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Edited March 8, 2023
at 01:55 PM
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Build volume 192 x 120 x 200 MM, 8.9 inch screen, 4K resolution on the monochrome LCD screen.
This is the cheapest it has been since the blowout sale this past November from their distributors site that no longer carries them.
$209 for Black/White
-$10 = $199
$199 for Orange/Black
-$10 = $189
Take off an additional $10 with Promo Code:
SAS23
Note: that I bought this at the all-time low of $150, but I had to pay tax so it came out to $160. No shipping OR Tax buying now so it's pretty close to that all-time low.
Since I own it, I can say there is no better deal for resin printing. The build quality on this exceeds AnyCubic and Elegoo.
https://www.flashforgeshop.com/pr...use?cID=31
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Pros :
-Much, Much better detail. For miniatures it can't be beat by an FDM printer, my ender 3 isn't even close.
- Resin comes in water washable which makes cleaning a smidge less annoying. You CAN NOT just wash your prints under the tap though, set aside a Tupperware of water to clean your minis then dispose of properly according to your city's hazardous materials guidelines.
Cons :
- Cost of Filament is cheaper than cost of resin. Last time I purchased 1kg of resin it was $35-40 whereas filament is $15-20 on average for PLA. (EDIT: Thanks all for the feedback on this, turns out resin is frequently on sale these days. It's been a bit since I've purchased some!)
- Can be messy, there are ways to cut down on this, but always wear gloves and eye protection.
- Need a respirator, I use a 3M half mask reusable that takes bayonet style cartridges. A room with ventilation is a good idea.
- Resin is not really for functional prints in my experience. Just doesn't have the strength of FDM filament when all cured, it's too brittle. (EDIT: I failed to acknowledge the different resin types here, as I've only messed around with simple water-washables. forgot ABS-like resin even exists lol).
Workflow :
Import STL, add supports if not already included (kinda tricky to learn but there's a bunch of videos on resin supports). Once done, export to thumb drive. My printer settings for DETAIL on my 4K foto 6 are : Layer height .05, bottom layer count 8, exposure time 2.8, bottom exposure 35 (results probably vary for a bigger printer like this, but might be a good starting point to run your own tests).
Plug in thumb drive, print. Wear PPE, take print out of printer, scrape uncured resin into the vat, pop print into your Tupperware of cleaner. I use water and a small brush to get in all the nooks and crannies. Let it dry in front of a fan, then put it under a nail curing station that I got off Amazon for like $12. This will finish the UV cure and make it less flexible, but more brittle. Unfortunately, this is a required step.
And you're done! You truly can't beat the detail on this type of printer, but you also have to plan accordingly with PPE. There are products like the Elegoo wash and cure station that streamlines this process, but I imagine there may be some Slickdealers like me who don't want to fork over even more cash if not needed.
Overall I'm very pleased, but it's not just a plug and play hobby, you kinda gotta work at it and watch a lot of how-to's.
Cleaning was annoying because it didn't wash out easily (perhaps easier with ethyl alcohol which I believe is the recommended solvent, but I bought the water washable resin) and you can't just leave it in the container longer than 48 hours.
Others probably have better experiences, but just sharing mine. I've also given up on my Ended 3 Pro because every time I tried to fix it it got worse.
Hint for folks that buy this; FlashForge has two variations of this machine that only accept a particular file-type each. FDG and SVGX. For sake of ease the FDG version is the easier to work with. It is the one I received and just loading the USB drive that came with it, I had all the files I needed to print.
Update edit:
You can download the newest firmware here: https://www.flashforge.
HUGE INFO: There are two types of boards each with their own preferred file type they will print. The Self Design board uses SVGX files and the Chitu board uses FDG. The Chitu board icons when the machine is on will be blue and black icons mean Self Design.
Download the firmware for the machine you have!
To install, and make it easy, copy or delete everything off of the USB drive they provided and then copy all the files you downloaded onto the root directory. With the Foto 8.9 turned off plug in the drive and remove the vat if you have resin inside because the update will fire off the UV light. Once everything is cleared, turn the machine on.
From here the instructions differ based on the board:
For Self Design boards, you should have an update button in the options and it will start installing all the files it can after you press update. When done the machine may or may not reboot, either way turn it off manually and then turn it back on.
