.
Before every single print mix the resin. Use a soft silicone spatula to squeegee the FEP before
adding new resin. This is also to check for any solid objects stuck to the FEP. When adding
resin, shake the bottle for at least 30s, pour and let sit for 5-10 min allowing the bubbles to
dissipate. Amazon Link for the spatula shown.
Now that you have printed your first test print, let's go over how to read it to tune your resin to
your printer. This is where the magic happens.
You can visually see if this is the case on your Xrst test print. Look for the transition layer
between the burn in and normal layers. You want this Transition Layer to take place within the
Base/Raft like the picture below.
Boxes of Calibration
If you don't have digital calipers
That's ok, all you need to do is snap off the 4mm and 6mm Boxes. Once they Xt inside of each
other where you can still pull them apart you’re good to go.
Boxes not Xtting is mostly an issue of blooming, blooming is caused by a few major factors.
1. Over exposure
2. Curing resin in motion
3. Dirty/damaged LDC, FEP or screen protector. The printer is in poor working condition.
4. Layer elongation or layer crushing.
How to address each issue
1. Easy to understand and resolve. But if it's the only way you calibrate your printer. You
will have a very bad calibration.
Function 1:
Feedback at Dimensional Accuracy
Once you have reached dimensional accuracy you can now pay attention to the pillars.
● They will tell you the tensile strength of your resin at dimensional accuracy calibration.
● The more pillars the higher the tensile strength.
● This data is very necessary as it will help you understand what sizes will likely fail
when doing your own supports, or printing pre-supported items.
● Simply keep increasing Normal UV exposure till all the pillars print.
● If at Xrst, all the pillars print, drop exposure till the smallest pillar fails to print.
○ Whatever exposure time was just enough to get the smallest pillar to print is
your calibration.
● The boxes will most likely no longer Xt. However they will provide feedback of how
much accuracy you’re trading for higher success rates.
● Save this calibration as a New Resin ProXle, I suggest:
○ “Boxes” Dimensional Accuracy
○ “Pillars” for Strength
In this example for the 85% Navy Gray + 15% Siraya Tenacious Obsidian Black we can use
maybe 0.12mm but it would be safer to use the 2 steps up one up .18mm as our smallest
The smallest Pillar is 0.1mm. Each pillar is 0.02mm thicker than the previous going left to right.
Baseline!!
Once your Boxes are dimensionally accurate you have a Baseline, we will reference this for all
future prints. Save the resin proXle in your slicer as Boxes of Calibration.
Not all printers support this, if yours does, these numbers are ONLY EXAMPLES! Please develop
Normal Layers
In this example, I’m lifting the plate a total of 6mm. 45mm/m for the ]rst 3mm and 200mm/m
for the ]nal 3mm. For Retract speed you will notice that the lower number is in the right Xeld.
Do your own test to validate, print with AA on and OFF then reach out to me on the Lychee
Discord to share the results! DL the Xle here
In my tests I was able to remove layer lines and voxels from this axe without affecting details.
Left side AA, Right side No AA - See full size image here
Model Sizes
Now that your bed is level and you have your baseline it’s time to apply it to the different sizes
of models.
Small Models
Print at your baseline.
Small prints are very forgiving. You can also get away with a lower burn in layer time. Often
around 15 seconds.
Large Models
Larger objects come with new issues: gravity and large cross sections increasing suction force.
Suction force is the pulling force your printer has to use to pull the model off of the FEP.
However, far too often I see failures where nothing is printed but the supports. More often
missing an arm, leg or another feature. The #1 advice I see given is.. can you guess? “Increase
the exposure time!”
If you can print the supports or half of the object, why can't you print the rest of the model?
If you’re under-exposed would you not just have a blob on the FEP?
While “Increasing the exposure time” will eventually work. At the cost of Xner details and resin.
There is another option, simply increase the support!
