Build Your Own SLA/SLS

I finally have the new vat available over at flexvat.com.


Assembly instructions:
https://youtu.be/yiZJwT0BPwo

HTL

I should have the new vat available over at flexvat.com later this week, I'm finishing up on the "other" stuff that needed to be done: photography, instruction sheets, packaging etc. In the mean time check out the write up on how the vat works: http://projectsinterestsandetcetera.com/the-b...

I am pretty much done with testing the vat and things look really good. The vents in the acrylic support plate plus the slight thickness of the tape along the edge of the vents successfully maintain a very thin film of air between the acrylic and the FEP film and make the peel characteristics of the...

sure does flexvats work so well because when the FEP film is under tension it acts like a flat plate during the exposure. After the exposure as the build plate rises the fep film will bulge slightly upwards at points where the model is touching the film, when the fep film lifts it creates peeling ed...

The FEP film on a flexvat really cannot be too tight, more problems are caused by the fep film not being tight enough (film sagging in the middle from the weight of the resin, insufficiently tensioned fep also does not allow the resin to squeeze out from between the build plate and fep film after th...

If you are using a FEP based flexvat: Make sure the FEP film is tensioned so that it is rigid. The build plate should be adjusted so that at the build plates zero height the build plate is laying flat on the FEP film. Do not try to make a gap between the FEP film and the build plate , the build plat...

Vented vat insert :

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HTL

Vents do help, I have a "vented" insert for the vat that is not shown in this thread but is shown here: http://www.buildyourownsla.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=5668&p=16536#p16536 . To help break the vacuum between the FEP and the acrylic insert I am testing a few things but the ...

From the bottom of the base plate to the focal plane is approximately 10.5mm ( I may need to increase that to 11mm to better accommodate the molded in threaded inserts). The focal plane is the same for both supported and "drum" configurations so no adjustments are needed when switching bet...

I have been getting requests for a vat that supports the FEP film release layer on a sheet of transparent acrylic. I have resisted designing a vat with an acrylic window for a couple of reasons first of which is the inferior release characteristics of a vat that uses FEP film sitting on a support. W...