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If you have ever wondered how long it takes for 3D resins to cure, you will find the answer in this post. We wanted to know the time required for adequate 3D curing to occur, so our team set out to research and make our findings on the matter. Read on to find out the details of our findings.
How long does 3D resin take to cure? Small to average-sized standard resins can be cured in about 15 to 30 minutes or even less. The duration for post-curing, however, varies slightly for white, black, grey, and black standard resins. Contrary to standard resins, engineering resins can take as long as 1 hour or more to cure. In essence, the type and color of resin and the size of your 3D part will affect how long the post-curing process would take.
If you don’t allow your 3D printed resin to cure for the appropriate length of time, it would not attain optimum rigidity, temperature-resistance, and strength. This can, in turn, affect the structural integrity and durability of the 3D model. As you read on, we will talk about the ideal duration for curing and what it means to over-cure a 3D printed part.
How Long Does 3D Resin Take to Cure Under UV Light?
You can cure resin 3D prints in just a minute or even within seconds if they are very small and you are using a high UV wavelength. But curing average-sized prints could take as much as 30 minutes in the same conditions. Lower UV intensities (e.g. from sunlight) will take more time to cure your 3D prints, and larger prints will take more time to cure too.
The figures above are not absolute. If you check your 3D resin after the recommended length of time and the result is not satisfactory, you can continue post-curing for a bit longer. Ultimately, the duration for curing 3D resin will depend on the resin type, its color, model size, and the method of curing you’re using.
The same material that will cure in 15 minutes in a UV curing station may take several hours under sunlight. More so, curing resin under sunlight might cause some color change. Some high-end washing and curing machines are much faster and can cure the same material in about minutes. However, even for these machines, the settings you use will determine the duration and efficiency of the curing process. An ideal setting will deliver efficient results in the shortest possible time.
Factors Affecting How Long It Takes 3D Resin To Cure
Several factors including the surface area, geometry, and color or a 3D resin model can affect the duration of post-curing. Other factors that affect how long 3D resin takes to cure include the UV strength you are using, as well as temperature level.
In the sections that follow, we will look at some of these factors in more detail.
Surface Area and Geometry
Large-sized resin 3D prints require more time than small-sized or miniature prints. Besides, 3D parts with complex geometry also take a longer time to cure. For such 3D resin prints, you should use UV chambers with rotating plates. They cure complex 3D resins faster and more evenly.
Resin Color
Opaque materials like black or gray require more time than clear materials. Transparent or clear resin often requires less time because UV light penetrates through them more easily. Colored resin, on the other hand, is harder to penetrate and as such, takes a longer time.
UV Strength
Lower wavelengths (e.g. UV rays from direct sunlight) take more time than higher wavelengths, such as UV light from special UV curing stations. Besides, some UV stations have small lights while some others have huge ones. Larger curing lights consume more power than the smaller ones but they cure 3D resins faster.
If you are using sunlight, you should be prepared to stay longer for the post-curing process. To start with, the UV strength is usually subject to varying weather conditions. So the UV strength is not stable and you can’t easily determine how long curing would take.
Temperature
High heat helps resin post-curing to be faster because it makes the resins polymer network more available for cross-linking. So when temperature increases, the duration of curing would decrease. The light bulbs from UV chambers also provide heat, so this makes curing faster.
✅ Video – CURE UV RESIN FASTER, WITH WATER
This video explains how water helps UV resin to cure faster. Oxygen from the atmosphere usually diffuses into resins’ surface layer while printing. This can prevent 3D resin prints from curing completely. But when you submerge it in water, water counters oxygen inhibition and makes the post-curing process faster. Watch this video for a live demo on curing UV resin faster with water.
Can You Over-Cure UV Resin?
You can over-cure UV resin if you expose it to UV light for too long. After UV resin is fully-cured, extended UV exposure will eventually degrade it and make it brittle. Anyway, UV resin remains reactive to UV light after post-curing. So regular UV exposure over time will eventually damage resin material and break it down.
Since UV exposure over time can damage resin material, curing a resin 3D part for too long under high-intensity light will likewise damage it. But this is not a unique problem with resin. Extended exposure to intense UV light damages almost all organic materials. This could happen as a result of intense, high-wavelength UV exposure or from leaving the object under the hot sun.
That’s why it is not advisable to leave 3D resin materials or any other organic material close to the window where it will be exposed constantly to direct sunlight. Many people have described how their 3D resin prints become brittle and shatter easily after placing it on their window for a few weeks.
How Can You Prevent Over-Curing?
You can prevent over-curing your 3D resin prints by using the lowest UV exposure level possible. Low wavelengths shouldn’t destroy resin prints. Also, keep the 3D print under UV light for the lowest time possible to achieve optimum mechanical properties. This means you should try avoiding leaving resin prints in a UV chamber over the night.
Extreme temperatures can also cause over-curing. Higher temperatures will make UV light penetrate dense 3D models better, so it makes curing faster. This means that over-curing is more likely to occur under high temperatures.
Related Questions
How Dangerous Is UV Resin?
Resin is quite dangerous to human health, as well as to the environment before it is fully cured. UV resin is especially toxic to the skin. As such, prolonged and/or regular exposure can cause skin complications. Any part of the body that comes in direct contact with untreated (or improperly treated) resin can get hurt. But there should be no health hazard if you occasionally come in contact with resin accidentally.
UV resin is also very toxic to the environment. The major concern with environmental safety is with unsafe and improper disposal of resin substances. Resin is especially very unsafe for aquatic ecosystems. As such, if you want to dispose of resin, you should not do so near water bodies. If you do so, you will be causing harm to different aquatic animals. This can, in turn, affect plant life and the entire ecosystem.
Can You Cure UV Resin with an LED Lamp?
Any LED lamp that is 4 watts or more can cure UV Resin. This means that you can use UV LED light to cure UV resin. This might be a cheap solution for curing miniature 3D resins, like nails. But the UV light may not be strong enough for larger models, as well as some types of resins.
Some experts recommend LED resin as the best type of UV resin. For starters, LED resins form fewer air bubbles. It also takes less time to cure. What’s more, the price of LED resin is relatively lower.
How Do You Wash And Cure Resin Prints?
After printing a resin model, you should wash it in an Isopropyl Alcohol bath before curing it. To do this, you should submerge the resin print in an Isopropyl Alcohol container. After 3 minutes, swirl the 3D resin printed part around to remove any extra resin. After washing the model, you can then cure it by exposing it to UV light and heat.
Cleaning 3D resin can be quite messy if you do it manually. That is why many people use all-in-one solutions to wash and cure resin prints. These machines assist in washing resin prints and then emit UV light for full curing.
Conclusion
As you have seen, the time it takes for 3D resins to cure varies by many factors. We have explained these different factors in this post. We have also explained the risk of over-curing 3D resins and how to avoid it. Hopefully, this and other information in this post has given you a better understanding of 3D resin curing and how long it could take for different materials and in different situations.
