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If you want detail, resin printing is the way to go but you don't need to spend nearly so much on the printer itself: You can get a decent one for maybe $250-300 unless you're looking to print really large volume stuff.
If you want more detail out of FDM, you can look at using a smaller nozzle, but if you want a solid FDM printer, PRUSA makes good stuff. If you go with resin, you'll want to get washing and curing stations.
I got an Elegoo Mars awhile back so I have a resin and a filament printer (ender 3 pro). Resin printing can be fairly affordable just make sure to also get (or diy) a decent cleaning and curing station. Oh and gloves, lots and lots of gloves. Resin sucks to get on skin. I had one model that didn't cure right, I picked it up days after print and it cracked and resin poured out on my hands. Many days of my hands feeling burned
Was it a closed hollow model without drainage holes? I think some cured resins will actualy weaken if they are in extended contact with their uncured counterpart.
I thought it was a solid model and the inner sections didn't fully cute. Can't remember though. There were no drainage holes, I know that much.
get (or diy) a decent cleaning and curing station
The budget station all need rework. Bought an Anycubic cure & wash and had to upgrade the stepper driver to Trinamic to get smooth and silent rotation. Anycubic uses the old Allegro 4988.
Additionally, they use steel bearings within the tank that rust. You might want to replace them with polymer/ceramic/glass bearings.
For resin: I am considering exiting it. Resolution is very nice but FDM is easier to handle and in my experience less/quicker maintenance. Currently considering exploring additive-subtractive manufacturing.
I'd ask what you're mainly using your printer for, and what you hope the new one will do that you currently can't.
I use my printers various random objects, functional repair prints, stuff like that. Not doing any sort of production on them. I mainly just enjoy the hobby and messing around with the printers themselves with no objective.
Main reason I've been considering adding in a resin printer is more intricate small designs like game peices or some more complex shapes in general. Currently I get some pretty nice results as far as surface finishes go on the FDMs, but feel I could get more out of a resin print as far as micro details go.
Thanks!
Great answer - I've considered a resin printer but my use case doesn't include any miniatures or game pieces, so I'm sticking with FDM, but if you're after super fine detail, more than you can get with 0.2 or 0.25, then go resin but be prepared for the mess, toxicity, and other drawbacks before you make the jump
I grabbed a cheap elegoo mars 2 a couple years ago. It’s a lot of fun to mess with- resin printing is a very different beast. You trade fiddling with 700 parameters for a more complicated setup, cleaning/curing, and cleanup process.
I use it to print small sculptural things, chess pieces, low torque tiny gears, etc. I’d say go for it! It was cool learning to print all over again.
I've seen the Mars 2 mentioned around a few times. I'll take a deeper look into it for sure. Thanks!
I find this post so strange. OP listed the machines he has had, but not a single word as to the kind of things he prints.
For me, 3D printers are tools. I mostly design and print functional parts for myself, and even more functional parts for work. I think resin printers can create some gorgeous results, but because the general weakness of resin prints, they aren't well suited for functional parts. I know some resins are stronger than others, but in general I don't think more resin printers can produce parts as durable as your typical FDM.
I find this comment so strange. People can enjoy somthing as a hobby, not everything needs to be completely practical / used as a tool. Like I explained I enjoy tinkering with 3d printers.
I went into conversation in the thread about what I print and a goal with another user.
This thread was purley asking for reccomendations on other aspects of the hobby and more of a what aspect of the hobby should I explore next. While listing what "tools" I have already experienced.
Thought conversion was the the whole point of having online communities around a related topic.
Knowing what kind of prints you want to make informs the purchasing decision. I'm with @Hazdaz@lemmy.world - we would want to know what kind of stuff OP wants to print to make the best recommendation. They may not have articulated the concern well, focusing on the impracticality of most SLA parts for mechanical components, but the question to OP stands: what do they want to print? The fineness of feature and speed of printing, the volume - or even single or dual axis size - of parts.
OP - from reading your list of printers, if you just want to "try it out" as you did with cheap FDM, grab a Anycubic Mono 4K to start (currently $160US with a coupon). It will only print small items, but will print them with excellent detail and reasonable speed. Spend a few extra on the magnetic build plate, I find it invaluable to have two spring-steel build plates that lets me swap a blank plate onto the printer while my current print and plate is getting washed/cleaned up.
The wash station is almost useless (or at least I find it quicker to wash by hand/soft brush in small tubs) but a cure station is convenient if you don't want to wait for daylight to cure your prints. If you want to see if resin is viable for you, skip the station and save the money to begin with.
There are some "tough" and "ABS-like" resins which are quite a bit less fragile/brittle than the basic stuff, but I'd still be wary of using them in parts that get lots of UV exposure over time. I've only tried a couple: OPTO ABS-Like seems to have good fracture toughness but it's super difficult to get it to a final cure state. It sands very easily, though. Anycubic Tough resin is, as it's name implies, better fracture toughness, but I've only done a couple of prints and can't speak to the long term.
For game pieces and miniatures, resin is amazing compared to FDM. I printed a Niffler (HP/Fantastic Beasts) in FDM and still haven't gotten around to cleaning up all the support flash. The SLA/resin version I printed was smaller due to my printer size, but required near zero cleanup despite all the crazy fur overhangs, and I got it painted in a weekend.