Build Your Own SLA/SLS

The vat design allows the fep to be under very high tension so that sagging is not an issue (If you tap the FEP on my vat it sounds like a pretty good high frequency drum). See: http://projectsinterestsandetcetera.com ... oing-work/

.005"/.127mm fep is a very tough material that can be highly tensioned without worrying about it splitting or being punctured.

With the flexvat, tilt is needed at all? u tilt your vat ? one more question. in your last print u show a big chunck of "something!"; is hollowed or solid?

Thanks in advance!

The tilt is not strictly neccessary but I'm going to keep it because it makes the beginning of the peel easier (picture suction cup vs zipper) and I tend to print parts with large flat area that I do not want to print tilted (printing tilted can distort a part). The peeling action on my printer is generally not even noticeable even on large parts.

The part is hollow and translucent. What you see is the inside of the part showing supports and some resin that I did not clean out that hardened during the post cure. Also, the part is one half of a 2 part master for a silicone mold.

Fantastic! Whats the white top/rim part of the vat made from? Custom machined, or repurposed part?

The top piece was machined out of a 3/4" thick piece of hdpe on my cnc router. I made it out of hdpe because it's what I had around in that thickness at the time. There is a bead of silicone that acts to seal it to the piece below.

I mentioned in an earlier post that I was going to try to find a torque wrench or driver for tightening down the FEP tensioning bolts on my vat. Several weeks ago I found a torque driver that works perfectly for tensioning the FEP, it allows me to get back to my working tension quickly and it insures that the tension is even across the FEP when I change it.

shown with socket


It is internally adjustable: you pick the wax plug out of the end of the driver, use the hex key to adjust it to the torque you want and leave it there.

If anyone can use one this is where I got mine:


these are the specs:
Sturtevant pm-15 (pm15)
3-15 in. lbs. / 0.33-1.65 Nm / 3.44-17.2

HTL

Hi HLT, I guess you're the one I got my fep films from just the other day

What a great service you're doing here. I am hopping on that flexvat build immediately.

Here's a wild idea. Why not tension 2 of the bolts with a 30% less/more torque, so that they offer more/less flex to the FEP on one side, so that the peeling always starts there. That would give you the tilting affect without the tilt mechanism?

Also, what about a digital torque adapter, so you can experiment with different highly precise torques:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/BikeMaster-Digi ... 6b&vxp=mtr

EDIT: yeah that digital torque won't work without some hefty springs under the bolts. It's rated from 40 Nm upwards. Torque screwdriver it is then.

Wow...
your vat design is handsome!

If only I found that before drop the bottom-up desing for the top-down method...

What's the size of you plate?
Have you intention to try large plate (200x200mm)?

Congratulations!
Great Work man!