Important: Stirring and Shaking the Resin Bottles

This section will include any new tips and tutorials related to the Solus.
User avatar
mongerdesigns
Solus Guru
Posts:1950
Joined:Sat Apr 25, 2015 5:16 pm
Location:Los Angeles
Contact:
Important: Stirring and Shaking the Resin Bottles

Postby mongerdesigns » Thu Aug 25, 2016 7:34 pm

Problem:

Castable resins in general have heavy pigments that like to settle on the bottom of the bottle with time.

When the bottles are stored on shelves, in boxes, at the warehouse, this settling can cause a huge amount of pigment to get packed densely on the bottom of the bottle.

Most labels on the bottle tell you to "shake well before use", however we have found that this is not enough. Even if you shake the bottle for 5 minutes, it will not dislodge all the packed resin from the bottom.

So what happens when you pour some out to print? Nothing bad at first. However the more you use the resin in the bottle and the more you shake, the more of the pigment gets loose from the bottom of the bottle and gets mixed into the already heavily pigmented resin.

This is one of the main reasons why prints will start to fail at about half-way into the bottle (sometimes even sooner).

Solution:

Before first use a bottle of resin, we take a long thin wooden stick (or paint stirring stick) and stir the resin in the bottle, really trying to get that packed pigment off of the bottom and stir it into the resin.

We do this for 1-2 minutes. Then we close the bottle and shake the bottle well for another 2-3 minutes.

Only then do we pour it into the VAT for printing.

If the bottle sits for more than 1 week without being thoroughly shaken, then we stir again with the stick before use.

Conclusion:

Doing this will GREATLY improve the success ratio of your prints. In fact we have Solus users who have had zero fails after starting to do this. Granted, you still need to carefully support the models, and keep your optical surfaces clean, and the film at the right tension.

EDIT: It's important to note that if you're already half way into the bottle, or even 2/3 of the bottle, and you didn't mix/stir the bottle well since the beginning, doing so now may not help. In fact it can actually make things worse, since the packed pigment will now be mixed with the small amount of resin in the bottle and render it pretty much unusable.

Additionally, this applies to all resins that have heavy pigments, including the SolusProto Resin. Not just castable ones.
Monger Designs a.k.a. Monger
http://www.mongerdesigns.com

Junction3d - Official US Distributor for the SOLUS 3D PRINTER
http://www.junction3d.com

Follow us on Instagram!
https://www.instagram.com/junction3d/
User avatar
Jack_Row
Novice
Posts:79
Joined:Mon Jun 27, 2016 6:21 pm
Location:UK
Contact:

Re: Important: Stirring and Shaking the Resin Bottles

Postby Jack_Row » Thu Aug 25, 2016 8:18 pm

We'll all be after magnetic stirrers, then....

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Eleoption-Magn ... ic+stirrer

41YzTgQuXML.jpg
41YzTgQuXML.jpg (21.34KiB)Viewed 30051 times
User avatar
mongerdesigns
Solus Guru
Posts:1950
Joined:Sat Apr 25, 2015 5:16 pm
Location:Los Angeles
Contact:

Re: Important: Stirring and Shaking the Resin Bottles

Postby mongerdesigns » Thu Aug 25, 2016 9:18 pm

Good idea. Simple metal marbles inside the bottle and some shaking can do it too.
Monger Designs a.k.a. Monger
http://www.mongerdesigns.com

Junction3d - Official US Distributor for the SOLUS 3D PRINTER
http://www.junction3d.com

Follow us on Instagram!
https://www.instagram.com/junction3d/
samatheang
Solus Expert
Posts:197
Joined:Wed Feb 17, 2016 10:36 pm

Re: Important: Stirring and Shaking the Resin Bottles

Postby samatheang » Fri Aug 26, 2016 4:04 pm

Does this problem happen on Emerald too? I heard Emerald has micro pigment which doesn't settle much.

mongerdesigns wrote:Problem:

Castable resins in general have heavy pigments that like to settle on the bottom of the bottle with time.

When the bottles are stored on shelves, in boxes, at the warehouse, this settling can cause a huge amount of pigment to get packed densely on the bottom of the bottle.

Most labels on the bottle tell you to "shake well before use", however we have found that this is not enough. Even if you shake the bottle for 5 minutes, it will not dislodge all the packed resin from the bottom.

So what happens when you pour some out to print? Nothing bad at first. However the more you use the resin in the bottle and the more you shake, the more of the pigment gets loose from the bottom of the bottle and gets mixed into the already heavily pigmented resin.

