Tested: Anycubic Photon Mono X SLA 3D Printer Review!

hey everybody it's norm from tested and today  we're gonna be talking about 3d printing and i'm   going to be reviewing the anycubic mono x this  is a new msla resin 3d printer from any cubic   and i'm super excited because this is the first  resin printer that i've really had a chance to   live with and operate in my home and home office  we've reviewed a bunch of 3d printers in the past   most of them fdm printers like your standard  ultimaker uh your makerbots and your perusas   and we've been really happy with those uh and  in the world of resin printing uh the barrier   entry has really dropped low to a point where  i know a lot of people hobbyist enthusiasts out   there are looking to maybe make the jump from an  fdm printer to an sla printer or maybe even buy   a resin printer as their first 3d printer and  there are so many options just a couple years ago   we were looking at the transition from the formlab  style laser-based sla printers being really the   only option out there to so many more options  from dlp projector based resin printers to now   on the market lcd so many lcd base printers from  companies like any cubic and elegu and over the   last two years we've really seen a flood of these  type of resin printers hit the marketplace and   even within a single company like any cubic in  their photon line they've been able to iterate   so quickly that it can be pretty confusing if  you're shopping and looking for a new printer   to buy there's the photon the photon s s e the  mono the mono x so many different options at   different price points and different technologies  that can affect the workflow for how you use   this printer but to not bear the lead i do think  that the photon monox here represents maybe a   tipping point in technologies and in functionality  usability and build volume that might make this   the perfect jumping in point if you're looking to  buy your first resin printer or if you're looking   to upgrade from something that you tried out a  couple years ago so we're going to talk about   the functionality how this works what the  workflow is like getting from a 3d file from   your computer to the printer the clean up process  and talk about what makes this printer unique   but first a little bit of background  and a primer on how this type of msla   3d printer works if you're familiar with fdm  printers those work by heating up and melting   spools of plastic you have spools of  filament that go through a heating element   and gets pushed through an extruder and then line  by line and layer by layer it creates a 3d object   that's been sliced on a computer file on top of  a build plate and with this type of resin printer   that operation is basically flipped upside down  on its head you have instead of an extruder   that pushes material and raises along the z-axis  instead you have material that sits in the form of   liquid uh uncured resin in a reservoir or of that  and then it's the build plate the build platform   that raises along the z-axis as each layer as gets  cured and solidified so the anatomy of a machine   like this if you go from top to bottom basically  is you have a build plate which can vary in size   uh this one is about seven and a half inches by  4.7 inches and the z-axis is 9.5 inches which is   a pretty large build volume for a msla printer  it goes along a z-axis so similarly to an fdm   printer it's a stepper motor here guided by  two rails for stability and that build plate   then lowers and raises into a vat so you have  this reservoir that you pour your resin into   and the reservoir has to basically be big enough  to fit the build plate as well as underneath that   a lcd screen and that's where we get  into this msla technology as opposed to   sla printers like the form printers where they  use a laser to draw out and cure each layer of   that resin here you have on the very bottom you  have an array of uv lights uv ultraviolet light   is what cures the resin and the lcd panel  here about nine inches in diagonal in size   creates a mask basically blacks out uh what's  not supposed to be cured only has the outline   of where you want the uv light to pass through  for each layer and so the variables in terms of   how these printers are designed are not only the  the volume of the machine that's the build plate   hotel the z-axis is and how big that reservoir  that that is but also things like the resolution   of the lcd panel these are basically off-the-shelf  type of lcd panels that they manufacture without   the backlight that you would normally get  on a display but you have resolutions like   2k or in this case it's a 4k lcd panel and it's  called the mono x here because in this latest   generation of resin printers they're now able to  source monochrome screens because they don't need   to be color lcds that layer that you have that  rgb subpixel filter that you have on the lcd   panels are basically useless they can be used for  some type of like anti-aliasing but if you have   a high enough resolution panel you actually get  more efficient pass-through of the uv light and   a better masking if you have a monochrome screen  and manufacturers like any cubic and logo are   able to source those panels now in high enough  quantities and reliably enough to put them into   these printers and the benefit is without  that sub pixel