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0:00
There's no doubt about it, this is hands down the best resin printer I have ever used
0:06
though it's also been one of the most difficult printers I've had to review in a while
0:11
And there's an early version of this script where it's little more than notes of complaints
0:15
and whinges I've had along the way, but as I've spent more time with this unit, each of those initial issues has been steadily whittled down to the point I've realised this
0:23
whole rather different approach is genuinely more sensible than anything we've seen before
0:29
in so many ways. And no, I'm not just trying to get your attention with the thumbnail. Well
0:34
I am trying to get your attention, but that's not all I'm doing. And this is not a typical
0:38
clickbait for attention video. I'm very serious about it. For ages, people have used the
0:44
this is the only bamboo comparator or competitor thumbnails, and I'm pretty sure I've done it
0:49
Yeah, it's all designed to get video clicks. When the truth is, at least in the FDM world
0:55
there is no competitor to those machines and those which are clearly attempting to emulate bamboo
1:00
are so far just embarrassing themselves. But in the resin scene, Ultracraft is, so far
1:06
the only company to have released a resin printer, clearly showing they understand the same consumer
1:12
needs as bamboo. Because this printer isn't chasing resolution, nor is it chasing speed
1:17
It's making high quality resin printing easier and more accessible by putting all of their focus
1:24
on the end user experience and that's exactly why bamboo are crushing well actually destroying
1:30
the fdm space right now will the ultra craft reflex do the same in resin well i think there's
1:36
one aspect of their approach which is going to stop them let's see if you can spot it before we
1:41
get to the end hi i'm ross and this is foe hammer videos so you may or may not know i've already
1:47
covered this printer in a preview video i recommend you watch that so you know the features of this
1:52
machine however in that video as it was just a prototype unit and a preview i avoided providing
1:59
any conclusions on the hardware or system in general so let me give you that now as a whistle
2:04
stop tour and i'd like to say up front if you do want to buy this incredible machine i'd appreciate
2:09
you using my affiliate link in the description of this video before your purchase yes i'll make a
2:14
commission on the sale it's at no cost to you but it also shows hey gears how important my video was
2:19
for them. That's enough blatant self-promotion, let's move on. So Heygears have now sent me a
2:24
production unit which I swapped my prototype with and sent back the original. Though I couldn't
2:30
actually see any mechanical differences in these machines and they suggested the changes are mostly
2:35
if not entirely, in the software and firmware side of things. Now in terms of build quality
2:40
this is hands down, and I'm going to say hands down a lot because I'm not very articulate
2:44
it, this is hands down the best resin printer I have ever touched. It literally makes every other
2:51
printer I've ever handled before it look like a toy. And I'm sure you'll agree it's got this gorgeous
2:56
sleek industrial design with its metal and plastic body, along with an incredibly dark amber lid
3:03
which now to be fair on the negative side of things does make it hard to see through to monitor
3:07
your prints. There are some orange lights inside the machine, but they just really don't help with
3:13
visibility. They do however look cool and I know you can't see it so well on camera but you can tell
3:18
the build quality of this unit just from the first time you open the lid and see just how sturdy and
3:23
well built and well mechanized the hinges are. Forgive my gushing but it's genuine this thing
3:29
literally oozes with quality so to save time going forward every time I show a feature of this machine
3:35
just assume that I'm also telling you it's the best of such a thing I've ever seen on a similar
3:40
3D printer. Like for example the interface. This 7 inch capacitive highly responsive touch panel
3:46
is larger and higher resolution than some of the curing LCDs inside some of my cheaper small
3:51
printers. And the actual interface itself is by far the most intuitive interface I've ever used
3:57
on a resin printer. Clear to understand sub menus, well translated options and an incredibly in-depth
4:03
settings list. And whilst it's printing it gives you all the info you need in regard to progress
4:08
