Form 2

Can't beat the ease of use and quality. 

Form2 is, in my opinion, the pinnacle in the consumer 3D printing market for miniatures. Prints are astoundingly smooth and detailed.  I routinely get asked if my parts are cast or injection-molded and askers are floored when I tell them they are 3D printed.  I work almost exclusively in the Grey resin, so I cannot comment on the other materials. 

Pros: 

Smooth, detailed final product

Excellent (but proprietary) software

Remarkable build volume considering the technology (SLA) (6"x6"x7")

Excellent US-based customer service (but heard of issues internationally.)

Cons:

Expensive to buy, expensive to operate. Grey Resin costs $150/L, current resin vats ($59) "wear out" every 2 L. Works out to be about ~$3.60/in^3.

Support material is almost always required, and uses work material, which is expensive. 

Post Process requires an IPA bath, and clipping and cleaning supports and support remnants from the work piece. 

I use it in my dental dental Lab, for dental models, Michigan’s guards , and it’s a big success.

My customers and visiting Patients are really impressed.

I hope to print acrylic Prothetics next time !

I think it important to write a review when you just start using a product.  these are the honest first impressions.

Perspective: A few years ago I purchased a FDM 3D printer from a well respected Dutch Manufacturer when I believed the product had reached a point I could use it at work and was relatively "plug and play".  While I still think it was a good printer it was not close to plug and play and took a lot of learning and "playing with" to get successful prints, feed speeds of the filament, filament jams, spools unwinding. heads requiring cleaning, truing the build platform, and so on.  I had a 40% success rate on that printer. 

Today:  I have long coveted the SLA type printers over FDM.  I looked at the Form 1 and though Formlab was a company on the right track for plug and play printer simplicity.  I waited until the brand matured some more and glad I did as they made some solid usability improvements on the original.

First impressions:

Setup is dead easy.  Quite intuitive if you are moderately technically inclined and following the instructions for the non technically inclined is easy.  Software dead easy to grasp.  I have only printed the example Formlab logo model that opens when you open the software for the first time.  Perfect print.  After this I printed a spiral vase I downloaded from Pinshape.com.  Easy to scale in the software  and easy to change settings.  I used the auto generated support.  This was a bit tedious to remove after print (FDM dual extruder with dissolvable filament for support is missed) but the software allows you to add and subtract support.  After reviewing the print it was easy to see how I should print the support in the next print so it is not tedious to remove. Printing was as easy as sending the print to the printer via wifi and then on the printer pushing go.  The printer prompts a few pre-start checks and then is fire and forget.

Firmware update of the printer was a snap.  

I am now considering getting the post processing tools, auto wash and curing booths.  They will make this a complete package work station.

only gripe so far is price... it is expensive, but I am happy with my purchase.

Well... first of all, this printer is amazing. The prints come out wonderfully and work perfectly... when they come out (I've a 90% success rate). It is kind of hard to do overly complex shapes, but when it does, it manages wonderfully. We have it at the place I work and I manage it. Love it. If you've the patience and need extremely good looking and detailed prints. get one... NOW!

I had some issues with the initial printer (i.e., it quit printing), but Formlabs service was great. They shipped a replacement printer right away and I've been up and running ever since. My first project was the 3D printed violin (designed by bchan) that I downloaded from pinshape.com. It came out great - I may even learn to play the violin now! The cost of the resin is high but worth it to me. I also wish I had the ability to control the printer remotely (i.e., start/stop/pause a print from anywhere/computer). This could be accomplished by giving some controls to PreForm, which I could then access remotely with TeamViewer (or like) - or they could let it connect to the IOT (or alexa!). Anyway, overall I'm loving my new Form 2.

My work owns one primarily for printing prototypes of mobile accessories. We've used both standard and flexible resin. The printer itself is very easy to set up and use, and the Preform software is very intuitive. I would say the most challenging thing about this printer is the supports. Not only placing them in the software, but carefully removing them from the printed model one by one, so as not to damage the print. I have noticed on a few prints that the supports slightly warped the surface.

Overall though the detail you can get from this printer is extremely impressive. Some sanding is required to get a perfect finish but compared to FDM printers the difference is staggering.

I’ve used Formlab’s Form 2 a little over a year and it has a success print rate of over 90%. Most failed prints come from resin cured on the tray and it’s time to be replaced. I use this printer to print all models except for edentulous or partially edntulous models and make bitesplints, retainers and surgical stents for guided surgery.  I also have form wash and cure and it is remarkable the difference in clean up and Hardness of our models with this process. 

Primary consideration is use of a DLP printer (Moonray) vs the SLA Form 2.  Both are great printers at an affordable price.  DLP is definitely faster and accurate.  Consider both before your purchase.  

I have loved using my Form 2 Printer.  I offer printing services in case anyone is interested.  Contact me through www.smaartist.com

It's been a great machine for me in prototyping, toys, maquettes, and gifts.  I've printed for many other people and all are happy and impressed with the quality of the prints that the Form 2 gives.

The Form 2 reliably produces high quality SLA prints at a reasonable price. The machine is easy to operate and maintain. The software is a bit buggy on a Mac, but runs well on a Windows platform. It is nice compliment to my Markforged FDM based machines.