SLA and DLP 3D printers such as the Anycubic Photon (review) are great, the resin they print with not so much. After the printer is finished the print must be cleaned up in isopropyl alcohol, dried, and then cured in UV light. The free option is to set it out in the sun for a few hours, but who has a few hours? You could purchase a UV curing station such as the FormLabs curing chamber, but at $600 that can be prohibitively pricey for home users. Below I will detail how to construct a cheap but effective UV curing chamber for your prints.
Shopping List
- A box, large enough to hold your largest print
- Aluminum foil
- Scotch tape
- UV lamp
- Solar powered turn table
Steps To Build a UV Curing Station
Step 1. Get a Foil Lined Box
I used the shipping box that my printer supplies came in, but any large enough box or container should suffice. Smoother sides will of course be easier to cover with foil.
Line the interior surfaces of the box with foil. Use the scotch tape to hold it in place. The goal here is to ensure that the UV light bounces around the chamber and evenly cures your print.
Step 2. Get a Lid For the Box
The hole in the lid should be slightly smaller than the size of your lamp. This is the lid from a shoe box that just happened to fit the shipping box nicely.
Your box absolutely needs a lid (also lined with foil) unless you want a painful burn. Cut a hole in it slightly smaller than the UV lamp you are using. Make sure when the lid is on the box that there isn’t any light leakage, if so use some foil to better seal it.
Step 3. Add a Turn Table
The solar powered turn table isn’t strictly necessary but is really does work nicely and ensures that your prints get uniform exposure.
Place your solar powered turntable in the bottom of the box. The position should ideally be directly below the hole in the lid so your prints get maximum UV exposure. I lined the top of the turntable with foil as well incase any of my prints dripped any uncured resin.
Step 4. Add a UV Light Source
When buying a UV lamp ensure that it outputs the same wavelength range as the resin you want to cure reacts to.
Place the UV light on top of the box lid. Make sure it is stable in that position and the cord isn’t being pulled too hard. Light it up and check if the turntable is moving.
Step 5. Test Cure a Print With the Chamber
Curing some parts for an X-Wing printed on the Anycubic Photon using Siraya Blu resin.
Your curing chamber is complete. Print something out and give it a test run. Curing times will vary by the resin you are using, size, and exposed surface area. Translucent resins will likely cure a bit faster but clear resin will likely yellow in color if left curing too long. In general I try to cure my Siraya Blu prints for about 30 minutes on each side.
Ideal curing conditions for most resins also specify a target temperature, that is the improvement you are paying for with a professional product like the FormLabs curing chamber. In theory if you are not using flammable material such as the cardboard box I used you could add temperature probes and a heat source to add this functionality. Personally I haven’t had any issues with curing my prints at room temperature (see our Anycubic photon review for examples). Hopefully you found this guide helpful as a cheap but effective way to build a UV curing chamber for resin 3D prints. If you have any questions or built one of these yourself we would love to hear about it in the comments below.