the rgb subpixel layer and   the more efficient pass-through and channeling  and directional channeling of that uv light   you then are able to print much faster so in  terms of the variables that you're looking at   when you're calibrating a resin printer like  this it's not just about the layer thickness   you can get really thin print layers with sla  printers 0.05 millimeters it's pretty standard   which is much finer than you would get a  standard if you're using an fdm printer and   a printer like this can even go to .01 millimeters  ultra fine layer thickness but the more layers   means the longer it takes the print but  it's not just that layer height it's also   what the cycle of curing each layer looks like  there's the speed in which you raise and lower   that platform that those become variables there's  the actual lift height of how far this build plate   gets lifted off of the fep teflon film that's  at the bottom of that vat and then there's   most importantly maybe the exposure time how  long the uv light actually cures that resin   these are all variables that you configure as  you're slicing your files or as you adjust them   on the printer themselves and in with full color  lcd base resin printers you're talking about maybe   a six seven eight or maybe sometimes 12 second  exposure time for each layer the bottom layers   that you want more securely affixed the build  plate you may be curing for 12 seconds for three   to six layers before you get to the actual model  with a monochrome lcd based cured printer you can   actually cut that exposure time down to about 1.5  seconds and depending on the type of resin you're   using if you're using a really fast cure resin and  you're printing really small models you can even   set that to maybe like a one second exposure time  i've had pretty good success playing it safe and   using about a 1.8 second exposure time but even  then we're talking about three or four times   faster just in exposure times than a  non-monochrome 3d printer which actually is   very meaningful when you're talking  about printing a figure that takes maybe   two hours on a printer like this versus maybe six  or eight hours on a previous generation printer   so not only are we talking about much faster  prints with the monox there's also a pretty   sizable build volume as well any cubic does have  a standard photon mono with a smaller build plate   it's 5 by 3 by 6.5 which is perfectly great if  you're just going to be printing miniatures like   table top miniatures or small little figures or  doing not doing batch printing but with the mono   x we're talking about seven and a half inches by  4.7 inches here and 9.5 inches on the z-axis which   means that we're now moving into not just the  world of printing miniatures you can really print   you know maybe props pieces of 3d model props or  maybe even some armor pieces not quite full helmet   pieces but you'll still need to cut those models  up but it's a pretty big build volume for example   this is 9.5 inches and printed in one go actually  it was done this way but that's representative   about the height of a print you can get from this  and in terms of the area of the the build plate   this is about the size of a model that you can  actually print in one go you won't have to split   this up at all which is really impressive  and a bigger build plate doesn't just mean   printing bigger objects in one go you can  also print more things if you're printing   miniatures for example these tiny tabletop  figures you can do 12 to 15 of these at once   and because and laid out in an array and because  each layer has the same exposure time you actually   the time it takes to print one of these versus  12 of them is negligible you might slow down your   your plate rising speed and lowering speed if  you're printing a lot just for stability and   not avoiding failed prints but basically  you can print a lot of small miniatures   in one go um and the only caveat is that because  you're working with a bigger vat you are going to   maybe need to go through more resin make sure  that is properly filled or if you're swapping   between different types of resins you may have to  do more cleaning and more swapping of that resin   and the operation of this machine i found to  be pretty straightforward and pretty solid   and reliable the machine i'll take this shroud  off comes basically assembled completely and   ready to go with just minimal calibration the  shroud here does block uv light and there is   a kind of sticker here that prevents the machine  from actually operating when the shroud is off   although you can disable that in the menus but  basically there's a build plate here which you   have to level leveling process is super easy you  just loosen up these four bolts lower the build   plate using the touch screen interface all the way  down to the lcd panel with an included sheet of   paper that basically acts as a substitute for that  fep layer on the bottom of the vat because you   want the build plate to be flat and level really  close to the lcd screen so the cures are all   solid and then once you tighten those bolts up  you raise it up you fill the vat full of resin   and you're basically ready to print files that you  slice on your computer get read off of a usb key   and so there's a usb port on the side here and  they do include one although you can format