On the 2nd of September 2020, Anycubic celebrated its the 5th year anniversary with the release of new printers. Next to their offering in FDM printers, Anycubic also released a new range of LCD / MSLA printers. These printers are the successors of the successful Anycubic Photon. With the release of these new printers, Anycubic is expanding its offering to faster and bigger 3d-printers, addressing an important need in the current resin printing market. The new printers are called: Anycubic Photon Mono SE, Anycubic Photon Mono and the Anycubic Photon Mono X.
Source picture: All3DP.com, Anycubic Photon Mono vs Mono SE vs Mono X: The Differences.
What are the differences between these Anycubic Photon resin 3D-printers?
There are many differences between the 3D-printer offering of Anycubic. The regular Photon is probably getting sold-out and replaced by the new machines. Compared to the Photon, all Photon mono printers have a monochrome screen, making them two to four times faster. The obvious differences in build platform size can be spotted immediately. A big difference between the Mono and Mono SE would be the LED power and the Z-axis Guide. A single Z-axis guide is used in many of the entry level printers and can cause a Z-wobble or inaccuracies over time. With an upgrade to a double Z-axis guide, the Mono SE and Mono X are stepping up quality.
| Photon | Mono | Mono SE | Mono X | |
| Price* | $ 274 | $ 269 | $ 419 | $ 759 |
| Platform size (XYZ mm) | 115*65*155 | 130*80*165 | 130*78*160 | 192*120*245 |
| Monochrome | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Print speed | Slow | Fast | Fast | Fast |
| 3rd party resins | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Wavelength | 405 nm | 405 nm | 405 nm | 405 nm |
| LED Power | 40 Watt | 45 Watt | 55 Watt | 120 Watt |
| Z-Axis guide | Single | Single | Double | Double |
Source: Anycubic website. Official prices from Anycubic website anno December 2020, price may vary over time or on your country.
How to select which resin 3D-printers is best for my application?
Selecting a printer for your application is depending on your needs and budget. If your budget is low, entry level $99 Photon Zero might be your best choice. A slightly higher budget might give the option to go for an Anycubic Mono. Looking at the specifications and actually testing both printers, the best buy for your buck would be the Mono SE if you require a small platform size or the Mono X if you want to print bigger parts. When buying a new LCD / MSLA printer we would always advise to purchase a printer with monochrome screen. Next to the longer lifetime and shorter exposure times, our Engineering Grade 3d-printing resins will be much easier to process. For instance on a regular RGB LCD Screen, Strong-X would need roughly 25 seconds exposure for 0,05mm layers, while this is reduced to 5 seconds on the Anycubic Photon Mono X.
What other printers are available in the field of entry-level LCD MSLA resin 3D-printers?
The last years a lot of entry level 3D-printers entered the resin printing market. There are so many brands available that it is impossible to list them all. Three of the main competitors of Anycubic are Phrozen3D, Elegoo and EPAX3D.
Phrozen3D entered the resin 3D-printing market long before Anycubic and recently launched more affordable, competitive printers with its line of Sonic 3D-printers. The Phrozen Sonic Mini & Mini4K are entry level printer with similar specifications as the Photon Mono, while its Phrozen Sonic Mighty 4K is competing with the Photon Mono X.
Elegoo is more or less always one step behind Anycubic with the earlier products as the Mars (competing with the original Photon) and the Mars Pro 2. The Mars Pro 2 is comparable to the Photon Mono, with its 2K Monochrome LCD screen and single Z-axis guide. The Elegoo Saturn, competing with the Anycubic Photon Mono X is just released and slightly cheaper.
EPAX3D was already offering high quality MSLA printers for a slightly higher price compared to the Photon series. These printers were made from high quality materials and more robust. Not too long ago, EPAX3D is also offering a more affordable printer the E10, competing with all printers mentioned above.
How to work with Liqcreate resins on these Anycubic Photon resin 3D-printers?
At Liqcreate we try to run our resins on as many 3D-printers possible. Our engineers are working to get all our resins to run smooth on the regular Photon, Mono X, Mono SE and Mono. For more information about 3D-printing parameters / settings on your printer, please visit our website or send an e-mail to info@liqcreate.com
Other tips and tricks for working with the Mono X.
At the moment of writing – December 2020 – we have a lot of experience with the Regular Photon and have the Mono X in our laboratory for about one month, to optimize our all Liqcreate resins. The Mono and Mono SE Just arrived so if you want information on that, please send us an email at info@liqcreate.com. Next to the link with settings , it is good to know that there is no protective screen on the LCD, if there are any punctures in your resin tank or leaking in any other way, you would have to replace the screen (partly). Be extra careful with this or put an extra protective transparent plastic sheet underneath. While our engineering resins run well on 100% UV power, some of the more reactive resins can have side-cure. We are still optimizing the resins, however, it looks like our premium resins run best between 40-80% power. This is/will be mentioned at the setting link above. The Facebook page of the Mono X is a very helpful place if you are new to this machine or to resin 3D-printing in general.
Team Liqcreate wish you happy printing on your Anycubic Photon 3D-printer with Liqcreate resin. If there are any questions or remarks, feel free to contact us at info@liqcreate.com any time.
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