I have recently obtained a friend’s old Formlabs Form 2 SLA printer. I I am an absolute beginner to printing, but I am pretty excited to get into it.

However, the only place that I would realistically be able to put it is on my desk in my bedroom. From everything I’ve read, I need a better ventilated space with more tolerance for a mess than I could possibly provide.

I think that the right call is to just sell it and save up for some FDM printer, but at the end of the day, I have the SLA printer in hand.

I am asking whether these concerns about resin printers are really that bad and if I am actually fine to start learning printing with what I have in my bedroom.

  • NoneYa@lemm.eeEnglish
    0·
    2 months ago

    I got my first SLA printer last year and can confirm, do not get this if you don’t have good ventilation or space away from you.

    I print exclusively with water washable resins which are less potent in smell and IIRC toxicity too, and it still smells and the smell still gives me a headache if I try to do something quick without my mask. The smell lingers around the printer when printing even hours after putting on the top cover. I’m working on a solution to air it out through a dryer duct but I don’t think that will be the end all either.

    Go with an FDM and print PLA until you have a better arrangement at home. Avoid ABS printing because it has similar effects and dangers for your health as resin printing.

    • SzethFriendOfNimi@lemmy.worldEnglish
      0·
      2 months ago

      I will say for ABS this can be mitigated with the following:

      • An enclosure (I use a comgrow grow tent)
      • Not opening the printer enclosure for at least 20 minutes (so the airborne particulates settle down)
      • A replaceable carbon filter (I built a Nevermore duo and bought some activated Charcoal to refill it with)

      After doing the above I don’t smell fumes at all. In fact I run the Nevermore even with PLA just to capture any micro particles since the charcoal is easy enough to replace.

      Even so, as cool as Resin looks, I’m not having that stuff inside my house with my family. If I did it would have to be in a garage that’s vented but I have a carport and there’s no way I can regulate the environment (temp, humidity) for decent prints. So for now I’m just going with FDM

      • EmilieEvans@lemmy.mlEnglish
        0·
        2 months ago

        Styrol isn’t a particle that settles down like dust. It is a liquid with a significant enough vapor pressure to be problematic.

        An activated carbon filter can get rid of the vapor.