Has anybody else built an SLA printer?
I have a metric buttload of 640nm laser diodes (approx 1.3 imperial buttloads, in case you’re wondering) but most light curing resins I can find use UV lasers, in the 405nm range.
A 405nm laser LED costs somewhere in the ballpark of $100AUD which puts it well out of my DIY budget. Especially since I can buy a DLP projector from evilBay for half that price even though it would quadruple the build size.
So, my question is twofold: where can I get cheap - even if used - 405nm lasers, or where can I get resin that cures at 640nm apart from OLO.
Planning on building a galvo or going with a moving laser
Seriously though, I’d be interested as well as it’s a planned project down the line…
You could try aliexpress for the laser diodes, if you have the hardware to drive them, cool them, and focus them already just bare diodes can be pretty cheap. If not you can usually get the full setup (minus power supply) for about $50 US or so. I know the US can be touchy about importing laser devices sometimes, which is why the ones I’ve ordered seem to be declared as LEDs for customs, but I don’t know how Australia feels about that or if that tactic is successful there.
For resins, the only currently available daylight resin that would cure that high is from Photocentric - http://www.photocentric3d.com/#!daylight-resin/nen21
I know Bucktown polymers has visible-blue curing resin, and I seem to remember something about white light curing being investigated, but I can’t find a product using it at the moment.
Directing the laser is, for the moment, the hardest part of what you want to do. People (myself included) are investigating using the now open sourced Peachy files to get a better option for galvo control, but the only available solution that I know of for sure is the Lasershark, but getting software to drive it is tricky and I never managed to make mine work.
There is a periodically active G+ community around this sort of stuff if you’re interested: https://plus.google.com/communities/109609533907401814291
@pave_spectre moving laser at the moment. Basic Cartesian, bottom up style.
@Ax_Smith-Laffin and @Stephen_Baird thanks for the links. If this gets off the ground I’ll share it here.
Australian law says max 1mW for hand held lasers, but the diode itself should be fine.
I looked at Bucktown but even their visible light curing resins are in the 500nm range.