Important: Stirring and Shaking the Resin Bottles
Posted: 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.
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.
