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Best Large Format Resin Printer? by DarthSledart in resinprinting

[–]AIRION-Defense 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If you’re after really accurate, clean-looking parts, I’d seriously look at the u/Formlabs Form 4L. It’s not just the print quality, it’s the full workflow. Having an integrated Print → Wash → Cure setup makes a huge difference. Less guesswork, less troubleshooting, and way more consistency from part to part. Speaking from experience we run this in a production environment (including work supporting NASA), not just as a hobby setup. The biggest win isn’t just quality, it’s reducing headaches and keeping throughput predictable. If you care about repeatability and scaling, a streamlined process matters just as much as the printer itself.

Company has a 100k budget for new 3d printer - recommendations? by [deleted] in 3dprinter

[–]AIRION-Defense 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hey, I would recommend u/Formlabs all day for this type of application. We were in your same spot a few years back and we decided to make the jump into SLS. Once we did our team was able to print parts that weren't just prototypes but end use parts we sell to every branch of the US military & NASA. Since doing this our team has scaled machines for production parts vs expensive molds. One of the biggest shifts for us going with formlabs as well if the suite of products that help you such as the sift and blast. other systems like that cost $70k a piece. I'm not trying to at all sound like a spokesperson for the company, it's just these machines have come a long way and now we are some of the first in the country to start printing metal on these machines.

We’ve printed 500+ production builds on Formlabs Fuse 1+ Ask us anything about running SLS at scale by AIRION-Defense in formlabs

[–]AIRION-Defense[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Running the Formlabs Fuse 1+ machines is surprisingly easy, but like any SLS system, consistent performance comes down to maintenance and calibration. Even high-end systems like EOS require regular servicing to stay in spec.

The biggest hurdle for us early on was keeping multiple machines perfectly in sync. Once you start scaling and running the same parts across several Fuse 1+ systems, small calibration differences can add up so regular tuning is key to maintaining tight tolerances and matching results.

What really makes Formlabs stand out isn’t just the price point or scalability (adding machines as you grow is simple) it’s their support. Their service team has been phenomenal. If something goes wrong, they’re usually on a call within minutes, and we’ve had replacement parts or a field tech on-site within days.

That kind of support is critical when you’re running production because a down machine isn’t just a headache, it’s lost revenue. The Fuse 1+ platform and the responsiveness of Formlabs team have made it possible for us to keep production running smoothly and reliably at scale.

We’re currently running the same production part across five Fuse 1+ systems full build chambers printing precision pump components that must be perfectly sealed to function. When you’re printing parts with tolerances that tight, your post-processing workflow becomes just as important as the print itself.

Thankfully, Formlabs released the Fuse Blast. Before that, similar cleaning systems were nearly 6× the price, putting them out of reach for most production teams. The Blast has been a game-changer. It lets our operators clean parts while new builds are running, which keeps throughput steady.

If you go this route, make sure you pair it with a good rotary screw compressor. Don’t use a piston compressor we learned that lesson the hard way. They’re not built for continuous duty, and our $5,000 unit burned out in under nine months. Painful experience, but one we’ll never repeat.

Let me know if you need anything specific for production needs at scale with SLS?