Model Orientation
Skyscraper Orientation Method
Pros Cons
Objective #1. Orientate the model so that it supports itself. The object is your best support; use
it.
Objective #2. Orientate so the surface you care about the most is at the top or sides of the
print. Never put visible details you want to preserve facing the plate.
Objective #3. When dealing with a large fat surface, like a base. Add tilt to help build that fat
surface over several passes. As long as it does not overly interfere with objective 1 and 2.
Traditional Orientation Method
Pros Cons
On the example below, supports will be on the exterior and Xnal details of the model. As you
can see there are supports on; back of the foot, blades and hand shield. The kilt and mask will
have support damage facing up towards the viewer when assembled.
Example of my Skyscraper method: (Objects are facing up like a skyscraper to build on top of
itself. Hollowing is used to reduce cross sections.)
Supports are under folds that will point down in the completed mode and/or inside joints (the
best place) that will be glued.
0.01mm tolerances
For some objects the only way to get accuracy you need is to print them straight up, Like a
skyscraper. Below are some examples of objects with .01mm tolerances.
This moving track has over 90 links and was printed as a single part. Only possible using this
Method and a very good resin. I used 100% Siraya-Tech Navy Gray.
For miniatures this means more detail. This also works for tall thin objects like these swords.
Mulan’s sword is so thin you can still see through it. Till it was cured it would fold over like a wet
noodle.Yet the Xnal product still has amazing detail and it kept its shape.
Author's Note:
“It’s important to understand, once you have your printer dialed in for Burn-in and Normal layer
exposure. Over 95% of print failures are a result of bad supports, NOT bad printer settings.
When supporting, follow the same logic mentioned previously regarding model sizes. Small,
Medium, and Large Models.
These support proXles were developed to get the best shape, detail and print success using my
Boxes Calibration tool.”
If you have Lychee Pro you can DL and import my support settings here
Supporting Bases
Just because you’re printing a small model does not mean you can now use light supports.
Medium supports are for keeping shape and holding your print to the build plate. Light supports
are ONLY for keeping detail.
Mulan Sword Example, Modeled by https://www.patreon.com/sephon/posts
The blade is not curved at the end, it just looks that way because of how the light passes
through it.
All Supports visible. Scroll back up to get another look at the Xnished print.
Warrior Example
In this example of two medium models. You can see the use of the Skyscraper method in play.
Pay close attention to the average direction of the crystals, shield and cloak.
Also notices how MANY medium supports are used to preserve the shape of the base. Think of
a reverse bed of nails. The more nails the less pressure. There are no heavy supports used.
Mini supports used to keep the details of the cloak.
Also pay close attention to the tip of the shield. Always support downward facing tips on
multiple sides.
In this example of the base for the TMNT statue I have a complex surface that will be joined to
another just as complex. I added a large amount of medium supports with light supports on
Result before any sanding. I’m holding it with 2 Xngers to show I’m not applying pressure to the
model, see how there is no stress on the glove.
Only the Light supports are visible in this, these are ONLY to preserve small details and islands.
Only Heavy Supports are shown. Used to anchor the model and used at “Tree Trunks” for
medium supports.
Taken at 4x zoom, from the naked eye the seam is very hard to see. After primer and paint it
completely disappeared.
Hollowing Settings
I’ve personally found 1.8mm thickness and 2.0 quality to be the best for most prints.
Suction Cups
Not to be confused with peel force or cross sections. Suction Cups are created when you have
a void.
To prevent suction cups you need to place a drain hole in the lowest part possible. Adding
holes as the print moves up will encourage good resin flow.
Some holes will be RED this sometimes means that it’s against too much geometry and Lychee
can't Export it. If you try and save this file as a .stl the two red holes won't be added.
Blockers
Where a drain hole can’t be used, a blocker might be an option. Blockers only Block (prevent)
hollowing. This means if the suction cup is created due to the shape of the model a hole must
be used.
