The first thing I printed in resin was a disaster. Partially my fault, partially the machine’s, and mostly because I didn’t do enough research before pulling the trigger on a Saturn 4 Ultra. This is the post I wish had existed before I started.

The FEP Film

Nobody told me to check the FEP tension before the first print. Mine was slightly loose out of the box — a common enough issue that you’d think it’d be in the quick-start guide. It wasn’t. The result was a print that delaminated at layer thirty-two and deposited a hardened resin plate on the build surface. First lesson: tap the FEP with your finger before every print. It should ring like a drum, not thud like cardboard.

Supports Are an Art Form

FDM support strategies don’t translate to resin. The forces are completely different — you’re pulling every layer away from the FEP, so islands and overhangs fail in different ways. I spent two days just running test prints of the same model with different support densities, tip sizes, and penetration depths before I found settings that worked reliably. The Chitubox auto-support tool is a starting point, not a solution.

The Smell Is Real

I’d read that resin smells but didn’t take it seriously. Now I have a dedicated ventilated space with an activated carbon filter running constantly. Invest in PPE before you buy the printer — nitrile gloves, a proper respirator, safety glasses. Uncured resin is no joke.

The good news: once you’ve worked through all this, the quality ceiling is absolutely worth it. Nothing in FDM comes close to the detail you can get with a well-calibrated MSLA printer. It just takes longer to get there than the sales material suggests.