Printing a PLA VAT - horrbile idea?

Various topics related to Vat design, construction and coatings.
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Kilh
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Printing a PLA VAT - horrbile idea?

Postby Kilh » Sat Aug 23, 2014 5:54 am

Hey guys,
I'm currently working on my first bottom-up DLP and as I already have an UM2 here I wanted to print as many parts as possible to save on costs (and hopefully time).

My plan for the VAT so far is working with a sheet of tensioned FEP. What i'm obviously curious about is wether the combination of PLA and resin would be a bad idea or not as I'd like to print the whole thing (except for the bottom of course). Will one of the materials react with the other? Will the PLA just degrade and start to leak?

I'll probably need quite thick walls to make sure everything is rigid enough, but that's the last thing I'm worried about at this point.
If the resin doesn't like the PLA would Nylon work instead? Or could I possibly seal the PLA with polyurethane or something?

I don't have any resin here yet to test it myself as the whole build is still weeks or months away (mostly a budget question), so if someone already has experience regarding PLA parts that are exposed to resin I'd be more than grateful to get some insight :)

Glacian22
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Re: Printing a PLA VAT - horrbile idea?

Postby Glacian22 » Sat Aug 23, 2014 1:21 pm

PLA holds up just fine when exposed to resin, the real issues would be the porosity of the printed parts, and if they could stand the tension without cracking.

Kilh
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Re: Printing a PLA VAT - horrbile idea?

Postby Kilh » Sat Aug 23, 2014 4:19 pm

Thanks for the input!

In regards to the porosity; do you mean the parts that are in contact with resin could absorb resin (or worse) or were you refering to the structural strength in general?

Glacian22
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Re: Printing a PLA VAT - horrbile idea?

Postby Glacian22 » Mon Aug 25, 2014 5:00 pm

I'd be worried about the vat itself absorbing resin over time.

android78
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Re: Printing a PLA VAT - horrbile idea?

Postby android78 » Mon Aug 25, 2014 9:21 pm

As an Idea, would coating the printed part with caulking silicon be ok? I would assume that it should be fine since that seems to be what a lot of people are using for joining glass vats together with, but if there is some chemist out there that could confirm, that'd be great!

Kilh
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Re: Printing a PLA VAT - horrbile idea?

Postby Kilh » Tue Aug 26, 2014 4:04 am

I think the surface wouldn't be smooth enough, leaving thousands of places for resin to settle, but I'd give polyurethane coating a try. Or will that cause a problem with the resin later?

android78
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Re: Printing a PLA VAT - horrbile idea?

Postby android78 » Tue Aug 26, 2014 11:06 pm


Kilh
Posts: 30
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Location: Berlin, Germany
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Re: Printing a PLA VAT - horrbile idea?

Postby Kilh » Wed Aug 27, 2014 8:22 am

I'd assume that silicone will get porous over time, plus silicone tends to only completely adhere to more silicone so there's always the danger of damaging it or scrubbing it off, but I guess both options would work. Will probably give both a try.


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