Blockers can also be very useful in removing resin traps. This is where you have a part of the
model that’s large enough to be hollowed, but is surrounded by areas that are not.
In this example you can see all the holes that are not connected. A total of 11 different zones
A few well placed Blockers, the 2 Blue boxes, and holes the Red and Black cylinders removed
almost all the suction cups. The suction cup in the back could not be resolved with a blocker
because it’s a void in the geometry. Only a hole can resolve this. However it’s too small to
When holes are RED this means that Lychee can't export them as an .stl, however if sliced
from the .lys it will function correctly.
Drain Holes
Needed to allow the resin to escape from the hollows parts of your model. I typically use as
many as I can and I try to keep them over 2mm, but the model will dictate.
Internal supports
For larger objects you will need to add
Internal supports.
Pros:
1. No supports needed
2. low chance of failure
3. Perfectly fat surface
4. Great for printing smaller machine parts.
Cons:
1. Elephant's foot. (Some slicers like Lychee Pro have features to help reduce/remove
this)
2. Can be hard to remove from the plate.
3. May need to be fat sanded.
4. Hollowing can be dipcult. This is because drain holes can’t be placed on the bottom
layers.
In this example I have 4 parts that will have a fat surface in the Xnal product. Three parts to
make up the base and the main chest that will have 2 side caps. All parts NEED to Xt perfectly
Post Processing
You can see my process in a video here, or a short run down here
Support Removal
I highly recommend you heat up the supports, then quickly remove the supports while they are
hot. If you choose to do this using a heat source, you NEED to wear a mask.
Hot Water Method
Put the print in a bucket of hot water and let it sit for about 30 seconds, then remove the
supports. The result is pretty good, however, I don’t use or go into detail on this method as it
has some major drawbacks.
1. Some resins react with the water, especially if you leave them in there for too long.
2. Heating the water adds time and more equipment as you don’t want to mix this
process with your kitchen.
If the resin smokes you got it too hot. This will not ruin the model as by now you have removed
99% of all extra resin, but it will create toxic smoke. I use this model because it has a low heat
setting. Don’t use the high setting and melt a glove to your hand please.
Remove any leftover supports using precision tools, I use this set of dental tools.
Final Cure
Do a quick 30 seconds then check for any dripping resin. Especially from hollowed models. Flip
the models and do 3min, repeat till your resin is fully cured.
Fast ABS like “hard” resins, the UV reaction will continue till there are no more binders to
react to the UV light. At this point the resin is fully cured & more UV will have no effect.
Flexible, clear or Cast resins, you CAN over cure them. But in post curing, and when
printing. Be careful using a calibration part that could lead to overcuring. These need to be
cured in a way that preserves the color, flexibility or burn out. It’s best to follow the
manufactures post cure processes.
Wear a mask and UV glasses when using a UV light. When using a cure station, leave the room.
This will create toxic fumes.
If you don’t have a cure station I recommend the Beast UV Flashlight. Remember always wear
UV glasses, or you can go blind, your choice.
I throw them into the trash and use my UV fashlight to cure them all at the end of each print.
You may also choose to throw everything into a small clear container and cure it using a
fashlight or your cure station before you dispose.
Cleaning your FEP
See my video on how to properly clean you FEP here
Do this after every print unless you use the silicone spatula method to stir and check your FEP
before every print. Most 3D printers have a tank clean option, see your manual on where to Xnd
this function.
Keep a stash of tall supports that you can use as handles to easily remove the cured resin from
the tank clean process.
1. Place one of the saved supports near the edge or corner. Lightly press the Raft of the
support against your FEP.
2. Run your Tank Clean Option normally for 10 seconds. In some printers it's called
exposure.
3. Pull on the support towards the center of the VAT. This should peel the cured resin off
of the FEP along with any trash from previous prints.
4. Move the cured sheet of resin away from your printer and cure it the rest of the way
before disposable.
