Build Your Own SLA/SLS

those nalgene 5500 petri dishes seem to only come in 10 packs for over $100.
Has anyone found a source for single purchases? Or maybe a group purchase? but are they depreciated? it seems like a really good idea but I read somewhere about custom injection molded replacements being made for this project instead.

The Nalgenes will always be an option, there are a few places selling singles I believe. The main downside to the Nalgene dishes are that they are shallow and somewhat thin material, thin material means that setting your zero position with the build plate is a little trickier as you can bow the dish down. Also if you have a print that is large enough that the printing process is stickier the dish can deform over time.

The corning glass dishes are a nice off the shelf alternative, you just have to be careful when printing on glass dishes, if the pdms tears and resin reaches the glass you may end up with a situation where the dish could be broken from the separation stresses.

We will have thermoform and assembled acrylic dishes available as well through a web store.