Introducing AmeraLabs Town: Your Ultimate 3D Printer Test Print
Back in 2017, we introduced the AmeraLabs Town calibration part. We aimed to create a calibration piece that was not only practical but also visually appealing. Unlike many calibration parts available at the time, which were used once and discarded, we wanted the Town to be different. It featured a range of calibration tests and could double as a decorative item for your workspace or a small 3D printed gift.
We never anticipated it would gain the same level of popularity as the PLA printing benchmark, Benchy.
Over the years, we’ve evolved, acquired new knowledge, conducted numerous experiments, and listened to your feedback. One recurring issue was the accompanying guide. It wasn’t always clear how to address certain calibration issues or what steps to take in specific situations.
That’s why we’re excited to present the all-new and improved AmeraLabs Town Calibration Part Guide.
In this updated blog post, we’ll explore the features and tests that make AmeraLabs Town the ultimate tool for testing materials and printing complex, high-resolution models. From assessing material hardness and resilience to fine-tuning exposure settings and determining pigment concentration, AmeraLabs Town offers a comprehensive toolkit for achieving unparalleled print quality and precision.
Without further delay, let’s delve into it!
You’ll find a download link for the AmeraLabs Town 3D printer STL file at the end of this post.
General Viscosity Test
First, check if the gaps have washed out properly. If any resin residue remains between the buildings or in the gaps, repeat the washing procedure for proper assessment before doing any further tests.
The layout of this calibration part helps with assessing resin viscosity. We can see how resin moves between the structures, especially in small spaces.
Using low-viscosity resin is crucial for detailed prints. It flows easily, preventing buildup that can ruin the print quality.
Cleaning models and parts printed using viscous resin without special tools is difficult. Curing the print without properly washing it might make things worse, causing small details to be lost.
This issue is particularly evident in gear printing. Viscous resin tends to adhere to gear teeth, risking mechanical failures unless meticulously cleaned – a time-consuming and precise process.
This highlights the importance of viscosity testing and proper cleaning procedures for impeccable print quality and the preservation of intricate details.
Checkerboard Pattern 3D Printer Test
Crafted with precision in mind, this test comprises square cutouts arranged in a chess-like pattern. Each square measures 1.0 mm in width, height, and depth. The primary goal is to ensure razor-sharp edges and proper depth for all notches, perfectly aligning with the outer edge of 1.0 mm without any overlap among adjacent cutouts.
Why is this test so significant? It serves as a dependable indicator of whether your prints are underexposed or overexposed. Overexposure is evident through narrower gaps between the squares, while underexposure results in the opposite effect.
To find the balance, decrease the exposure if the gaps are too narrow and increase the exposure if the gaps are too wide.
Pro tip: Achieving a perfect chess pattern can be challenging under certain circumstances. Factors contributing to difficulties include poorly pigmented resins, where clear prints may experience light bleed, filling the gaps excessively. Conversely, over-pigmented resins may result in larger gaps. Additionally, misaligned optical elements in your printer can lead to light scattering, exacerbating these issues.
Minimum Width of the Opening & Ledges With Variable Thickness
The 3D printer calibration test for openings and ledges involves slots ranging from 0.1 mm to 1.0 mm in width. These are designed to highlight your 3D printer’s performance nuances. Make sure each slot cuts through completely on the printed model. Additionally, assess protrusions from 0.1 mm to 1.0 mm wide, ensuring visible, crack-free ledges with consistent height and alignment.
If results are lacking, check for closed slots or excessively wide openings. Adjust exposure duration to find balance: decrease exposure for wider openings or increase it for wider slots.
Ideally, the number of properly printed slots and protrusions should match (for example, four slots and four protrusions, etc.). Often, the last opening is closed, and that is fine. Remember, not all 3D printers and resins are capable of perfectly printing both.
Pro tip: For DLP 3D printer owners, fine-tuning the optical system’s focus may be necessary.
Bonus test: The upper ledge of the slots test reveals the longest possible unsupported bridge printing capabilities of your 3D printer and resin. If the length of the bridged part is too long for the resin you are using, the ledge will sag and deform.
The Pillars of Woe 3D Printer Test
This test serves as a crucial benchmark for assessing material hardness and toughness, featuring pillars of varying thickness (0.1 mm to 0.5 mm) and height (1.0 mm to 4.0 mm).
The primary objective of these pillars is to test the material’s ability to withstand the rigors of 3D printing, especially when dealing with intricate details. In the intricate world of high-detail models, material hardness reigns supreme.
