Recently I found out the hard way that direct sun light curing for 3d resin printed parts just doesn’t work so well when the parts are small and flat.  On cloudy days it was okay but It just took too long.  In order to speed up the curing process for my 3D printed parts, I have to invest in a resin curing light.

With great review from the Formlabs forum, I went ahead and purchased my UV Sterilizer.  This thing is super large and very industrial like.  Its white chassis and tinted front swing down door along with a $80 price tag made it a great deal.

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I did some test curing and it worked as suggested however it did take about 2-4 hours depending on the size of the part.  I did some more research and found that the standard bulb can be replaced with a buld with a peak wavelength of 368nm.  Although not 405nm light what Formlabs use to cure their resin, it was close enough…. closer than what came with the UV Sterilizer unit. I went ahead and ordered the bulb from the link below.. (TOPBULB)

Heres the new Formlabs 3d printer.  Click on the link to check it out: https://amzn.to/2NlH3Wj

Heres the sterilizer:  https://amzn.to/2lOUotK

http://www.topbulb.com/8w-t5-fluorescent-blacklight-blue-miniature-bipin-base

The top bulb was the new bulb and the bottom bulb was the one that came with the unit.  Right away one can tell which one will output the “black light” wavelength.

The price is not bad and shipping was fast.  I had an issue with the first bulb(it did not work) but with one email, they shipped me out a replacement.  Great customer service!  Now it was time for testing.  I did 3 test with 3 different parts and they all cured in about 30 minutes.  I made sure the parts were cleaned thoroughly in alcohol and then let it sat in the UV box for curing.  I only wished this unit came with a timer so I can set it and forget it.