Is 3D Resin Printing for You?

A look at drawbacks and problems

That seems an odd question, but if you don’t realise why I’m asking it, then you’re not as informed as I want you to be.

Lots of people quickly give up on 3D resin printing. There are a number of factors that need to be carefully considered before you part with your money.

Chemicals

Resin is a chemical nasty. You should never expose it to your skin (it can burn people with sensitive complexions), never flush it down your kitchen sink and certainly never ever drink it (it’s toxic). Some resins are worse than others but you should treat all resins with due caution. For that reason I personally don’t think this is a good hobby for small children.

Smells

Some resins have very strong odours. Most of us can tolerate it, but I’ve heard from people who get migraines or even feel faint when exposed to it.

Mess

This is a sticky, messy hobby. You’re dealing with liquids that invariably get everywhere. These usually need to be cleaned with smelly Alcohol solutions and you’ll use so many paper towels that you might consider buying shares in the company. You cannot do this hobby without generating some kind of mess and you can’t leave it lying around, so if you hate cleaning, don’t bother!

Safety Gear

It’s advisable to wear eye protection, a face mask and disposable gloves. Your gloves will get covered in resin, so you’ll be reaching for paper towels and Isopropyl alcohol frequently to clean them, causing those to get covered in resin too. The mask is advisable as many of these resins pack a stinky punch and, quite honestly, I don’t think anyone has any idea what long term exposure to these resins might result in. Hopefully nothing, but I recommend good ventilation just in case.

Can You Cope?

Many people think they’ll cope with ease and rush out to buy an expensive printer. Then a few days later, when they’ve finally finished cleaning up that bottle of resin they knocked over and the aspirin is easing off the headache, they pack it away never to use it again. For that reason I never recommend a newbie to the hobby to buy anything other than a Budget printer. If the hobby doesn’t work out for you, at least you won’t have wasted too much money.