This is one of the main reasons why prints will start to fail at about half-way into the bottle (sometimes even sooner).

Solution:

Before first use a bottle of resin, we take a long thin wooden stick (or paint stirring stick) and stir the resin in the bottle, really trying to get that packed pigment off of the bottom and stir it into the resin.

We do this for 1-2 minutes. Then we close the bottle and shake the bottle well for another 2-3 minutes.

Only then do we pour it into the VAT for printing.

If the bottle sits for more than 1 week without being thoroughly shaken, then we stir again with the stick before use.

Conclusion:

Doing this will GREATLY improve the success ratio of your prints. In fact we have Solus users who have had zero fails after starting to do this. Granted, you still need to carefully support the models, and keep your optical surfaces clean, and the film at the right tension.
User avatar
mongerdesigns
Solus Guru
Posts:1950
Joined:Sat Apr 25, 2015 5:16 pm
Location:Los Angeles
Contact:

Re: Important: Stirring and Shaking the Resin Bottles

Postby mongerdesigns » Fri Aug 26, 2016 4:17 pm

Micro pigment? They all have micro pigments. Some settle more than others, and yes, emerald settles too.
Monger Designs a.k.a. Monger
http://www.mongerdesigns.com

Junction3d - Official US Distributor for the SOLUS 3D PRINTER
http://www.junction3d.com

Follow us on Instagram!
https://www.instagram.com/junction3d/
samatheang
Solus Expert
Posts:197
Joined:Wed Feb 17, 2016 10:36 pm

Re: Important: Stirring and Shaking the Resin Bottles

Postby samatheang » Fri Aug 26, 2016 4:41 pm

Actually, it was advertised as nano pigments on Emerald, but now that I checked again on B9 website, they already removed that part. So you mean that I have to use the same method you described above on Emerald too, right?

mongerdesigns wrote:Micro pigment? They all have micro pigments. Some settle more than others, and yes, emerald settles too.
User avatar
Jewelermdt
Solus Master
Posts:809
Joined:Sun Jul 19, 2015 10:38 pm
Location:N.W. Florida
Contact:

Re: Important: Stirring and Shaking the Resin Bottles

Postby Jewelermdt » Sat Aug 27, 2016 1:18 am

That might be my problem. Will stir my up and see.
User avatar
Jack_Row
Novice
Posts:79
Joined:Mon Jun 27, 2016 6:21 pm
Location:UK
Contact:

Re: Important: Stirring and Shaking the Resin Bottles

Postby Jack_Row » Sat Aug 27, 2016 1:14 pm

Jewelermdt wrote:That might be my problem. Will stir my up and see.


I am thinking this too. God knows how long that resin was sat in a warehouse before it was shipped to the UK, how long that journey was and how long it was sat on a shelf at the Imakr store in London.

Unfortunately I can't test this theory as the bulb in my projector blew up, just after I put in the newly stick-stirred resin. Made quite a bang!

:?
User avatar
rkundla
Solus Master
Posts:308
Joined:Sat Jan 09, 2016 6:01 am

Re: Important: Stirring and Shaking the Resin Bottles

Postby rkundla » Mon Aug 29, 2016 5:30 pm

You need a pretty heavy duty magnetic stirrer to mix B9 cherry. The ones I use with my plating setup could not keep up with the viscosity of the resin.

I am thinking one of these could work. ;-)

https://www.amazon.com/MixKwik-MT16-Tool/dp/B0055S7DJS

Image
User avatar
mongerdesigns
Solus Guru
Posts:1950
Joined:Sat Apr 25, 2015 5:16 pm
Location:Los Angeles
Contact:

Re: Important: Stirring and Shaking the Resin Bottles

Postby mongerdesigns » Mon Aug 29, 2016 6:04 pm

Good find, Ron.

But I still think nothing can really shake off the extra packed layer of pigment from the bottom of the bottles, especially since they sit for a long time.

A bottle of almost used green I had sitting for a few months, had lots of pigment underneath that was almost solid.

So I do suggest stirring it well with a stick and get it off the bottom, and then shaking the bottle to mix.
Monger Designs a.k.a. Monger
http://www.mongerdesigns.com

Junction3d - Official US Distributor for the SOLUS 3D PRINTER
http://www.junction3d.com

Follow us on Instagram!
https://www.instagram.com/junction3d/

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 6 guests