Formlabs Form 3 SLA Printer Co-Ops

Formlabs Form 3 Consumables and Cooperative Purchasing

Resin and trays are expensive. Trays wear out after about 2 liters of use, so they are also considered consumables. If you wish to use the printers without sharing any resources (after authorization), then you would need to purchase a cartridge of resin ($150) and a tray ($150). If you choose that option, then you would purchase both of these items and insert and remove both items into the printer before each printing session and you would be responsible for storing your materials. If you would like to start making 3D resin prints without this initial investment, you may join a “co-op” which is a group of up to 8 people who share both a cartridge and a tray that can only be used for that particular cartridge. Each co-op member contributes about $40 and commits to using 1/8 of the cartridge or less over a 2-month period. (cartridges are factory-chipped, so each tray is tied to about 2-3 cartridges before they need to be replaced. NOTE: You can’t use one tray with both grey and clear resin, for example. Trays can’t really be emptied and cleaned before a different resin is used)

Types of Co-Ops

• Low Volume Printers Co-op - About 125 ml of use over 60 days (cartridge is 1 liter).
• Professional Printer’s Co-op – Over 100 ml of resin per month.
• Wax Resin Co-op: for Form 3 users who intend to create “lost-wax casts” with their prints.

What about 3rd party resins and 3rd-party trays?

Only Formlabs products can be used. No 3rd-party products are allowed on the Form 3 at this time. We are looking into the purchase of a low-cost 2nd resin printer that we can be more rogue with.