Achieving success in this test relies on striking a delicate balance between material hardness and exposure settings. Sometimes, only overexposure yields a complete set of pillars.
From our experience, our AMD-3 resin will produce four rows. Tough, durable with a bit of flex resins; for example, TGM-7 will produce three and a half rows, while flexible resins will struggle to produce three rows of pillars.
These pillars need to withstand the pull of the FEP film (or PDMS) at a 45-degree angle and resist falling down due to gravity.
Even if we set the exposure time just right, the resin needs to be tough. The pillars show how strong the material is and tell us how long to expose it.
When the resin gets too hard, we can see small changes in shape and thickness. This reminds us why it’s important to use tough 3D printing materials for detailed, long-lasting prints.
Cross-shaped Bridges 3D Printer Test
At the heart of this feature are two pillars, each with a diameter of 0.5 mm, intersecting at the center of a circular cutout. The goal is to attain a clean cross formation devoid of any visual flaws such as light bleeding, dimensional inconsistencies, gaps, or cracks.
This test assists in assessing your 3D printer and resin’s ability to print cross-sections and angular details accurately.
Moreover, it aids in determining whether the print is underexposed or overexposed. If the pillars appear too thick, reduce the exposure times. Conversely, exposure times can be increased if the pillars are too thin.
Antenna Tower Test
This test checks your resin’s tensile strength and detects underexposure. If the antenna looks weak or poorly printed, your resin might be too soft for small details or exposed inadequately. To fix this, increase exposure slightly until the print looks right.
Interesting fact: In the first version of The AmeraLabs Town calibration part, a failed antenna would leave a leftover resin blob, which was a problem. We added a protective roof to avoid any leftover residue if the tower fails to print. If the antenna fails, the roof catches the blobs, keeping the vat clean and reducing FEP cleaning.
Inscribed and Raised AmeraLabs logo on the edge of the building
This 3D printer test includes two AmeraLabs logos placed on the edge of the structure. The goal is to ensure the logos are sharp and clear, like in previous tests, but in a more relaxed setup.
This test is another indicator of underexposure or overexposure, and it should be assessed alongside the other tests to see the bigger picture and determine the ideal exposure times.
If you notice that the inscribed logo is bigger than the raised one, it is recommended that you increase the layer exposure. A bigger, raised logo indicates overexposure.
In resin 3D printing, sections away from the light source might wrinkle or wave a bit due to the long exposures needed for good layer sticking. But these long exposures can cause unwanted marks on unlit surfaces.
If both logos are printed with issues, make sure that the resin in the vat is properly mixed. Also, always shake the resin bottle before adding the resin to the vat, as pigment settling can cause these problems.
While fully fixing this is hard, tweaking exposure times can help minimize it, giving smoother surfaces.
Capabilities of XY Resolution
Crafted from cylindrical and square elements of various sizes, this 3D printer test aims to produce all protrusions. It provides a measure of the system’s X and Y resolution, allowing you to identify the smallest feature possible by closely examining results with a magnifying glass or microscope. However, it’s essential to consider material properties and pigment concentration as they influence the outcome. Not all printers and resins can produce all elements, underscoring the real goal of understanding the system’s capability to print small features.
Resin with too little pigment may scatter light, resulting in few or no ledges. Thus, while this test offers valuable insights, achieving optimal results hinges on selecting the right resin and adjusting printing settings.
To mitigate these issues, ensure thorough mixing of the resin before adding it to the vat. Additionally, consider adjusting exposure times: increase them if protrusions appear bloated and decrease exposure if they seem too small.
Alternating, Deepening Plates 3D Printer Test
This 3D printer test features a segmented circle with depths ranging from 0.025 to 0.20 mm in increments of 0.025 mm. The main aim is to ensure clear visibility of each segment and smooth transitions between them, similar to real-life models with inscribed text.
This test is similar to the Minimum Width of the Opening and Ledges With Variable Thickness, except it is vertical.
It also assesses the printer’s precision and consistency across different depths by gradually increasing segment depths. Transitioning from shallow to deeper segments reveals the printer’s ability to reproduce intricate details accurately.
If the circle comes out deformed, check if your resin is properly mixed and adjust exposure times. if the circle is bloated – increase exposure; if it looks too small – decrease it.
Pro tip: Some resins produce better details and are more suitable for intricate parts.
