furwild
1
Hello everyone! I’m thinking of getting a form 1+ SLA printer, and I noticed they have some “reconditioned” ones selling for 2500$, which was just updated to 2200$, while the new ones are 2800$. They claimed the reconditioned ones have all new updated hardware housed inside of a pre-owned chassis and include everything going with a new one. Could you guys give me any insights should I get a reconditioned one without regretting for whatever reason later? Thank you guys in advance!
As someone who went through 2 form1’s and 2 form1+'s before I got the form2 I can honestly say save your money and get the form2, better prints and way less hassle.
Hey,
just spend the extra thousand dollar (that’s a lot)
for a form 2 new generation printer is most likely better.
It’s the same with electronics staying up to date is better!
The form 2 peeling and wipper is a must I own a form 1 upgraded to form 1+ and now owning a form 2 the wipper clears the optical path that’s the Achilles heel of the prior generation formlabs printers.
I printed à lot of hours and the most failure came from layers sticking to the optical path and not printing. The new setup form2 lets you recover if this happens hope this helps making a choice
Regards Marcel
I haven’t had much trouble with the Form1+ in over a year of printing. If it’s in a clean dry place and you’ll be printing small parts it works great. I do agree that the Form 2 is a better way to go if it fits your budget.
The primary mechanism of the Form1+ is fairly straight forward. If the internals are new, that’s 95% of the printer. The housing and other features are not all that critical because all the magic is in the optics and galvos which would be new.
I have two form 1s and it was working great and now they just cannot print a large print without having missing meshes.
IT is really weird because white resin has been working better then the clear. But other than that I have given up on form 1s
Whenever I have print issues it’s either a clouded tray or dust on the mirrors. The mirrors are easy to clean but the trays are a bit of work to recondition.
aeratek
9
We’ve been using a Form1+ for almost a couple years at this point. It’s usually a consistent, reliable machine, but we’ve had many issues with failed prints and also have needed to order some replacement parts. Luckily, Formlabs Support is really great and has helped us every time. Having said this, my opinion is that if you’re going to spend this high amount of money on an SLA printer (or any consumer grade printer for that matter), I would go with the “latest and greatest” to reduce the risk that you end up with many issues that you know would be resolved in later models. I haven’t used the Form2, myself, but from the number of issues we’ve encountered with our Form1+ (i.e. poor resin flow causing failed prints, a dead peel motor, mirror smudging), I would hope that the Form2 resolves at least some of these (via controlled printing temperature, redesigned resin/tank wiping mechanism) and can be even more consistent. I’d spend even more money and get the next model up to (hopefully) avoid some of these problems and have a printer that will last you for a while. Also consider getting their extra support plan.
CusPro
10
We are selling industrial SL printers from Z Rapid. Have couple on our floor as well. Those are the perfect choice for any service bureau.
Please check it out at www.customprototypes.com
+1
I have a Form1+ and Form2 on my desk at work and a Form1+ at home. The print quality is similar between the two models but the 1+ is a lot more sensitive/finicky and I’ve had to replace a number of parts over the last 12-18 months. The Form2 has some significant upgrades and is just a superior machine in my opinion. Specifically the 2 has sealed optics (probably the most significant upgrade in my opinion), a larger build volume and higher power laser, and it autofills and heats the resin.
The form1+ is a good machine when it working but the Form2 is my new go-to machine. At some point in the future my Form1+ will be on eBay and to be replaced by a 2.
