Anycubic Photon

[Mark W]

I'm 3 prints in with the Mechanagon 3D Gray resin.  Only bought it because Anycubic Gray was out of stock, and with a coupon it was 20$ for a half liter on Amazon!  I also got some Monoprice Rapid Gray for later.

The Mechanagon 3D Gray is quite noticeably the least viscous of all I've worked with, and as such, I've had to bump normal time up to 22.

If Anycubic Transparent Green is like syrup, I'd put Anycubic White at melted ice cream, with Anycubic Gray only slightly thicker. This Mechanagon Gray is almost like a heavy motor oil.

I used my Anycubic Gray settings (N18) on the first print with Mech. Gray, which resulted in about 40% of the parts choosing to stay with the FEP instead of their supports. 
Those that did print revealed a noticeable improvement on detail in holes and rivets!  This supports my hypotheses that less viscosity in the resin has at least some correlation to improved detail.
We'll see what happens when I reprint those parts at N22, or N20.

   

[narrowminded]

Google "Chicago Tunnel Company"  or "Chicago Tunnel System" and you'll get some good pictures under images.
The motors were very much like the standard ones sold to mining companies.   I don't know enough about the technical side of their motive power to say if they had customized designs.
Some of the cars were built by the Bettendorf Company with scaled down trucks and couplers that looked like their standard gauge counterparts.
Charlie Vlk

Yes, they are the same type.   Makes sense and could be ordered for things like 24" gauge without making it ultra special.  Those do look like trolley type, though.  Very cool. 

[DKS]

Is that really from their advertisements?

@tom mann, the banner has two screen grabs from an unboxing video about the Photon, a legitimate video from an established--if distracting--tech specialist.

[narrowminded]

I just purchased black and another gray.  They didn't have clear in the 500ml size and I don't need a full liter for a few light pipes. 

Edit add:  Just saw Rod's link to E-bay with 500ml clear in stock.  Ordered that one too.  I'm ready to print until the cows come home.

[Lemosteam]

I'm 3 prints in with the Mechanagon 3D Gray resin.  Only bought it because Anycubic Gray was out of stock, and with a coupon it was 20$ for a half liter on Amazon!  I also got some Monoprice Rapid Gray for later.

The Mechanagon 3D Gray is quite noticeably the least viscous of all I've worked with, and as such, I've had to bump normal time up to 22.

If Anycubic Transparent Green is like syrup, I'd put Anycubic White at melted ice cream, with Anycubic Gray only slightly thicker. This Mechanagon Gray is almost like a heavy motor oil.

I used my Anycubic Gray settings (N18) on the first print with Mech. Gray, which resulted in about 40% of the parts choosing to stay with the FEP instead of their supports. 
Those that did print revealed a noticeable improvement on detail in holes and rivets!  This supports my hypotheses that less viscosity in the resin has at least some correlation to improved detail.
We'll see what happens when I reprint those parts at N22, or N20.

   

Sounds like this should help with the lack of crisp corners on the bottoms of walls etc.  I am referring to the rounded look on the top pf @narrowminded 's coupler and top edges of the tipper, below.  What is the smallest clean hole you have been able to print?  Have you tried to print a small square hole yet?  Please share some pics of our results.

[narrowminded]

Just so all are sure what they're looking at, the couplers were treated to a "smoothing" step on all surfaces when the drawing was complete and before to make a group out of it to export the STL file.  I am new to using that feature which breaks all edges, a finish much like a machined part might receive in a tumbler, so can't say for sure how much it would have done that anyway but it was the effect I was after.

Then the hoppers are not the as printed surface but are painted (Tamiya surfacer, spray bomb), pretty heavily by the time all of the nooks and crannies were covered, and also that was photographed within 24 hours of the paint being sprayed.  I'm also new to this paint at this level but general experience suggests the paint will continue to level/ shrink for up to a week.  That held true for the black where there were details that I was interested in seeing crisply and that got better and totally satisfactory by three or four days.  It also effects the fits between the uprights and the hopper pins so I've been paying particular attention to that fact.  Freshly printed and cured but before to paint they fit very freely with a very slight bit of play. Because they are thin and easily sprung I can't rely on measured dimensions between those posts but that should also underscore the fit and repeatable dimensional accuracy.  This is over about 120 parts.  When painted, after the first day they are a little tight and would need to be forced to seat but within a week they are dead perfect, dropping right in to place but with no discernible play.  I had allowed some clearance with this in mind but wasn't really sure what would be needed.  I'm happy with what I got.