For Chitu boards, go to "print" and "print" all the files on that drive. Once the .bin file is "printed", meaning installed it will you tell you on reboot it will load. You can then turn the machine off and then turn it back on.
After everything returns to normal you are good to go.
Now, you can download Chitubox for free [chitubox.com]. You will have to sign-up, I believe. The newest version has a profile built-in labeled "Flashforge Foto 8.9" you can auto load by going to the settings tab > machine tab > upper-left is a page+ icon.
All confirmed to work perfectly.
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So I just got the printer, weird, I never ordered the resin! It's from voxelab too!
The resin came from a usps carrier too it seems, unlike the printer that was shipped by fedex and, delivered by FedEx (and clearly delivered by FedEx because the box has cuts and scuffs and a big cut all around the box lmao)
The resin came from a usps carrier too it seems, unlike the printer that was shipped by fedex and, delivered by FedEx (and clearly delivered by FedEx because the box has cuts and scuffs and a big cut all around the box lmao)
Ha - Free resin - pretty slick!
Yeah I suppose! Not sure how that happened! The printer shipped from CA and the resin from NJ
Whatever the heck happened!
Edit: got it to update by reformatting the thumb drive it came with. On 1.8 now! I was indeed at 1.1 before.
Regarding the resin, I did receive a separate package for a Voxelab grey resin bottle. Didn't even realize it came with one.
Regarding the resin, I did receive a separate package for a Voxelab grey resin bottle. Didn't even realize it came with one.
You too?? How weird! An unpromoted complimentry gift I suppose! My 500g bottle was grey too! Which is the color I was hoping it'd be!
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I suppose it was clarified in the page, I guess it was suppose to be bundled up with the resin, that's pretty cool!
Have printed 3 calibrations and a full sculpt, no failures and I have persistent on making sure nothing breaks off or floats in the resin tank,
Have made my first plate that had several models loaded into, about 3/4 (about 4 small models)
And the printer would lower but not do anything, it would not progress beyond 0%
Apparently this is an issue with the Foto 8.9 when youre loading a busy plate (defeats the purpose of printing an army of miniatures) and can be only fixable via firmware thats not publicly accessible.
Most Slicers dont support the Foto 8.9, by far the only software that supports the printer starting late last year, is Chitubox, but it only supports the chitubox version of the printer which reads FDG format files, unlike the printer in this slickdeals listing which only supports SVGXs.
Also the printer sometimes forgets what height it is at, so sometimes the printer wouldnt go all the way up after a print, and when you turn off the print and turn it back on, the printer thinks that the current height of the plate is the max height, therefore when you start printing, the plate/platform sinks to the bottom of the tank and when it reaches the bottom, it keeps going downwards, making horrible vibrating sounds against the FEP (probably pressing and putting pressure against it and the LCD)
When I went to adjust my platform, it was showing up as -170mm, when its suppose to be 0mm
And one way to calibrate it is to adjust the platform to the highest level (max should be 210mm, but when not calibrated the printer just keeps going up above that number)
And you will hear the printer stop at the highest level and start buzzing as it struggles to go up when it cant, turn off the machine and turn it on, and its calibrated.
overall sad experience, shame it doesnt have a wifi function but thats just me being picky.
I just used the slicer the printer comes with and loaded by pre-supported stl files and the only calibration I had to do after my first fail print was increase base time from 2.0 secs to 2.5 secs and attach time from 10 secs to 27 secs.
Its been working so well I just bought another.
I just used the slicer the printer comes with and loaded by pre-supported stl files and the only calibration I had to do after my first fail print was increase base time from 2.0 secs to 2.5 secs and attach time from 10 secs to 27 secs.
Its been working so well I just bought another.
I guess it's a hit or miss, I hear people say the slicer that it comes with is horrendous
I tried it myself and it's not very great unless you already preload models that have built in support trees
I tried it myself and it's not very great unless you already preload models that have built in support trees
In the beginning when I loaded up too many models, the included software would tell me the file was to complicated and would need to be simplified to avoid stuttering so now I just stick with 1-2 large models that are about 100mm or (4) 32mm models and some accessories.
I bought two so now I plan to crank about (8) 32mm models per session, and I run (3) sessions/day (1 before work, 1 after work, 1 before bed). At this rate, I could probably print out a whole army in a matter of days.
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