What do you do with the unused resin in the PSP resin container?

The great news is that you can recycle the unused resin. When removing the resin container or build platform after printing, please cover the venting holes on top of the printer to avoid dripping resin on the projector by accident.

Carefully use a funnel and strainer to pour the resin back into the bottle. It is important to use a strainer to sift out residual pieces of plastic that may have been cured due to a failed or partially failed print and flakes cured by background light. Wash the strainer and funnel after each use to avoid contamination with other resins. If you are using the same resins, you may just need to wipe the strainer and funnel and store them in a dark place.

If the resin does not contain pigments,  you can leave the resin in the container for about a week.    If the resin contains pigments,  do not leave the resin in the container for more than two days as the pigments may settle.  Some pigments settle faster than others so it is better to use a rubber scraper to stir it before printing again if the resin is left in the container.     It is a good practice to recycle the resin back to its original bottle to extend the lifetime of the leftover resin.

How do you clean the PSP resin container?

After recycling leftover resin, the resin container could be washed with mild dish detergent and water if your are going to use a different resin for your next print. Soft resin container can be cleaned with Isopropyl Alcohol (IPA) directly but please do not soak the container in the IPA.  When cleaning the soft resin container,  please be careful not to touch the silicon as the soft silicone is very sticky.   If you plan to print again soon and you recycle the resin,  you can simply store the container in its original packaging box without cleaning. If you plan to store it for more than a couple weeks, then it is better to clean it up and store it. After putting on disposable gloves, gently clean the container using your fingers. Abrasive cleaning supplies, including paper towels, can damage the Teflon film. If needed, you may use a lens wipe instead. Soft vat has a very stick silicone at the bottom of the vat. Please be careful when wiping the vat floor as the paper or cloth can stick on the silicone and hard to be removed.

If you find pieces of cured resin stuck to the resin container, slowly remove the plastic to avoid damaging and lifting the Teflon film. We recommend using a thin plastic blade to separate the cured pieces. Do not exert vertical force to pull the pieces as the Teflon film could be damaged or lifted. To extend the lifetime of the resin container, please also avoid rubbing the edges of the Teflon film and the four corners of the PSP container.

Rinse the container with water several times to completely get rid of the soap and try not to let water run below the vat and leave water stains. If there is resin residue on the bottom surface of the container, you can clean it with IPA (Isopropyl alcohol) and a lens wipe. Fill up half of the resin container with water when rinsing, and tilt the container slowly to drain out the water. The Teflon film should be left mostly free of water since Teflon is a non-stick material.

How do you dry the PSP resin container?

Good question. You should not begin printing with the resin container while it is still wet. To dry the container, you may use a dustless lens wipe or leave the container face down to dry overnight. A fan may speed up the process.

Useful tips:

– If you leave resin sitting overnight, mix it up before printing again, since the pigments could have settled. Settled pigments will affect the resolution of your print. Another good practice is to renew the overnight resin by mixing it with fresh resin. The fresh resin should make up at least 50% of the resin in the PSP container.  

– Got resin everywhere? Isopropyl Alcohol (IPA) is very useful. It’s the same stuff you use to rinse off extra resin, and it cleans the resin off your computer mouse or keyboard just as well. Note: Do not use IPA on printer acrylic covers, because it will cause frosting.

– Cover the projector lens with a piece of paper or business card to avoid collecting dust if your printer model does not come with a shutter

– Make sure the UV blocking cover is on top of the printer.

Still have questions? Leave us a comment below!

We would like to introduce the three new resins that we will start carrying on our online store! We will be offering Spot A’s Hard & Tough for High Resolution in both grey and bronze colors. With these newly formulated resins, no extra pigment is needed to achieve 37 microns XY resolution. The pricing will still remain the same at $110 for a 1-kilogram bottle.

Please see below for a print with the grey Spot-HT resin:

Red Spot-E Elastic Resin for Flexible Prints

Additionally, we are excited to announce that Kudo3D will be selling the flexible Spot-E elastic resin! The Spot-E has a good surface smoothness, low viscosity, and a high cure speed. Spot E comes in red and is available for $120 for a 1-kilogram bottle.

Last but not least, there are some awesome prints that we would love to share with you!

Pictured below are three biomedical tissue scaffold prints:

The tissue scaffolds were printed with 3DM Cast resin at 37 microns XY resolution and 20 microns Z resolution.

We are working with UCSF/SFGH Orthopaedic Trauma Institute’s Biomechanical Testing Facility on exploring how 3D printing can improve pre-surgery planning methods. Please see below for a bone fracture that we printed:

Thanks for your time and hope all is well!

Best regards,
Kudo3D Team

Hope you are doing well! We have a few exciting updates to share with you.

Castable Resin

After several months of extensive testing, we have finally selected a castable resin! We will be selling 3D Materials’ 3DM-Cast castable resin. 3DM-Cast is designed for high-resolution printing and direct investment casting. This resin has shown us excellent results during both the printing and casting processes. It can support extremely high resolutions between 26 and 37 microns XY resolution. Some of our casters have compared this resin with EnvisionTEC’s castable resins.

With its high curing speed and excellent surface finish, 3DM-Cast provides excellent burnout properties with extremely low thermal expansion. 3DM-Cast safeguards very fine details and produces accurate master patterns for the vacuum lost wax casting process.

Pre-order a 500-grams bottle for $190! Estimated delivery time is the same time as the printers.

L’AZURDE Ring is designed by Mohamed Reyad. Kudo3D Ring is designed by Jesse Kaufman from JDK Designs.

Smaller Build Platforms for Miniatures and Jewelry

We have a new, smaller build platform. This platform is perfect for those who want to print miniatures and jewelry. It lessens the separation force during the first 2 mm of printing, which helps to preserve thinner support structures. The maximum build size for this platform is 7.3 cm x 10.2 cm. We are not accepting additional build platform orders on our website currently and will do so soon.
If you are interested in trading in a larger build platform for this new version please email us at: roberta.helgeson@kudo3d.com with the Subject line: “Trade In Build Platform” and let us know how many you would like to exchange. (Please do so by Sunday 10/26 5pm PST)