one   yourself and use whatever usb key you want and the  model x does have well they say wi-fi capabilities   but the wi-fi really is only for a mobile app to  monitor prints you can't actually send them from   your computer directly onto the printer in this  model you have to transfer them over the usb key   there's a touchscreen interface on the front  here which is pretty basic but also pretty   intuitive you can adjust things like your exposure  times like your plate rising and lowering speeds   as well as the uv light intensity i actually set  my uv lights to 80 percent power and accommodate   for that in the exposure times and in the plate  movement speeds because if i do have a failed   print from a support not sticking i can actually  just bump up that uv light on the next go around   without having to re-slice the file and that just  works for me in terms of the software you have to   use any cubic's photon workshop program to do the  actual slicing because that's the only program   right now that actually generate the pwmx  files that this printer can read and the   program's pretty intuitive it actually looks  like very derivative of your other uh chichu   box type slicers you can manipulate the model  you can auto generate supports manually add your   print supports you can even do things like adjust  how the supports how deep they go into the print   how fine those tips of those supports are or  hollow out your model to make sure you're not   using a ton of resin that's all built into this  program now a lot of people also have their own   workflows such as you can also generate supports  using pruza slicer that's the prusa software and   then export a new stl with those supports baked in  uh run it through like photon validator and then   ingest that file into photon workshop to do the  actual slicing and that's where i actually find   a lot of the fun and satisfaction in 3d printing  with this type of printer yes it's super awesome   to go through a couple hour print and at the end  of it have a really detailed highly detailed resin   print that looks like it came out of a silicone  mold right like this is basically ready to go   ready to be painted you don't need to do any type  of finishing work on this except for remove those   supports but there's also i think a lot of fun the  tuning and the calibration of these printers and   for the different experimenting with different  settings for different resins there's so   many different type of resin options out there  lately i've really enjoyed using this sorayatek   smoky black translucent resin which that's just  an amazing cool finish that you wouldn't be   able to get with an fdm printer that you can very  easily get with this type of printer and even like   experimenting with support generation and  figuring out the best way to orient a print and   where to place supports that becomes its whole art  i think with this type of printer and in fact i   just finished a print hero that's going to let me  walk you through the clean up and post processing   process for this type of print as well as show  you the differences in support generation between   two slicer workflows let's go take a look so you  can see the prints are done and i've been wearing   these gloves the whole time because safety and a  safe operating workflow are really paramount when   it comes to working with these type of prints  so i'm going to walk you through my workflow   as i get this print off of the plate so you know  this build plate has been dipping into the resin   throughout this is about a six hour print  or so at about a .05 millimeter thickness   and first i'm going to do is scrape off excess  resin using this included squeegee back into the   vat this particular resin i'm using is the smoky  black from soraya tech and it's really liquidy so   it tends to drip everywhere and so you're going  to want to have some shop towels ready as well   all right we're going to unscrew the build  plate and i'm going to very carefully   turn it upside down and again try to get  as much of that resin back into the vat as possible because it's all still usable now the  prints look like they turned out great no failures   that i can tell and you can tell the differences  between the two models as i used two different   methods of support generation i went with the  prusa slicer for automatic support generation here   and then using photon workshop for this one as  you can tell ruse slicer was a little bit more   conservative with a lot more supports generated  while photon workshop even at 100 support   uh only has it in maybe half as many  places but turns out that was okay as well   you can also tell there are differences in  the bottom raft between these two prints   and i actually like the photon workshop raft  the cell wrap which has a lip around the edge   it makes it relatively easy to get the scraper  underneath and pry it off to get it inside the ipa   it's a little bit of scraping and there  that goes with both models now in the ipa   i have the build plate put back onto the printer  and at this point i'm going to do a check to   make sure there aren't any chunks the prints  look good so i don't think any pieces fell off   and this resin is basically good to go for  another print some people's workflows may   differ and that they want to make sure there's  absolutely no particulates or small cured pieces   