I’ve to confess, earlier than testing the Saturn 4 Extremely, I had gotten tired of resin printers. It appeared that producers didn’t know how you can meaningfully enhance the system with out burdening the consumer with specialty resins and expensive consumable elements. Elegoo has realized that they don’t actually need to make their printers greater, quicker or with extra decision. What we want is a printer that’s simpler to make use of.
The Saturn 4 Extremely delivers, with quick and crispy 12k prints utilizing peculiar resin and the identical PFA movies we’ve seen on Saturn’s for years. The enhancements are inside the machine itself – it has auto leveling with built-in sensors, a print monitoring digital camera that may additionally shoot time lapses, and a vat that lightly peels every layer off the movie by tilting.
The vat isn’t the one factor that tilts, so does the hood. The hood – which protects the uncured resin from ambient UV publicity – is on a hinge that may be tilted again with one hand. No extra grabbing the lid with two arms and looking for a spot to set it down. This will likely appear to be a small element, however it’s an enormous assist, particularly when you might have restricted work area.
Launching with a pre-sale worth of $399 on Elegoo’s web site, the Saturn 4 Extremely is a superb deal for a excessive decision, mid-size printer and one of many greatest resin 3D printers we’ve seen in a very long time and one of many greatest 3D printers general.
Specs: Elegoo Saturn 4 Extremely
| Construct Quantity | 218.8 x 122.8 x 220 mm (8.5 x 4.8 x 8.6 inches) |
| LCD Display | 10.1″ Monochrome |
| Gentle Supply | COB Gentle Supply + Fresnel Collimating Lens |
| X/Y Axis Decision | 19x 24 microns |
| Regular Publicity Time | 2.5 seconds |
| Interface | 4” Contact Panel |
| Connectivity | USB, WiFi |
| Machine Footprint | 327.4 x 329.2 x 548 mm (12.8 x 12.9 x 21.6 inches) |
| Machine Weight | 14.5 kg (32 lbs) |
Included within the Field: Elegoo Saturn 4 Extremely
The Elegoo Saturn 4 Extremely contains all the things you should get began as quickly as you unbox the printer. You get a metallic scraper for the construct plate, a plastic scraper for the discharge movie, paper funnels, disposable gloves, disposable masks, a set of Allen keys, an influence twine with adapter and a printed guide. It additionally comes with an affordable plastic drip tray.
Additionally within the field is a USB thumb drive preloaded with Chitubox slicing software program, a PDF of the guide and presliced take a look at prints.
Printing Security with Elegoo Saturn 4 Extremely
The Elegoo Saturn 4 Extremely requires the identical security precautions as different resin printers. Uncured resin is harmful, and the solvents used to scrub your prints will be irritating to the pores and skin. Use gloves and security glasses when pouring resin and dealing with uncured prints.
Make certain the room you utilize your resin printer in is well-ventilated to keep away from inhaling fumes. Spilled or dripped resin must be instantly cleaned with 99% isopropyl alcohol. After printing, be certain that to wipe down your printer and bottles to take away smudges of uncured resin. At all times hold your resin tightly sealed and safely saved out of attain of pets and kids.
Assembling the Elegoo Saturn 4 Extremely
The printer comes absolutely assembled. You solely must take away the packing supplies, and also you’re good to go.
Calibrating the Construct Plate on the Elegoo Saturn 4 Extremely
Not like different resin printers, the Saturn 4 Extremely doesn’t require guide calibration. It has a mechanical sensor that detects how properly the plate and glass are becoming collectively and might regulate accordingly.
Design of the Elegoo Saturn 4 Extremely
The Saturn 4 Extremely is a mid-sized resin printer with a really trendy really feel. It has an all-black shell with Elegoo’s stripe sample on the hood, and futuristic angles constructed into the design. The display screen is off centered, and arrange portrait fashion. All of the buttons and ports are on the right-hand measurement, which is sweet as this printer is an effective 30 kilos and never one thing you need to spin round to search out the off swap.
Probably the most noticeable distinction is the hinged UV hood. Most printers are nonetheless utilizing a lift-off field sort hood, which is unhandy at greatest – and likewise requires having chunk of empty counter area close by. This hood swings upward with one hand. It’s an enormous enchancment, however I’d nonetheless wish to see a deal with on the lid. I’m typically opening or closing the lid after dealing with uncured resin, which may go away ugly smudges in your machine for those who fail to scrub them in time.
It’s a “sensible” printer with a number of auto options to help you. While you flip it on, it’ll run by way of a guidelines to ensure all of the parts are working. It has sensors to ensure you have sufficient resin, and it may well additionally inform if bits of a failed mannequin are nonetheless caught to the vat to forestall harm.
The AI digital camera is a blended bag – it may well detect an empty plate, however solely as soon as the plate is above the vat, which is round 50mm. Likewise, it may well’t create time lapses on something shorter than 50mm. It has “warp detection” however it needs to be very apparent – no alarm was sounded on the print beneath which began to peel up and about.
The digital camera may be very useful for monitoring your prints, however it wants Chitu Supervisor switched on for it to work, which isn’t defined within the instructions.
The printer additionally auto ranges itself, so there’s no fumbling round with a chunk of paper and a hex key. We’ve lengthy had auto leveling on the FDM facet of 3D printing, it’s great to see this function in resin.
