Resin or filament 3D printing: Which is best for you?

Stereolithography/Dark light projection (SLA/DLP) printers are, essentially, 3D printers that print using light to cure liquid resin into layers. The cheaper versions use an LCD display to shine a UV image into the resin, which cures it into a solid layer. The print bed then rises up slightly to let the next layer cure.

This allows you to print a model with extremely fine detail, far more than a standard filament printer can produce, and the end result tends to need far less post-processing work to give you a finished product.

The downside is that they tend to have smaller build plates than filament (FDM) printers, so you can’t make large pieces on them. They also tend to be a little slower than FDM printers as they have to cure. You will also have to wash the print and further cure it after it has printed to get the full effect.

There have been great strides to solve both these problems, though. You can now buy an excellent wash and cure station that can speed up the curing process considerably, and Peopoly has released an enormous printer called the Phenom that will resin print your parts on a much larger scale.

What is FDM printing?

Fused deposition modeling (FDM) is the style of printing you are likely most familiar with. A string of plastic called a filament is melted through a hot end and deposited on the build plate. The next layer is then placed on top of the previous layer.

FDM printing is used far and wide in modeling and for producing larger parts like cosplay armor and helmets. The nature of the printing makes it very easy to set up and very easy to learn. Most maker spaces around the country use FDM printers as they are cheap and reliable.

It’s only when you start wanting to make smaller models in finer detail that FDM printing can run aground. That isn’t to say that a well-tuned FDM printer can’t give you amazing detail, they can. If you look at the Joker model we used by Wekster you can see that although the model isn’t quite as nice as the resin version, it still looks very good.

So which should you buy?

That’s a good question. It all depends on the kind of printing you want to do.

If you are hoping to print miniatures for board games, highly detailed models, or production quality parts, then an SLA/DLP printer is the best choice. The level of resolution that a resin printer can bring is extraordinary.

If you are hoping to build large scale models, cosplay items like armor or helmets, or you are looking to rapidly produce prototypes, then an FDM 3D printer is likely the right choice for you. It gives you the greatest range of options at a great price.

There are a considerable array of FDM 3D printers on the market at a price point to suit every pocket. We chose to showcase the Prusa Mk3 here because it is the perfect mix of price, advanced features, and quality prints.