People have always been concerned about 3D printers, which are limited to FDM melt deposition molding technology. However, people know very little about LCD photocuring technology that was born four years earlier. On the one hand, it is because the latter product is more expensive, but the main reason is that the printing consumables and resin have a relatively large odor and poor printing experience. As a student who graduated from mechanical engineering, I have never had the opportunity to experience 3D printers. By chance, I experienced the DELEGOO SATURN 2 printer. So what is the actual experience?
Let’s talk about the conclusion first: This is probably the most exquisite home-grade 3D printer you can buy.
mentions ELEGOO. If you are a domestic consumer who pays less attention to D printing industry, you may not be very familiar with this brand. ELEGOO has actually been mainly aimed at overseas markets in recent years, and is the world's number one brand of consumer-grade optical curing 3D printing. It is reported that ELEGOO's LCD photocuring printer shipments are the number one, photosensitive resin consumables are the number one, and the product rating industry is the first. It was launched in Q3 in 2021, and its total revenue exceeded 700 million in 2021. ELEGOO delivered a perfect report card with dazzling data in a short period of time, which can be called the glory of Chinese brands.
The market is the best testimony, and ELEGOO's strength is obvious to all. Now that ELEGOO is moving to the domestic market, he is naturally full of confidence.
In terms of appearance, the printer adopts a classic red and black color scheme, with a small floor area on the plane, which is not much larger than a piece of A4 paper. The translucent red cover on the upper part also allows us to see the printing situation intuitively. The accessories provided by
are very complete, such as shovels, gloves, brushes, tweezers, etc.
is the ELEGOO logo above the screen, and a 3.5-inch touch screen is in front, with a certain inclination design, which not only makes the operation easier, but also connects to the screen part with clear edges and corners, and has a three-dimensional sense on the front. When printing, the screen will also display the current printing status and remaining time, which will display the total printing time, the time and number of printed layers. If you find that the resin is not enough after halfway through printing, you can also press the pause button and add an appropriate amount of resin to continue printing, which is very convenient. .
There is only one USB interface on the side, and a large area of heat dissipation port is on the bottom of the side. Try to leave some space when placing the machine.
Compared with the existing optical curing printers on the market, the SATURN 2's three-dimensional mecha style is personally given full marks, and it also looks very technological when put on the desktop.
body details are also very particular, and the excessive edges and corners are also very natural. Some areas also use lines similar to diamond-cut lines.
ELEGOO SATURN 2 is based on the precision dual-guiding Z-axis + T-type screw combination structure and anti-slip hexagon leveling screw design. Since the bottom of the dual-guiding linear guide is designed with a shock absorbing unit, the movement is quieter, smoother and more accurate, the Z-axis accuracy reaches 0.00125mm, and the micron-level precise and stable operation effectively eliminates jitter and improves the printing success rate. The layer marks are eliminated during the printing process, making the printing model more accurate. When touching with your hands, you can feel the smooth and delicate surface of the model.
In addition, ELEGOO SATURN 2 is also equipped with a matte construction board, which can significantly increase the adhesion of the platform, reduce the risk of model falling off and curling edges, and make the printing success rate higher.
In terms of optical structure, ELEGOO Saturn 2 uses the optical design scheme of the cob+ Fiber mirror first launched in the industry. When the light is refracted by the Fiber mirror mirror, the light angle can be accurately controlled within 5°. With a high-definition 8k black and white screen, the printed model is sharper and the details will be more realistic. This design is ELEGOO's exclusive patented technology and is also its first production and application in machinery and equipment. The screen is also equipped with a tempered protective film with a hardness of 9H to effectively prevent accidents from causing damage to the screen.
In terms of consumables, ELEGOO uses a specially developed environmentally friendly resin, and the odor is significantly smaller than ordinary resin consumables on the market. In addition, this product has a specially added air purification system to the right rear of the body. There is a USB interface located at the rear of the left side of the screen. It is specially configured to install air purifier . Its built-in activated carbon is used to adsorb and filter waste gas, further ensuring the comfort of the printing environment. Also, please remind me to open the air purifier and remove the packaging of activated carbon.
The main operation of getting this 3D printer is to level and slice the 3D printer. ELEGOO SATURN 2 supports rapid leveling, reducing user learning costs.
