Written by: Mike Dorries
If you’re looking for the fastest way to prototype using the Formlabs printers, look no further than the Draft resin offered at the Advanced Output Center.
Draft resin is engineered by Formlabs to print at 300 micron layers, 3 times thicker than the standard resolution from acrylic resins. Even at 300 microns, the draft resin retains accuracy in the X and Y axes of the print, which makes it ideal for parts with flat surfaces. If you plan on prototyping something that has curved features the layer lines will become more visible. In our experiences, the Draft resin is still able to be sanded down and post processed like any of the other acrylic resins.
The biggest question with draft resin, is “Why?”. Draft resin is able to print faster than any other resin due to the thicker layers. This leads to a faster turn-around of your order. Generally models that take up the entire build volume can take more than 20 hours to complete, where-as the same print in Draft could be completed in under six. If you plan on making multiple changes to a design based on how it prints, talk with lab staff. We’ll aim to move your part through the queue as fast as possible and let you know when the part is ready as soon as it is washed off. This will allow you to make a modification, and resubmit right away to test another version.
Draft resin is available with a 20% discount to make your prototypes less expensive. This means you can print more, for less. Once you nail the final version, you can submit your order to be printed in one of the higher resolution resins.
| Einstein Draft Version | ||
|---|---|---|
 |  |  |
| Einstein Final Version | ||
 |  |  |