Repairing broken SLA resin parts

[thierry laurent]

Hi guys,

 

Printed SLA resin parts can be very nice but they have a major drawback: they are VERY brittle! So, if you do not handle or package them cautiously, here's what you can get:

 

Ouch! Useless to say this is not a glamorous state...  My single part was a close to twenty parts puzzle!

However, do not dispair, even in such a case! Even in extremely messy situations, it is generally possible to repair things. Indeed, if the printed resin is brittle, it generally breaks in a "clean" way. This means that if you can identify the different pieces and where they should be to rebuild the full part, you can reassemble the broken pieces as a minikit! Simply take your time, only use very thin CA glue and you will be able to recreate a correct part. This asks for time and the part may not be as good as the initial one without sanding, priming and so on... Nonetheless, this may save a modelling project! Here's the result after a short hour of work. I just tried to repair it as a challenge because the producer will send me a replacement part. However, I was amazed at what can be done with some patience! Last, keep in mind I just did a quick sanding of the seams and did not allocate further time to remove the surface blemishes resulting from the repair process!

[BiggTim]

Ouch, but nice save. If that had happened to me, I would have binned it and printed another one.....

 

And you're right, most standard SLA resin is pretty tough, but brittle like polycarbonate - when it goes, it just explodes!

 

Tim

[thierry laurent]

12 hours ago, BiggTim said:

Ouch, but nice save. If that had happened to me, I would have binned it and printed another one.....

 

And you're right, most standard SLA resin is pretty tough, but brittle like polycarbonate - when it goes, it just explodes!

 

Tim

Actually it had not been correctly packaged to avoid the risk of being crushed (too souple box). The guy who printed them will send me a new one with another order I made. I just wanted to know if this extreme case was still repairable!

[Gene K]

Thierry,

 

You can mix resins to make them less brittle. -- many discussions on line. I've avoided the problem since I've switched to ABS-Like resin, specifically this.   

 

As concerns putting resin pieces back together, a good alternative to CA is to use the same resin -- brush a thin layer into the join and use a UV penlight like this to set the resin. Less expensive lights are available, and you may also want to consider eye protection.

 

Gene K