Once your VAT is mostly empty it’s much easier to pour the remainder into the filter by hand.
Every time you remove your VAT you expose your LCD to dust, hair, falling objects like build
plates and resin. This is just one of the reasons to level in the VAT.
1. First remove your build plate, you DON’T want it to drip resin down on your exposed
screen.
2. Remove the VAT
3. Remove the resin using IPA, even water washable.
4. Dry it using clean paper towels.
5. Buff streaks out using a lint free cloth.
6. Blue painters tape to remove any dust and hair.
7. Proceed to Step 8.
2. Volcanoes
Not enough support, but why would I say this is most likely the cause?
What do we know?
1. The rafts are not lifted in any of the corners but are secure to the build plate, this
means;
a. Burn in layers are correct.
b. The build plate is level.
After eliminating a lot of things, what’s left? Well, not enough support.
The ]x: Increase support contact with the model.
1. If you have Lychee Pro, see this video. If you don’t have Lychee Pro, keep reading.
2. Add 4x times the supports, and yes I do mean 4x at minimum.
3. Make sure you're using the correct support sizes.
a. Medium support tip of 0.40 mm is the correct size to anchor any models of
any size if you have enough.
b. Light supports, like the ones you see in this example are ONLY used to keep
small details.
c. Do not attempt to use lightsupports in any quantity to keep a model to the
plate.
4. Split-Rafts
1. The quantity of burn in layers including transition layers are too many. Causing them
to bleed into the support shafts. Or your raft is too thin. You want a 1.0mm raft min.
2. Your burn-in layer UV exposure is Xne but your supports shafts are undersized.
3. Your lift speed is too fast.
4. You have bad resin. Bad resin could mean, not mixed well, a bad batch or ECO resin.
5. Energy supply inconsistent
This kind of error could also be caused by an inconsistent energy supply from your
network. Try moving your machine to another outlet which you know is not within the
same electrical line.
Safety:
THESE ARE NOT OPTIONAL.
Respirator An N95 mask is not sufficient.
Organic vapor cartridge.
UV + Safety Glasses Keep resin and UV light from taking away the reason you do this in the Xrst
place.
Gloves - Wear appropriate chemical-resistant gloves (nitrile or neoprene) . I've discovered that
gloves under 5mil DO NOT offer enough protection.
If you need a very strong resin, hit it with a hammer resin. Or a resin that can have prolonged
skin contact use Blu. For best results make sure the resin is above 30c during the entire print, I
prefer 34c.
Disclaimer: I do get 5% from the Siraya Tech links in this guide. I recommended them before this, and
would recommend them if I no longer did. None of the other links are apliates, my youtube channel is not
monetized.
Consumables
IPA Use 95% - 99%. If you use my Cleaning method this will last a very long time.
Resin- 5KG - This is one I use but there are many resins for different applications.
Super Glue - Complete control with no mess, even on very small parts. If you heat the part a
little, it will cure on contact so be careful. Will not break before the resin does.
nFEP - Better than a normal FEP. Make sure it’s large enough for your printer.
Cheaper option of nFEP (PFA ). Has lasted a long time and works great.
My version of a Wash Station - The total price is $116.43 or $58 per unit.
2x Cyclone Dirt Trap - This is used to keep
the heavy dissolved resin in the bottom of
the bucket.
4.25 Gal Bucket - 2 -pack, this is great as you
want 2 of these.
Leak-Proof Seal Lids - 2 pack - This will keep
the IPA from evaporating and getting out into
your area.
2x Metal internal strainer 20qt - This will not
leave marks on your parts. Lifting this in and
out of the IPA will clean them very well even
hollowed prints.
Finally the handle on the bucket is a bit too
Power - If you live in an area with insinconstant power or in an older house, this can be very
important.
Battery - Cheaper UPS with USB for Xlters
Larger Battery - Larger for multiple printers or longer outages
Focus
Coffee Press
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