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Comment by edge17 | Hacker News Reader

Is 3d printing a 1mm wide cube really something you need "one of the most advanced" 3d printers for? Can't we get better resolution than that with hobby grade hardware?

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>Is 3d printing a 1mm wide cube really something you need "one of the most advanced" 3d printers for?

Absolutely! fine features and sharp edges are extremely hard.

This is also a fundamental mischaratization of the scale they are working at, as object size /= feature size. the analogy would be images vs pixel. In this case, the image is 1mm, not the pixels

I dont have the paper, but the video shows features around 0.25 mm and a x-y resolution of 0.025mm

If you're willing to print slowly, those are not notable specs. A $250 Ender has an XY resolution of 0.01mm and 0.15mm nozzles are common.

I’m not sure, but I’d bet that this is a debate over precision Vs accuracy.3D printers can be pretty precise in relative terms, but they are difficult to make accurate. Extruder style printers struggle with small feature size because the heating and cooling distorts from the reference size. .01mm resolution does not mean you accurately achieve .01mm parts. It means your machine can be commanded to make .01mm moves and will make them repeatably.

That said, 3D printers aren’t bad. Small parts are just difficult.

It looks like feature size is roughly 0.2mm. This is achievable with hobby grade printers.

Even though the video shows an FDM printer, these look like resin prints. Resin printers tend to have better resolution.

I might be able to print this with my Ender 3, but I bet a resin printer would do better.

I wonder whether there would be any capillary action on the resin during printing, potentially ruining the print?

My friend has a secondhand dental resin printer - feature size is 0.075mm. Seems like he could make this structure at a significantly smaller scale than pictured in the video.

But it's the most expensive machine that goes "Bing!" in-case the director walks by.

My Prusa can print a 1mm cube. Is the complaint that the resolution of hobby machines aren't good enough or that it's using a thermonuclear rocket launcher to squash an ant?

Im assuming you mean your Prusa can print a solid 1mm cube with rounded edges, which is very different than a lattice structure with an overall 1mm size

Absolutely. Then no. :)

I wish I had a 4000 lasers plaid-mode FDM printer able to work in titanium, PLA, ASA, styrofoam, carbon nanotubes, steel, copper, wood, concrete, borosilicate, and EPDM at micrometers.

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