The MAX logo is clearly visible on the material plate. You need to pay attention to it when putting the material.
In addition, ELEGOO SATURN 2 supports Chitubox Chitu slicing software (Popular Science: The main purpose of ChiTuBox Basic is to slice 3D models for printing on LCD-based resin 3D printers (also known as masking stereolithography, or MSLA))
Chinese version interface is also very intuitive and convenient to use. The software's automatic detection and analysis functions are particularly powerful. You can automatically add support to the model with one button. You can also manually add, edit, and move support. Moreover, the CHITUBOX Basic support setting editing function allows you to make fine adjustments to the shape, thickness, and density of the support. The most supported formats include stl, obj, cbddlp, photon, photons, zip, slc, wow, fhd, cws, ctb, phz, svgx, lgs, chitubox, cfg...
has shared with you so many usage processes. Next, I will summarize the common problems encountered during the usage process, so that everyone can avoid lightning and get started quickly.
is a bit difficult at the beginning for friends who have not used 3D printers before. Fortunately, this printer takes this situation into consideration and has provided a USB flash drive to everyone. The manufacturer carefully provides test models, CHITUBOX slicing software, configuration files and usage guides.
CHITUBOX slicing software is easy to install. Although it seems to be highly professional, you can get started quickly by following the operating steps. In terms of model, the newbie can directly find the 3D files shared by the boss on Bilibili. You can also download it from a special 3D model website. By directly importing the downloaded file into CHITUBOX, you can move, rotate, zoom, set mirroring of the model, and select solid/hollow printing and other operation settings.
If you see this article, if you think that D printing is so simple, and you also want to try it home, and then start your own figure creation path, then you are very wrong, because what I want to talk about next is the biggest knowledge of this article. Next, I will tell you about the detours I have taken on the road of 3D printing.
; after the file saved after the model is sliced is imported to the USB flash drive, the print file cannot be recognized
* After placing the model position, before performing the slicing step, be sure to select the device as ELEGOO SATURN 2 in the slice settings, otherwise the problem of the slice file printer being unrecognized. Please engrave this in your mind. Don’t plug and unplug the USB flash drive over and over again if I can’t recognize it.........
; the printed model exceeds the construction surface
This is a common mistake for many novices. Remember to remember that the model position in the slicing software should not exceed the blue construction surface, otherwise there will be a red display. Then this part cannot be printed. We need to adjust the model to the appropriate size and all appear blue. Otherwise, the model may be too large and the printing may be unsuccessful, and time and consumables may be used.
; the model did not add support, and I dropped
by half. During my own operation, because the model settings were larger. The model was too heavy when printing, resulting in a direct strike.And it is also important to add support when printing large items. Just click the "+ Platform" button in the support column on the right to automatically add support, or you can click one by one to add manual support. After adding the support, you can slice it and save it to a USB flash drive for printing.
In addition, it is recommended that you avoid vertical placement when printing, but choose to place it at 30° or 45° with the platform, which can increase the support area and prevent falling due to uneven weight during the printing process of the model.
After so many small accidents, it took five hours. The first print work in my life was born. After the model was printed, I carefully shoveled it with a shovel when taking the model. Don’t use too much force to avoid the model cracking directly because of too much force (ps: Don’t ask me why I know, the pile of cracked models in my corner will not tell you what the reason is bad...) The printed model will basically solidify and shape after washing it (the one I use is a water-washed photosensitive resin). I have also told you before, the hardness is relatively high and very durable. Wash it and dry it, and the finished product is finished.
Add to use ELEGOO SATURN 2 to print the high-precision skeleton king bust model. The overall effect is perfect, with almost no layers of textures, and the details are sharp. Basically, it can be said that all the details of the model are restored.
Face details are in place and the patterns are clear. We used macro lens to shoot the details of the crown part of the model with a few millimeters.
Summary
ELEGOO SATURN 2 printer not only has a delicate body, but also provides end users with a larger size and better accuracy printing service through the 10-inch 8K monochrome LCD screen and 7680*4320 resolution. With its 3.5-inch touch screen and slicing software, the simple and easy-to-use operation logic improves the ease of use of the product. If you are a figure collector or a DIY user with strong hands-on ability, it is still necessary to have such a printer at home.