inside their vat and so they may empty and clean  out the vat filter out the resin and then pour it   back in before another print but i've had pretty  good success doing two or three prints as long   as the prints themselves are successful without  having to swap out the resin and clean the vat   every single time we're also going to put the  shroud back on just to protect that vat as well   i mentioned these plastic pickle jars which are  great for soaking small miniatures and i have   tongs here as well to handle the prints you end  up picking up basically just a bunch of little   accessories that really help make this workflow  easier and i'll include links to the things i   like using including these tubs uh some plastic  boxes restoring all your cleaning supplies also   things like spray bottles which i keep full of ipa  just to help a little bit of the cleaning process and i do the soak for basically five  to ten minutes before moving on to   the wash and care station so any cubic  also sells this wash and cure station   which while it technically works for the mono x  it's actually i think made for the smaller photon   line a nine and a half inch uh tall print  will fit in here to be washed but the line of   uv curing leds doesn't actually reach that high  and you can't actually put the full build plate   in here as you could some other wash and cure  stations you have to use their basket which   works great for small prints like these helmets  here so i'm going to show you how that works   the basket sits in this ipa tub and just  like with the printer there's a shroud that   covers it uh it's both a washing here so just  make sure i set it to wash set to six minutes   press start and they'll start clearing out and  cleaning the resin with its own little agitator   so as you can tell this process it's a little bit  more workflow intensive in the post-processing   and can get a little messier than with an  fdm print and there are more consumables   as well not only are you buying you know  the resin for your prints but you're also   keeping sure you have stock of your wash  material your ipa 99 or your simple grain   or whatever you're using to clean your  prints before curing them and also safety   equipment like a steady supply of gloves and  alcohol wipes and rags and shop towels as well you know one of the things i've learned about  going through this process is how to make things   like the ipa last longer so doing multiple soaks  and a thing like this pickle jar i can use this   a couple times and then you don't toss the ipa  you can actually let this sit out in the sun   let the little bits of resin in the inside go  cure fully and then pour this through a couple   filters siphon out the particulate toss that  and then make use of the the washing fluid again all right it's all done so i'm  going to take off the shroud and   we're gonna fish out these pieces and  let them dry fully before curing them all right and then one final step is doing a uv  cure in the same station itself i put them on   this rotating platform this isn't necessary to do  with a machine you can also just leave them in the   sunlight and that will cure it no problem and you  can also see i went with two different approaches   i also removed the supports already for one of  these pure personal preference some people like   removing the supports before curing it some people  like keeping the supports on and then using a pair   of nippers to remove them afterward it's totally  up to you but we're going to do this for again   about six minutes i'll put the shroud back on i  will turn off the backlight here and here we go so there you have it two just amazingly detailed  lovely print that came out of the any cubic photon   mono x i've been having so much fun with  this printer calibrating it tuning it   to my satisfaction and it really is just  simple to use i'm spending more time just   looking for files modifying files i am  troubleshooting the printer still some questions   though for example the lifespan of this lcd in  my use i haven't been able to wear it down yet   and the monochromatic lcds are supposed to have a  much longer lifespan than the color ones but that   is something that eventually i'll have to replace  and so hopefully that will be an easy process but   everything else from the resin to even the fvp  film that stuff is so readily available you   can find in all sorts of online marketplaces  and they're great repositories of 3d models   from places like my mini factory from 30  modelers patreons i'll include links to   resources my recommended supplies and places where  you can get these models in the description below   but thank you so much for watching hope you have  fun 3d printing as well and i'll see you next time bye

Channel: Adam Savage’s Tested

Views: 195,709

Rating: 4.8701229 out of 5

Keywords: 3d printing, 3d printer, anycubic photon, anycubic photon mono x, anycubic photon review, anycubic photon x, photon mono x, resin printer, 3d print, 3d model, cheap resin 3d printer, anycubic photon mono, 3d printer review, 3d printing for beginners, anycubic wash and cure, anycubic unboxing, 3d printing nerd, anycubic photon unboxing, 3d printer in action, 3d modeling for beginners, resin 3d printer, resin 3d printing, elegoo, siraya tech, 3d printer settings

Id: Z0yy0LMn2yY

Length: 25min 47sec (1547 seconds)

Published: Fri Oct 30 2020