I have some unpainted hoppers that are cured and ready for paint and they have a very crisp, flat, top edge.  I'll try to get some pictures later to show this but thought I'd put this out there before too much serious thought or agony is expended.  The picture will show what it is, good bad, or otherwise, but my eye on it says it's pretty darn flat and crisp.

And, just noticed, the coupler in the height gauge is pretty darn crooked.  When straightened the coupler in the chassis aligns nicely with the chassis.  It would work anyway but some of us are sticklers for the details!  At some level, that's me too.

[Lemosteam]

@narrowminded, I did not mean to be not critical of your part, just wondering aloud if the viscosity was part of the reason for the ballooning (see below) not necessarily the sharp edges.
_
_)

Did you prime the coupler too?

[narrowminded]

@narrowminded, I did not mean to be not critical of your part, just wondering aloud if the viscosity was part of the reason for the ballooning (see below) not necessarily the sharp edges.

Don't worry.   I'm happy with it and by hook or by crook, I couldn't have this sitting here as it is until now.  

Did you prime the coupler too?

No.  I DID use a "smoothing" tool before to save.  It basically rounds all of the corners like a tumbler would do to a machined part.  That was all in that reply.

And here are the best shots of an unpainted hopper that I could get with my phone.  A couple of slightly different angles to hopefully capture the sense of it.  It's pretty flat and pretty square to my optivisor enhanced eyes.   This is also printed flat and that was the bottom face.  You can see the aliasing on the inside angled face.  I'll live with that and suspect it will be getting better as the technology does, adding finer resolution screens. 

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These parts, in my judgement, are miles ahead of what I've gotten from the technology used in the few Shapeways prints I've worked with, finish and especially material characteristics.   3D was not on my list of viable options until now due to general quality, ease of working with the product, and economically not feasible for reported better technology... until now.

[Chris333]

So here is something strange. I printed 2 boxcar bodies side by side. No more triangles since I've been using the pixel editor. Right after the print was done I scraped it off the plate and loaded up a different file to print. Went to scrub the boxcars and found one was deformed, it is the top on here.


Once I see it I think there must be something on the FEP and go pause the machine. Nothing on the FEP, continue printing. That print came out fine. So I try the boxcars again. Same exact file, and get the bottom boxcar deformed even more. Each time the "other" boxcar printed fine.

I checked this file before and after and there is nothing wrong with it. I just now did the screen test and it is working fine. And remember I did a print between the 2 failed prints that was fine.

Any ideas?   

[Mark W]

That's pretty weird. 

I think two different things are going on, both related to a support failure. 

On the left side, the support failed, and bits started sticking to the FEP.  As the print continued, the 'FEP stick' progressively ate more and more of the side until the surrounding material overcame that bit, and from there on it was like a fully supported layer again. 

On the right side, it was similar at first, but the surrounding material 'lent a hand' a little sooner.  However in the second print, when you got to the top door railing, the FEP grabbed hold again and sheered that whole unsupported door away from the rest, causing that clean cut.  Yet somehow, the surrounding part fraught back and re-claimed the part stuck to the FEP, allowing the roof to print whole. 

You might try beefing up the support on that spot as the first trial. 

[Chris333]

Still have the supports and the raft and they are all intact, but it could have broke away right where it attached to the model. Nothing is left on the FEP.

Oh well new one to me.

[Chris333]

This is (red lines) where the supports attach. Not sure if the failure is the top or bottom, but you can see they all look the same as far as contact.

[Mark W]

Hmm.  I might also try centering the support contact.  Otherwise, I'd be interested to see how looks with all the support trees and platform still on the model.   

[Chris333]

With the platform attached you couldn't see much as the 2 boxcars are about 3/16" from each other.

[Mark W]

With the platform attached you couldn't see much as the 2 boxcars are about 3/16" from each other.

Use a dremal and cut the platform in half from the bottom.  Or one of those 4" blade box cutters and slice between them from the top.  Do 4-5 light scores and the platform will usually snap in the way styrene does (but not quite as cleanly).