The Saturn 4 Extremely has 12K decision (11,520 x 5120) on a ten.1-inch monochrome LCD display screen. This overwhelming variety of pixels achieves a 19 micron accuracy on the X axis, which is extremely crisp, particularly when you think about {that a} human hair averages 70 microns. We’ve reached a degree of decision the place layer traces merely disappear.
The construct plate on the is laser-etched, which holds prints properly whereas nonetheless being pretty simple to scrape off. The highest of the plate isn’t fairly sloped sufficient to get all of the resin again into the vat, and the big block between the plate and the latch makes cleansing it unhandy. On the plus facet, the machine comes with a drip tray you’ll be able to wrap across the vat to comprise resin droplets, and the vat has a superb no-drip pour spout for getting resin again into the bottle.
A scratch resistant display screen protector is taped over the LED glass on the manufacturing unit.
The contact display screen is much like different Elegoo resin printers and is properly thought out and straightforward to make use of.
Slicers Appropriate with the Elegoo Saturn 4 Extremely
The Elegoo Saturn 4 Extremely ships with a free copy of ChituBox Fundamental, which does all the things you want. It handles helps mechanically, has instruments for hollowing the mannequin and including a drainage gap so you’ll be able to preserve resin.
The Saturn 4 Extremely will not be but supported by LycheeSlicer.
Washing and Curing Your Prints
Earlier than you’ll be able to admire your prints, you’ll must wash them with Isopropyl alcohol and treatment with UV mild. I like to offer prints a 30-second hand rinse in a container of 95% Isopropyl alcohol, then a 2-minute rinse within the Elegoo Wash and Treatment station, which is offered individually, and is at the moment on sale for $159 on Amazon.
Fully dry the print with a hair dryer on cool – IPA left on the print will flip white. You may also let the print air dry in a spot away from daylight.
Helps are simpler to take away earlier than curing as a result of they’re softer. Clip the helps off with facet cutters and use tweezers to take away cussed helps. Bear in mind to all the time put on gloves whereas dealing with uncured prints.
Then place the print in a UV curing station for a couple of minutes, or exterior in vibrant daylight for a couple of hours.
Your IPA ought to by no means be flushed down the drain, particularly after being contaminated with uncured resin. As a substitute, hold utilizing the resin till it’s too soiled, then go away the container open to evaporate. The remaining sludge will be cured with UV mild or the solar earlier than being thrown away.
Helps must also be cured earlier than being thrown away.
Pattern Prints on the Elegoo Saturn 4 Extremely
I’ve been utilizing the identical mannequin – Wekster’s Rocket – once I take a look at resin printers, so I’ve one thing constant to match. This was printed in Elegoo 8K Customary resin utilizing the default Chitubox settings, a .05 mm layer peak, and a 3.5 second layer publicity time. This print took 3 hours and 13 minutes, which is fairly common. The outcomes are wonderful, with clear and clear particulars across the tooth on Rocket and the vines on Child Groot.
For comparability, this identical mannequin was printed in one hour and 31 minutes on the Anycubic M5s, a real excessive pace printer, utilizing related resin.
I loaded the Saturn 4 Extremely with Phrozen’s Aqua Gray 8K to see how it could do with a distinct model of resin, and I used to be comfortable to see the Saturn had no bother in any respect. This D&D miniatures printed very clear with lovely particulars. These printed in 2 hours and 12 minutes utilizing a 3.5 publicity time and a .05 mm layer peak.
I’ll admit that I’ve been printing loads of dragons these days, so I used to be curious how a Cinderwing dragon would do in resin with the Saturn 4 Extremely. I picked the Rose dragon, which has extraordinarily delicate flower petals throughout the physique – which the Saturn printed with none concern. I didn’t hassle hollowing it, and I additionally printed it flat on the plate with out helps. It got here up and about with just a bit little bit of chisel persuasion. That is printed with Inland’s funds priced Customary vibrant crimson resin. I didn’t should make any changes to the print settings, and it printed with a .05 layer peak, utilizing a 3.5 publicity time in a single hour and 21 minutes.
For comparability, a Bambu Lab P1P on its best setting and utilizing 99 partitions to attain an analogous thickness, would take 12 hours and 42 minutes to print this identical mannequin.
Backside Line
The Elegoo Saturn 4 Extremely is an astounding machine with a outstanding stage of element and beneficiant construct quantity. At 19 microns of decision, we’ve hit a wall on the quantity of element we will admire with the bare eye. Elegoo lastly made a selection to enhance the printer itself and never simply the sunshine supply, giving us a built-in digital camera, handy hinged hood and a tilting vat that will increase print pace with out the necessity to get additional wonderful (and costly) resin.
Priced at $399, the Elegoo Saturn 4 Extremely is an inexpensive worth for a function wealthy machine that has ample construct quantity and a great deal of decision. By pairing up with a longtime slicer software program, the Saturn 4 Extremely is extremely easy to make use of for anybody beginning out with a resin machine.
If you happen to’re not prepared for a subsequent stage machine and need to strive one thing extra fundamental, take a look at our Finest for Freshmen Anycubic Photon Mono 2 for $259. If you need a smaller printer for crafting miniatures, take a look at the Mars 3 Professional which is virtually a steal at $184.
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