As resin printers become more and more affordable, and with safer water washable resins coming on to the market, will SLA (Stereolithography) printers become as common as their FDM (Fused Deposition Modeling) counterparts?

FDM printers put down material (usually PLA/ ABS/ PETG but there are a huge variety these days) layer by layer to create a 3D dimensional model. SLA printers use ultraviolet light to cure liquid resin into a solid model. These fundamentally different ways of making the 3D model lead to very different processes around preparing and printing models.

Pros

• Printed resin looks amazing and makes great jewelry – whilst FDM prints often require extensive post-processing to look anywhere near as beautiful. A resin part can look gorgeous on its own and it’s what draws most people to this kind of printing
• Higher ‘resolution’ in prints – very good at small details

Cons

• Cost – most FDM printers are cheaper then SLA printers (but that is changing) and the materials needed to print with a resin printer do add up fast
• Overall print sizes tend to be much smaller than FDM printers
• Most resins need to be cleaned with alcohol but this can be avoided using the new water-washable resins
• Uncured resin is dangerous, it can drip during post-processing, and should be handled with gloves