Have an old Android device collecting dust somewhere that you’d like to put to better use? [Electronoobs] shows us how to make a Masked Stereolithography Apparatus (MSLA) printer for cheap using screens salvaged from old Android phones or tablets.
[Electronoobs] wanted to revisit his earlier printer with all the benefits of hindsight, and this is the result. The tricky bit, which is covered in depth in the video below the break, is slicing up the model into graphics for each layer, so that these layers can be rendered by the LCD for each layer during the print.
The next tricky bit, once your layer graphics are in hand, is getting them to the device. This build does that by installing a custom Android app which connects to a web app hosted on the ESP32 microcontroller controlling the print, and the app has a backchannel via a USB OTG adapter installed in the device. [Electronoobs] notes that there are different and potentially better ways by which this full-duplex communication can be achieved, but he is happy to have something that works.
If you’re interested in resin printer tech, be sure to check out Continuous Printing On LCD Resin Printer: No More Wasted Time On Peeling? Is It Possible? and Resin Printer Temperature Mods And Continuous IPA Filtration.
phone screens suck. Three color pixels side by side by side muck up your resolution. They also block a lot of the UV. Screens are a consumable in mSLA. There are TONS of sources for cheap replacement mono screens out there that would do so much better with much less effort. But a phone screen is definitely a hack, its just a hack thats a decade or more out of date at this point.
Fully agree. And “old” phones with worn backlight with white LEDs will do a poor job. The result will be cheap, but lame and time consuming.
OK there is a proper UV led array. Still not worth the effort.
almost like its a ‘hack’ or something
“But a phone screen is definitely a hack, its just a hack thats a decade or more out of date at this point.”
A hack!?!? On a hacking site!?!?? Why I never!!!
I like the idea of reuse, but I can’t help thinkng an old laptop with an 11″ or 12″ screen running linux would be a lot easier and probably a similar price. If it’s recent enough or you don’t mind waiting you could even run the slicer on device.
I thinK the reason they want a phone screen rather than a laptop screen is for the higher PPI
This is a sad article and video, just a proposal for a $60 printer, if you have an old phone, that you will have to rip apart, without ruining the screen.
Meantime you can purchase a resin printer from Amazon for $140, that will probably work outright, that has a UV blocking enclosure and rigid mechanics.
Did I miss the hook for the project somehow?
The hook is that it’s fun to build your own tools and repurpose things you already have
Agreed. I don’t understand the comments here for this project, but sadly I’m seeing them frequently on HaD these days. Stating that you can just buy a better version for “cheap” misses the point entirely. Interesting that I’m never seeing projects featured here by the commenters who feel the need to publicize such pretty criticism…
This project is the definition of hacking. Seeing projects like this is often the catalyst for getting people interested in hardware hacking in the first place. The journey is far more important than the destination. And it all starts with an idea—doesn’t matter whose idea it is.
Nice work Electronoobs, I love seeing your projects. This is very cool!
Ok, I might have been too focused on the “Lets do this cheap for $60”, rather than “Have fun!”.
Can I ask you a question Christian? Why do you think someone might attempt a project like this? If you only read this just now, a moment ago, would you have assumed the point was to save money? Or just to make something cool? Or maybe just to do something because they could? Or to get attention perhaps?
No judgement or assumptions as to your initial thoughts. I’m just curious what you thought the point of the op project creator might have been for something like this?
What would you have done if you’d come up with all idea like this? Would you have shared it with anyone? Why it why not?