If you want the diamond to sparkle, like have the light reflect back like a diamond. Have the trianlges near the band on bottom to be about 44 degrees and then have the inner "star" at 42 degrees. Resin usually has a RI of 1.50-15.4 which is "close" to quartz (1.54). So if you add that in, the light will be more inclined to reflect too. As you saw, there was a lot of grey bleeding through from the band, that is called windowing (in gem cutting that is a big no no). Also your "kite shape" part on top, make it look more kite shape, it'll help with the appearance more like a diamond. I am dealing with this issue myself, I did it different by casting a quartz piece I cut and then did it in resin. I'll try the clear coat to see if that fixes the dulled surfaces since my mirror surface on my quartz doesn't transfer. @hoffman engineering, if you want more details on how to make your gemstone stl prints better from a gem cutting perspective for better sparkle, let me know. Or look up Round Cut Brilliant diamond diagram and it'll give you the shape, angles and the number of facets you will need. Just wanted to help and hopefully it does. Not saying your prints weren't beautiful.
Your exposure is too high. Print calibration prints next time to avoid wasting time and resin.. The calibration prints will give you the exact settings you require for a perfect print. Whilst clear resins do need a longer exposure to clear, the fact that the resin is clear also allows light to diffuse throughout the print, so getting the exposure time correct is critical to getting successful prints.
@@Letsplayer9998just watched this now and 100% agree. As if you didn’t do a calibration test set after the first lumping of supports. Screamed Over exposure to me too. I’m still interested in testing this stuff out.
100% this. Clear resin is a pain. Any time I use a new brand I get a 500ml bottle as my "calibration bottle" just so I can 100% dial it in for different uses
There are 2 options for a better finish 1. Jewelers rouge- Blue all purpose is the best for plastics, followed by white. Gives a smoother finish than emery cloths 2. Hit the objects with a hi gloss coating using an airbrush. Another channel did it and the results were amazing. BTW, nice to see someone else is using a Longer Orange. Is yours a mono 4k?
The foam like body of those micro mesh pads will cause that youre over youre having. They make cloth like sheets. You can also try 3m polishing papers. Those will work really well for this. But you can even do 800-2000 grit sand paper and then use meguiars pro polishing compounds. The heavy cut and fine will really make things pop
Meguire's PlastX is a glaze, there's no abrasive in its formula but fillers. If you want a perfect last step polishing, you want to use a proper abrasive polish. Try Menzerna or 3M final finish polishes. Good luck 👍
That is good advice. I've seen plastix recommended elseware, and it seemed to work on some other resin dice. But I'll have to try out some of your recommendations!
@@HoffmanEngineering Like any greasy stuff, it fills scratches and the part looks better. But as soon as the glaze (which are mineral oils) disappear as times goes by, scratches are revealed again. I wish that makes sense. On the other hand, as you noticed, no fillers can provide the Cristal glass look you're looking for. You want a final finish diminishing abrasive polish: the superfine abrasive particles brakes down in smaller particles while polishing and leave a perfect surface finish. Feel free to give it a try. This technique is well known by hobby astrologists and concours car detailers. I've been using it for 30 years.
I'm looking for a clear resin that doesnt yellow over time, particularly for outdoor use. Do you have any updates on how this has held up over the past year? Any sign of discoloration or deterioration?
I made a chess board out of wood and epoxy resin. After wet sanding at 1000 grit, the resin was cloudy and I didn't have any polishing compound. I put some danish oil over the whole thing and because it's a type of finishing oil that cures over a few days, it actually filled in the imperfections caused by sanding and had a nice polished look. Don't know if it would work with 3d uv resin but it might.
Istruggled a lot with Nova3D cystal clear it is a full waste of time. I am very satisfied with Monocure 3D Tuff crystal Clear pro. Prints faster and therefore 25um layer are possible. IPA scrub with a soft brush cure In sunlight 30m under destilled water and spraycoat UV Resin with airbrush after drying. No sanding
I've been struggling with this stuff and had the same issues you experienced. The best way I found to keep the item as transparent as possible was to not rise the final product, but rather to let it drip dry, then spritz with IPA then final cure. The supports are still a big issue though.
I think you are over exposing. I know it says 3 times. But that looks like to much. That’s why your supports swell to together. When u over exposure everything swells. Also with the clear coat warm the can in hot water and spray on very thin in a few layers layers. Still that resin does look pretty good.
Lenses must be polished in a concave shape with the same shape as the lens. Then you turn rounds with a abrasive in thereunto it is all polished and smooth.
I might be wrong, but if I remember correctly, when sanding something with edges, you should always move in a straight pattern and that zigzag when you zigzag you run the risk of out the edges
This stuff is a PAIN to work with. While it does print pretty clear, anything with any kind of detail is gonna lose chunks due to this stuff being like glass.
after sanding and buffing rewash with distilled water let dry then use a brush to paint on resin let sit and then cure with uv, works best out of everything ive tired, also exposure calibration is absolutely key, 2.4 seconds at 80 percent uv on my mono x 6k was perfect for my machine and i dialed it on with cones of calibration by table flip foundry
@@HoffmanEngineering Their page on Amazon mentions painting a thin layer on with a brush before curing it to keep the transparency. I've not tested it myself yet, but I'll be doing so in the coming week
