My Peopoly Moai SLA Story

About 5 months ago, Patrick found this 3D printer on the free shelf, I knew exactly what it was, a Peopoly Moai. I heard that somebody wanted to donate some 3d printing stuff, Max and Stan passed on it so it ended up on the free shelf.

I know the company founder Mark Peng and some of their US based employees so its neat to have one of their printers. I ordered a new build platform and FEP vat for it since it was missing one.

Now that I have some time with the “stay in place” I finally had time to test it.

I watched some YouTube videos and followed their documents to make sure everything was in calibration. The power wires were badly spliced (twisted together with a zip tie, really?) I soldered the splice, I also resized the glass slide protector over the galvos to protect it better. Also all the acrylic panels still had the masking paper on them, I removed all the panels and checked if everything was good.

I forgot to tighten the build platform so these parts shifted, the platform leveling test print:

It has a tilt mechanism to peel each layer, it can be tricky I’m finding out with the way you orient the part and setup supports

First test print without supports

The test print I did tonight, turned out mostly well, the base didn’t have enough support and warped but recovered.

Peopoly doesn’t make the Moai anymore, they switched to LCD MSLA technology on their new printers, the Phenom.

Because of the virus stuff going on, I can not find isopropyl 91% in stores so I have a limited ammount of washing, I also FDM printed a UV curing box for the UV lamp I got.

Could we use one of these at DMS, after both Form 2 printers have been damaged due to people not cleaning up after themselves or handling the vats properly? Probably not. I’m realizing the worst part of SLA printing is the resin needs a lot of cleanup.

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Impressive printer reincarnation! Resin printers are a booger. I’ve had a little LCD one since last summer, but I barely use it due to the clean-up process. They sure do make a great looking print though.

You can pick up a jug of 99% Isopropyl at Grainger, but my preferred route is a box of small bottles delivered by Amazon.

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Normally you can pick them up at Grainger but I just checked and most listings are back ordered till August.

Mitch, I mess around with a Uniz Slash and am finding the same reality. I can do a decent print in like 20 minutes and then have an hour of cleanup to keep the machine nice. Resin holds great potential, but it takes a lot more process than some of our membership is use to.

Honestly the resin bottle pump is unnecessary. If you just check on your print it’s fairly easy to add resin. Having multiple vats with FEP film that can be swapped is ideal. The peopoly Vat isn’t that hard really, as long as it doesnt leak…

Theoretically you are correct. However, there are other factors at play. When at least using white, I haven’t tested others, when you add resin there is a distinct color/shade difference. Same bottle, but glaringly different shades. When running a longer print, this means frequent attention.

The other issue is, without the pump, you have to tilt the tray backwards to release it. I haven’t measured it, but would guess it’s around a 30 degree angle. If your resin tray is too full, you’ll be dumping resin into all the mechanics of the machine.

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Resin mixing is a route many have gone on these types of printers, there are tons of plans for resin recurculators online. Some people are actually creating really cool prints by hand pouring different colors/resins in during the printing, to turn that unfortunate side effect into the main attraction.

What I have seen in response to the isopropyl scarcity is that many are switching to simple green in their ultrasonic cleaners. A small ultrasonic cleaner will also do soo much benefit to the cleanup process.

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That would be like making paint chip jewelry with the paint that comes off the cars at the Cadillac Ranch.

Have you ever heard of Fordite? It’s the paint buildup from spray booths cut as if it were stone.

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That’s what I was referring to, but was drawing a blank on the name.

I’m happy with the clear resin. Ideally I would get grey resin because it’s easier to paint without having to paint.

I also have ideas for how to use the transparent properties of the resin for colored fluid channels.

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