Curing Box Report

Post-cure SLA-3D-Prints
FabLab Irbid
After SLA prints are finished, they are in a “green state” (1), which means that while parts have reached
their final form, the polymerization reaction is not yet completed, and full mechanical properties are not
yet achieved. Through exposure to light and heat. post curing unlocks this last mile of material behavior.
All FormLabs SLA printers use a 405nm wavelength laser beam (2), and take up resins that range from
the Standard: Clear, white, Grey and black to the functional resins: Tough ,Castable and Flexible. each
resin has finely-tuned property that is developed engineered and tailored to the 405nm lased
wavelength.
And since the prints material is extremely toxic and tacky in its green state and mechanically less strong
and stable. That makes handling prints difficult and dangerous, post-curing is required for many
FormLabs resins. After post-curing, Engineering Resins reach their best functional properties and
Castable Resin burns out cleanly. Post-curing is absolutely mandatory for using biocompatible materials
like some of our Dental Resins (1).
At its basic level, exposure to light triggers the formation of additional chemical bonds within a printed
part, making the material stronger and stiffer. Even sunlight will post-cure parts, though exposure and
effectiveness are weather-dependent (1).
Objective
Creating a UV Curing Chamber features a 360° turntable and a reflective inner surface. that use UV
LEDs, temperature motoring, time control, light intensity control and turntable speed control.
Specs
The curing box can cure prints up to these dimensions: 22cm diameter, 20cm tall cylindrical volume.
Bill of Materials
Quantity Cost per Unit(in Cost(in dollar)

dollar)
Gear Dc motor 1 9 9
Acrylic Board (6mm) 1 44 44
Wood Board (6mm) 1 5 5
Steel Rod (8mm) 1 6 6
Arduino Uno 1 2 2
UV LEDs (404 nm 100* - 2.5
wavelength )
LCD screen-12864 1 13 13
Push buttons-12mm 2 1.52 3.04
Switch button-12mm 1 2.55 2.55
Wires 3 colors - - -
Hinges 2 5 10
Stainless Steel Handle 1 1.54 1.54
1k Ohm resistors 100 - 6
Mosfet IRF540N 2 - 4
Power supply 1 5 5
Heat shrink - - -
Potentiometer 1k 4 2.68 10.72
LM 35 temperature 1 2.28 2.28
sensor
Prototyping board 1 2.68 2.68
(2cm*8cm)
129.31
Make sure have
Access to Laser cutting machine.
Electronic welding kit.

Process
Step 1: CAD design
We started our quits as in every project, on the drawing board. we discussed the shape and dimension
of our curing box based on the maximum print size produced by FormLabs SLA printer and the space we
had for the curing unit in the Lab. After researching online and agreeing on the mechanism of function
taking in mind what technologies we have in FabLab Irbid as well as parts we need. we decided on a
basic design.
The next step is to implement our design on a CAD software we chose Solidworks for the mission, we
drew the parts and tested them on suitability and functionality in the assembly before heading to the
next step
Turn table and gears design:
The turn table is designed to work at very low speeds which required making a reduction gear set. The
reduction gear ratio was 10 to 1 which was designed using solid works spur gears library.
Step 2: Cutting the parts
Using a 6mm ply-wood we cut the parts on the Laser cutting machine, there we encountered our first
issue; we were counting on buying a UV LED Strip that we can stick to the inside of the box but what we
managed to find are the normal ultraviolet LEDs so we had to cut holes for the LEDs in the box sides.
It may be a good idea to tag your parts once you cut them to ease the assembling process.
1-Cutting the base
Remember to tag your parts and their orientation at this stage to make it easier in assembly.
2- cutting the top
The front in this is was cut in transparent green acrylic to enable us to see the part as it cures, the acrylic
front blocks UV light from leaking out side.
3- cutting the cover

4-cutting the turn table and gears
We used the acrylic board here as well, the small gear here might be the first thing to wear off so we
recommend cutting more than one of it as spare parts.
Step 3: Electronics Connections
We can split the electronic part to two phases, mounting and welding the UV led circuit, and connecting
the Arduino circuit.
Connect the UV resistance circuit as the following diagram,
The blue wire in the diagram represent the black one in the photo, and the grey is the red one.
As you can see the UV LEDs are connected in parallel, with a 1k resistance connected to each LED.
To control the LEDs and the geared dc motor 12 V power supply is needed. In order to get variable
voltage from the power supply using Arduino you need to use Mosfets.
Here we used N-Channel MOSFET, make sure the Mosfets is rated to be able to pass as much current
and voltage as you need.
now let’s head to the main board connection
Control Panel connections
Connect the Push buttons and potentiometers as in the diagram.
Use the heat shrink to group your wires together as it will make it easier in the final assembly, it might
be a good idea to tag each of wire to avoid confusion.
LCD connection
Connect the LCD as in the diagram and according to the table
LCD pin Arduino pin

BLA 3.3v
BLK GND
PSB GND
E 13
R/W 11
R/S 10
RST 9
Vo Wiper
Vcc 5v
GND GND
Use the heat shrink to group your wires together as it will make it easier in the final assembly, it might
be a good idea to tag each of wire to avoid confusion.
Motor and LED’s with Mosfets connections
Connect the motor and the LED lines as in the diagram.

Temperature sensor connections
And finally connect the temperature sensor as in the diagram

Step 4: Coding
Attached here is the Arduino code for our electronic assembly .
Step 5: Assembling the box
Using superglue, we fixed the assembled parts of the box, while assembling be careful of the orientation
of the piece and make sure the box is completely assembled correctly before super- gluing it together.
the tag on the should be a big help here.
The small triangles are anchors between the inner and outer shells of the box so glue them to make sure
that the space between is 5mm.
Assembling the hinges was done by drilling three holes on the lid and other three holes on the back for
each hinge. For the lid, the hinge part was on the inner face of the box, but at the back the hinge was at
the outer face. This configuration will maximize the stability. We recommend putting constant torque
hinges for better opening and closing mechanism.
Step5: Finishing
The decoration of the device is all up to you. We started by sanding the surfaces to get an optimal finish.
Then we spray painted the box, we also added a reflective sheet of sticking paper on the inner surface to
reflect and concentrate the light on the cured part.
(1) https://formlabs.com/blog/introduction-post-curing-sla-3d-prints/
(2) https://formlabs.com/media/upload/How-Mechanical-Properties-of-SLA-3D-Prints-Are-
Affected-by-UV-Curing.pdf

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Post-cure SLA-3D-Prints

Quantity Cost per Unit(in Cost(in dollar)

Make sure have

Access to Laser cutting machine.

Electronic welding kit.

Step 1: CAD design

Step 2: Cutting the parts

3- cutting the cover

Connect the UV resistance circuit as the following diagram,

Control Panel connections

Connect the Push buttons and potentiometers as in the diagram.

Connect the LCD as in the diagram and according to the table

LCD pin Arduino pin

Connect the motor and the LED lines as in the diagram.

And finally connect the temperature sensor as in the diagram

Attached here is the Arduino code for our electronic assembly .

Step 5: Assembling the box

the tag on the should be a big help here.

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