Ren - Moved to chitter.xyz @Nine@computerfairi.es

@Felthry (those ones are huge and probably p. noisy but wow I bet they are cool as hell and can make some amazing stuff!)

@Felthry however, the Form 2 prints some REALLY pretty stuff. stuff that just isn't possible with the PLA filament ones. The extrusion types can make really hard wearing stuff but because of how it builds, it forces you to make largely solid constructions with few overhangs and separate internal structures are ...kinda a nono. D:

And yes, there's a third type which I forget the name of but it's similar to stereolithography, excpet like, it's a vat of POWDER, and... it's even more accurate!

@Felthry the SLA (stereolithography) printers are able to print far more complicated and interesting structures, but this comes at a higher price point, of course, and maintenance is WAAAAY more involved. It's harder to get right, and dear god it is messy as hell. alcohol is used in quite copious amounts to wash off excess uncured resin from the bath it was in, the tanks have to be treated very carefully, as does the entire device. God help you if a tank cracks D:

@Felthry that's okay. Miq's had both a MakerBot (PLA filament extrusion type, basically heats up a filament of plastic to melting point, lays it down on a build plate in layers, building the model from the bottom upwards. Very hard wearing, tends to be 'low resolution'.), and currently has a Form 2 from Formlabs (Stereolithography, builds by firing a laser into a shallow vat of special resin, pulling the model UP as it builds; way more accurate, higher "resolution", slower, more messy)

@Felthry Oooo.. that might be pretty good, though cheap PLA filament extrusion type printers would probably make lots of uncomfortable striations on the finished piece that would be a nightmare to smooth off for comfort, even though the piece would be solid as a rock and take a sledgehammer to shatter probably.

A stereolithography type printer like the FormLabs types would probably make a more comfy product for this.

@Felthry Oh yeah 100% that's a downside. :/ it would make it nigh impossible for friends of mine who have issues with their hands to use it sadly :/