Minimum Height of the Opening
In this 3D printer test, we examine openings ranging from 1.0 mm to 0.1 mm in height. The goal is to ensure these openings are visible and fully penetrated during printing.
To do this, we focus on polymerization depth, which should be 50-100% thicker than a single layer for good adhesion. Deviations from this may cause poor adhesion and delamination.
If over-curing occurs, resulting in closed or hard-to-see openings, decrease the exposure time.
Conversely, if openings are too tall or have the wrong shapes, increasing exposure time can help. This improves light penetration and reduces the risk of failed prints.
BONUS TESTS & FEATURES
There are more things and features to test with the Ameralabs Town Calibration Part. Here are some of them:
Examine the raft to ensure proper adhesion of the Town to the build plate. If the model proves difficult to remove, consider reducing the exposure time of the bottom layer. Conversely, if the bottom layer adhesion appears weak, increase the exposure time of the burn-in layers.
To test the durability of a resin, print the model with your chosen resin and settings. Once printed, ensure it’s fully cured, then drop it from a consistent height onto a hard surface. Vary the model’s orientation with each drop to assess its resilience from different angles. After each drop, check for damage, such as missing parts, cracks, or deformations.
The Ameralabs Town calibration part also excels at conducting color combination tests. You can effectively determine the final print color by blending various color resins and printing a town. Additionally, you can observe pigment distribution throughout the model, which highlights potential issues, such as transparency in thin parts caused by insufficient or uneven pigment distribution. Vigorously shake the bottle to mix the resin before adding it to the vat to address uneven pigment distribution.
AmeraLabs Town isn’t just a calibration part; it’s also a perfect canvas for practicing painting fine details. With its intricate design, it can be used to experiment with different painting techniques. Whether you’re a novice or a seasoned artist, AmeraLabs Town is an invaluable resource for refining your craft.
CONCLUSION
You’re now equipped with the knowledge to fine-tune your printer settings effectively. But remember, it’s not just about one test result – it’s about spotting patterns and addressing common issues across all tests for a comprehensive understanding.
All in all, in your journey to perfecting your 3D printer, it’s essential to analyze trends and recurring problems. This approach ensures that you’re not just fixing individual issues but optimizing your printer’s performance as a whole.
To get the AmeraLabs Town calibration part STL, simply enter your email address below, and we’ll send it to you right away. Happy printing!
Enter your e-mail to download .STL file*
* By downloading AmeraLabs Town 3D printer test print you agree to sign up to our newsletters. We promise not to spam you and only share what we believe is relevant and useful. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: How long does it typically take to complete the AmeraLabs Town calibration part test?
A: Completing the AmeraLabs Town calibration part test usually takes around 45 minutes to 1 hour. However, the exact time can vary depending on your printing settings and the type of resin you are using. With usual 50-micron layers, the print itself takes approximately 30 minutes, but it’s essential to note that printing may take longer with smaller layer sizes or with certain types of resin. For more specific details, consult your resin manufacturer.
Q: How should I clean the resin vat after a failed print to avoid contamination?
A: If a print fails and there are resin blobs in the vat, it’s crucial to clean the resin vat thoroughly to avoid contamination and ensure accurate results for subsequent assessments. We recommend using the vat clean function on your printer to cure the bottom layer and trap the blobs in it. Another method would be to filter the resin before putting it back into the vat. However, if there are no remaining blobs, there is no need to clean the vat or filter the resin.
These steps help maintain a clean environment for your next print and ensure accurate results.
Q: Can the AmeraLabs Town calibration part be resized to fit specific 3D printers with different build volumes?
A: While the standard size of the AmeraLabs Town calibration part is optimized for most 3D printers, resizing is not recommended. The features and their evaluation change with the scale, and resizing may affect the accuracy of the assessment. The guide does not cover specific cases where resizing might be an option.
However, it is possible to print the AmeraLabs Town calibration part on various parts of the build plate to find power inconsistencies across the screen. Maintaining the proportions and features of the calibration part ensures accurate assessment results. If you encounter issues with the size, consider adjusting your printer settings accordingly rather than resizing the calibration part.
Need more help? Found mistakes? Drop us an email and we will answer you in 12 hours or faster.
Other articles from AmeraLabs
- The Complete Resin 3D Printing Settings Guide for Beginners
- The Beginner’s Guide to 3D printing with AmeraLabs resins
- True story of why it was so difficult to choose my first 3D resin
- Attachment Layer in SLA 3D printing: what you need to know
Also, check out our collection of 3D printing resins: SHOP
