The Lite3DP Gen 2 3D Printer builds on the success of its predecessor. With a new and improved design, an ESP32 microcontroller replacing the Arduino Pro Mini, and several other improvements, the Lite3DP Gen 2 is well-suited for making small, detailed resin prints.
It is slightly bulkier than the Lite 3DP S1 3D printer but is still compact enough to fit into a bag. Gen 2 has been designed to maintain backward compatibility with the older model, and owners of existing Lite3DP printers can use the Gen 2 dev kit to upgrade their printers.
The resin 3D printer is completely open-source (firmware, hardware, and software), and you can use the schematics, Gerber files, code, and other resources hosted in the GitHub repository to build a different kind of mSLA resin printer.
Lite3DP Gen 2 key features & specifications:
- Electronics – All-in-one PCB with ESP32 microcontroller, high-res LCD, an ultra-silent TMC2209 driver for the Nema 8 stepper motor, and other components
- Firmware: Arduino
- Technology – MSLA // LCD-SLA
- Resolution – XY: 0.115 mm; Z: 0.025, 0.05, and 0.1 mm
- Build volume (W x L x H) – 36.7 x 48.8 x 80 mm
- Tray volume – 50 cm³ for the liquid resin
- Compatible resins – All UV 405 nm resins (standard, industrial, flexible, castable, dental, etc.)
- Print speed – up to 40 mm/h
- Data input – micro SD card autonomous operation
- Misc – Buttons, capacitive touch buttons, passive heat dissipation, touchscreen
- Power Supply – 12 V, 5.5×2.1 mm, ≥1 A)
- Power consumption – less than 10 W
- Dimensions – 100 x 100 x 167 mm
- Weight – 470 grams (16.6 oz.)
The Gen 2 resin 3D printer doesn’t have the prettiest specifications and feature list. Still, its open-source nature means it is going to be easier to repair, maintain, and customize than the commercial options in the market. It is also cheaper than the alternatives, at $229 for the pre-assembled product and only $115 for the dev kit. That excludes the shipping fee, $8 to the United States and $18 to the rest of the world.
Lite3DP Gen 2 launched on Crowd Supply last November and funding will end on Dec 21. If you are interested in this mini, open-source resin 3D printer, you can place an order on Crowd Supply for either the full printer or the dev kit.
Tomisin is a writer specializing in hardware product reviews, comparisons, and explainers. He is very passionate about small form factor and single-board computers.
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My Bias: I am a backer of the Gen2 and have no connection to the producers of the product. I have no experience with SLA printing and only limited experience with FDM printers.
I think it is a promising product. While you can get much larger printers for similar cost, I’m actually excited about the prospect of having a small resin printer.
The device shouldn’t take up much space and the smaller resin tank should be easier to manage and keep clean. I’m planning on running it from inside my FDM printer enclosure to take advantage of its exhaust venting. Their crowdsupply page is well organized and describes the printer very well along with comparisons with similar printers. Recently they’ve even put up a few interesting “deep dive” updates about different features of the device.
The github site isn’t very useful. While it has schematics as well as .STLs for the plastic parts, the important bits are custom metal parts and the device is centered around what what is described as a “Custom LCD” in the BOM. No firmware at all, though without shipping hardware it wouldn’t be useful at this time anyway.
Basically, the campaign “feels right.” I’m hopeful for this one.
Thank you for your insight.
After some reflection, I think my comments about the ghitub site sound critical. The printer is not being positioned as being some kind of super-hackable device. It is meant to be a high quality turn-key system with study aluminum and injection molded parts. The site does provide printable designs for most parts if anyone wants to use them, but the core parts are meant to be a durable and relatively high-precision items. This isn’t a kit printer, it is built around a specific display, stepper motor/leadscrew and gantry assembly. If you were going to build those parts you’d be building different printer (nothing wrong with that, but that is not the project goal)!
As for software on the site, I am also wrong about that: There is code for the arduino OLED display screen and some support libraries, but I don’t see anything for the ESP-32 that is doing the actual control work. If there is going to be any “hacking” on the platform, it is going to be the software side. On the other hand, the projected delivery for the units is more than 6 months away… what would be the point of releasing any of the core code (which is likely to get more development changes before the product is released) now when there is nothing to run it on?
Less than two days left of their campaign – here’s hoping the amount raised goes a significant way to covering the costs of developing the Lite3DP Gen2 that is already very advanced compared with most crowd funding projects.
Also fingers crossed that this leads to the level of development in mSLA printing that we’ve already seen in open source FDM designs.