You essentially draw the shape as you go from a pool of liquid. The advantages and disadvantages of these technologies could be compared and contrasted in a doctoral thesis, but SLA printers are criticized for their small build volumes and hazardous chemicals. When it comes to SLA printers, you’re talking about highly volatile fumes from both the resin itself and the significant amounts of isopropyl alcohol required to process the prints, whereas airborne microplastics are an issue with FDM printing.

Anycubic Photon Mono review: Design

The Anycubic Photon Mono is a strong and well-considered 3D printer that comes fully constructed and needs only a little tuning to be operational. Because of the machine’s bright yellow protective cover, vibrations, noise, and UV light are lessened when it is in use. An LED matrix array and an angled, all-metal, previously sanded build plate are included with this 3D printer to aid with adherence. A sizable bolt that is simple to attach and remove fastens the construction plate in place.

The build plate on a 3D printer is where the resin is poured and secured. There are two handles and a small pour spout on the front of the vat, which makes it easier to empty the resin when not in use. The front of the printer has a touch screen interface that is simple to use and understand. You can use it to move the plate up and down, cycle through the files you want to print, or perform exposure tests. On either side of the device are power, USB, and on/off switches. ..

Features

The new 6K model of the Photon Mono printer differs from the original in a few additional ways, including a laser etched surface on the constructed plate which should help to lower the likelihood of print failures. However, we did experience a few failures during our tests, and not any more than we had anticipated.

The Anycubic Mono 6K printer is a better option than the Mono for printing in low light conditions, with 40 LED lights producing 90% light uniformity and an apparent 200% improvement. However, unless you disassemble the printer, it’s unlikely that you’ll see a tangible difference in the lights (which will likely void the warranty).

If you’d rather use Lychee, there are some workarounds if you’re unable to use other Slicing programmes like Chitubox or Chitubox Pro. Aside from size and resolution, there aren’t many distinctive qualities to highlight. The printer has a yellow acrylic hood that prevents most of the toxic fumes from escaping during printing as well as UV protection to prevent the tank of liquid resin from curing in sunlight. ..

The Anycubic Photon Mono 6K printer is a great choice for anyone looking for a resin-based printer that comes with both a mask and disposable gloves. Additionally, the printer has several tools like a metal scraper and Wi-Fi connection to help you print files locally on your computer.

Anycubic Photon Mono review: Connectivity

This printer has a WiFi antenna that allows it to connect to a mobile app. The mobile app is passable, but it does create a functional concern. Why isn’t the same functionality available in a desktop app if this machine is capable of showing data about print progress, resin requirements, and remaining print layers, as well as allowing remote controls (stop, go, and pause), as well as on-the-go adjustments of exposure, rising height, and speed? That still appears to be a feature reserved for much more expensive 3D printers. For the time being, printing files from a desktop computer to the printer still needs to be transferred using a USB stick.

The Photon Mono is a quick printer; it took 7 hours and 35 minutes to print our 4-inch high Thinker test model, which is much less time than other printers in its class. For instance, the Peopeoly Phenom needed more than 13 hours to print the identical model at the same scale. To be fair to printers that lack enough room on the build plate to print the Thinker lying down horizontally, we often print the Thinker model vertically. We also tested this on the Photon Mono and discovered that it was significantly faster, taking just 3 hours and 56 minutes to print in this direction. The Photon Mono has plenty of print space large enough to handle this. ..

Anycubic Photon Mono review: Leveling

We used a 210mm by 150mm sheet of paper to calibrate the Photon Mono. This paper can be used for levelling, so it was perfect for our needs. The calibration process took about three minutes and the Photon Mono was perfect. The Phrozen Sonic Mini 4K calibration process used a similar levelling technique but had parts that weren’t quite flush, which made it difficult to get a good result.

We were pleased with the Photon Mono ability to produce high-quality prints. Our prints featured straight, precise edges and rounded, organic surfaces. Three models—a scanned image of Rodin’s Thinker, a set of planetary gears, and a geometric sculpture—that test the printer’s ability to reproduce fine details are used in our testing. In overall, the Thinker statue was faithfully recreated, with precise detailing and natural-looking curves on the head and shoulders. The geometric sculpture has precise interlocking surfaces, beautiful points, and sharp, clean edges.

The grey resin we tested with this printer produced a lot of dust and residue (the white material) when we screwed the different parts of the gears together, but the gears were simple to assemble and operated without any issues. However, we did observe some issues with prints: occasionally, parts of the layers appeared to separate, resulting in resin flaps that were loose. Consider the gap in the Thinker’s horizontal print: a few layers on the inside of his right calf have separated from the layers above them. ..

The geometric sculpture’s sculpture appears to have been pushed down by the liquid resin during the printing process, flattening one of its points. The loose layers and the squashed point suggest that the print needed a few more supports to keep it in place during printing, or that the object might be better printed at a different angle, but the majority of these problems can be resolved by making adjustments to the print. All of this suggests that most 3D printers still need to be adjusted in order to produce the highest-quality prints, and a lot of this adjusting involves figuring out why a print failed and trying again.

Anycubic Photon Mono review: Software

The Anycubic Photon software is simple to use and intuitive. You won’t be overwhelmed with options thanks to its straightforward design, which just offers the basic buttons and settings.

The Photon Workshop lets you manually add supports and change how deep they go in addition to auto-generating support and manipulating the model. There is still room for improvement, though. Numerous users have complained that the programme occasionally crashes, and outspoken detractors have asked Chitubox to support the Mono X.

Price and availability

Anycubic offers a 12-month warranty on all parts, with the exception of the LCD screen, which is only covered for three months. This is somewhat disappointing because the printer’s main component is the screen. Better watch out that you don’t apply the screen protector incorrectly like we did. also you can check our article on Anycubic Photon Mono review.

Conclusion

Anycubic unveiled a few resin 3D printers with the fanfare of a lavish event conducted within an opulent display hall as part of its five-year celebration in September. Three Photon Mono 3D printers that are mostly currently accessible continue the afterparty even if the presenters have long since departed the stage. As of the time of writing, Anycubic sells the printer, making it one of the least expensive and least feature-rich 3D printers on the market. Its standout feature is a 2K monochromatic LCD, which essentially allows for quick printing. ..