processing instructions for Liqcreate Premium White 3D-printing resin

1) Shake before use & stir before print

For most resin, shaking for a couple minutes is advised, especially after longer storage to get a homogeneous mixture before printing. Same goes for Liqcreate Premium White. Shake for a couple minutes and let the resin rest for a couple minutes before using. During shaking the resin is homogenized, but some air bubbles will be present. If you start a print job right after shaking, air bubbles might be present in the first layers of the part. Before starting a new print it is advised to quickly stir the resin. After extended waiting times there can be some white pigments on the bottom of the resin tank.

2) 3D-printing parameters.

Liqcreate Premium White 3D-printing resin is designed for open compatibility on 405nm and 385nm DLP, MSLA, LCD and laser-based resin 3D-printers. It is important that the 3D-printer is open for 3^rd party resins and parameters can be adjusted. A lot of parameters are already prepared and listed on our website. Click on your actual printer to see if Liqcreate Premium White parameters are available. If that is not the case, send an e-mail to our technical team at info@liqcreate.com and they will try to help.

3) Support settings

Support settings are depending on the type of resin in combination with the type of printer, release mechanism, type of material used as film in the resin tank and also the secondary settings like print speed. With the extreme growth of available resin 3D-printers in the past years, it is impossible to give validated support settings for each printer. In this section you can find settings for some generic printers, design and print speed. We tested a standard design with different settings. If your part is more bulky / large cross-section for each layer, then the support tip thickness or intersection might need to be increased.

Image by Liqcreate: General support settings as a starting point for Liqcreate Premium White. Zoom browser to get detailed values.

4) Cleaning, washing and post-curing your part.

Washing is similar to other Liqcreate resins. wash in either IPA, Ethanol or Liqcreate resin cleaner. For resin cleaner the cleaning instructions on that webpage can be used. For IPA and Ethanol they can be used in an ultrasonic cleaner or cleaner with agitation (like the new low costs Anycubic / Elegoo washing unit). Preferably 2 times for 3 minutes washing and the second time in fresh IPA / ethanol. If there are small cavities that are not cleaned by this method, then use a soft brush to clean them out and wash in fresh solvent again for 1 minute. Then let the part dry.

Before post-curing, inspect that the part is dry and completely free from solvent (no shiny resin spots on the surface). Otherwise wash again in fresh solvent for 1 minute. Do not wash for longer than necessary as parts can deform when exposed to IPA / Ethanol for >20 minutes when not fully cured. Also be careful if your parts are thin (<2mm) and the IPA in the ultrasonic cleaner is warm (>30°C), parts can warp. If you notice this, either make the parts thicker or wait until the temperature of the IPA is below 30°C.

When small holes and tight corners are difficult to clean, then brushing with a soft brush is advised to clean these specific areas. After brushing, rinse in fresh IPA / ethanol to get all resin leftovers cleaned.

UV post-curing is important to achieve optimal properties and chemical resistance with Premium White. UV post-curing in a heated curing unit, cure for 30 minutes at 60°C gives the best results. For applications that do not require its maximum chemical compatibility or properties, 30 minutes curing in an entry level curing unit can be sufficient. Extended post-curing information and settings for different curing units can be found in this link.

5) How to clean / filter the resin?

When a part failed during printing, it is always advised to clean your resin tank. This is usually done by filtering the resin to make sure all rigid plastic pieces are gone. If cured resin parts are present when you start a new print, they can damage your FEP film of even your LCD screen. A standard resin filter will work sufficiently to filter Premium White resin.

6) Minimum wall thickness.

The advised average minimal wall thickness for Liqcreate Premium White is 2mm. it is possible to print finer details in local areas. Also larger thin walls can be printed but will require extra support structures for successful printing.

7) Part orientation and over-hang.

It is not advised to print large and relatively flat parts on supports. if possible, always print at an angle to prevent large bottom surfaces as the quality when printing in an angle is much better. In this test we printed a part from Thingiverse and also made a modification on it to see at which angle the parts can be printed. The thingiverse file was rather solid, while our own modification had a wall thickness of 2.0 mm.

Image: Testing printing angle with the Thingiverse (Thing 40382) file and a small modification of it with thinner walls (2.0 mm).

As expected with a rigid resin the part pritned wel even with an angle of 65°. But what you see is that the 2mm thick part starts to deform slightly and bottom layers are less accurate at an angle above 45° and the dense part at an angle above 55°. It is advised to support parts from 40°.

Image: test to print at different angle without supports with Liqcreate Premium White resin.

8) Part surface finish or fuzzy / sticky surface.

Printed parts from Liqcreate Premium White are opaque white and have a shiny surface finish during printing. The surface gets semi-matte after post-processing, however this is depending on the printer. Parts can be polished or coated to get a glossy surface finish.

In some cases it can happen that the surface of printed parts with Premium White are a fuzzy or sticky. Usually this happens when the print parameters are not correct. Too much over-exposure or under-exposure during printing can lead to poor surfaces. these are often difficult to wash and even after UV post-curing they are still sticky. If you need assistance with this, please send some pictures of your parameters and part surface to info@liqcreate.com and our technical team will assist.

9) Shrinkage compensation.

Tested on the Uniformation GKTwo, the shrinkage compensation in Chitubox to get better accuracy can be found in the picture below. If you need super accurate parts, it is worth to read this article and find already tested pre-settings in this article.

Image: Shrinkage / tolerance compensation for Premium White in Chitubox tested on the Uniformation GKTwo.

10) Resin temperature.

It is advised to print with Liqcreate Premium White  resin at at 20°C / 68°F and maximum at 25°C / 77°F. printing at lower temperature causes random failure in the material. Excessive heating can lead to print defects is not advised.

11) Solving print failures with Liqcreate Premium White resin.

There are a lot of common resin 3D-printing issues. In this article you can find 10 common resin 3D-printing fails and how to solve them. If you have need support, send is an e-mail at info@liqcreate.com and our technical team will try to assist.

12) Storage conditions.

Store the product in its original bottle, plug and cap at minimal 5°C / 41°F and maximum 30°C / 86°F. Avoid sources of heat, radiation, static electricity, sunlight and contact with food.

13) Chemical compatibility & Additional information.

Liqcreate Premium White is an unique 3D-printing photopolymer resin with extremely stable white color, ideal for medical models, architectural models and lithophanes.

• – Liqcreate Premium White product page
• – Chemical compatibility of Liqcreate Premium White
• – 3D-printing lithophanes with Liqcreate Premium White
• – Technical Datasheet Liqcreate Premium White
• – 3D-printing parameters of Liqcreate Premium White

If you have any questions when working with Liqcreate Premium White resin, send us an e-mail at info@liqcreate.com.

Premium White

Liqcreate Premium White is the most opaque white resin available. This white photopolymer  has excellent UV-stability, with almost no yellowing upon exposure. Due to its rigidity and high stability it is ideal for the manufacturing of medical and architectural models. Liqcreate Premium White can print fast and is easy to use on open MSLA / LCD and DLP 3D-printers in the range of 385 – 420nm.