clearly and concisely. So let's have a look inside. The build plate is one of the most solid
4:15
and robust plates I've ever seen with decent large handles and it attaches to the Z rail with a large
4:20
and firm pull down clamp. This also comes pre-leveled and pre-zeroed and the printer even
4:26
has gyroscopic sensors in the bed mechanics to determine just how accurate the leveling is down
4:32
to the nearest 10 microns. These sensors can also read the peeling force when pulling resin from the
4:38
release film, so the printer dynamically adjusts lift speeds to ensure a successful print. The Z-arm
4:44
runs on a smooth and thick ball screw to avoid any juttery motion, and the vat here is also a step
4:50
above anything else I've seen, with its smooth metal frame, and this also just clamps into place
4:56
thanks to two levers either side. And if you want more from the vat, it's also got a built-in heater
5:01
for the most efficient form of warming your resin again ensuring a successful and sharp print by
5:08
curing the resin at optimal temperature now if you're familiar with other resin vats you might
5:12
notice the two extra protrusions on this frame that don't come on most others though the front
5:18
one probably should this is a very useful spout used for pouring resin back into bottles most
5:25
printers just have resin dripping down the side and under the vat when you try and pour it back in
5:29
and the other protrusion on the back i'll come back to shortly interface wise you've got a usb
5:35
port on the front right side of the unit though i've never once needed this and i'll explain why
5:40
in a mo you also have an ethernet socket on the back and yes the printer does come with wi-fi too
5:45
and this is because you've got fully integrated local and remote connectivity with the printer
5:50
for sending files and monitoring the progress and setting this up with the haygears service is really
5:56
simple because you've got a non-intrusive phone companion app which is designed to do little more
6:01
than set up and monitor the printer. There's no desperate crappy storefront here, it's all about
6:06
dedicated printer management. And before I really show off the key features of the printer, let's
6:12
quickly talk about the wash and cure solutions that they sent me. Now the cure station is amazing
6:18
Okay, just stick with me, not all of this video is positive, we'll get to it, but the cure station
6:23
like I said amazing. In fact once I got it it's been the only cure station I've used and as daft
6:29
as it sounds one of the main reasons is because the door opens at the front. Look it's a tiny
6:35
thing I know but it means I can sit crap on top of it which I can't do with any of the ones that
6:38
have got a door on top. It just makes more sense that these things are built like microwaves right
6:43
Now internally it gets better. It is completely reflective and has space enough that I can even
6:49
fit this Perspex cake shelf that I got from AliExpress so that I can have multi-tiered curing
6:54
of numerous small parts. And not only does this unit have a cure function, but you can also use
7:00
it as a small baking oven too, up to 80 degrees Celsius. Now you can use this to dry your resin
7:05
models post-wash, but I tend to prefer to air dry them and I actually use this heater function to
7:11
quickly dry paint on my minis when I'm painting them. Now as a somewhat semi-pro resin printer
7:17
I do love that I have this, but most people out there will crap themselves
7:22
when they see the price of this unit alone. Does it lessen the sting if I tell you it got Wi too so you can monitor how many curing and heating cycles it performed yeah i didn think so now yes i love it i absolutely
7:37
love it but mine was free so you do you now on the cheaper side of these post-production
7:43
accessories is the wash box which well i can't lie to you i think is utterly stupid now don't
7:51
get me wrong i kind of like where they were going with this but i honestly feel this is way too
7:56
over engineered you see instead of a high frequency ultrasonic cleaner or an impeller driven cyclonic
8:02
wash station hay gears give you two cleaning boxes and a base unit which over energetically shakes
8:08
the box this may give a more thorough clean than a cyclonic wash station but the force required to
8:14
to do this much shaking seems incredibly excessive for resin models. This is not so much gently rinsing the surface with cleaning fluid
8:23
it's throwing everything around and smashing your models together or against the sides of the container
8:30
Don't get me wrong, this is incredibly well built. I mean, it needs to be for the mechanics to successfully shift
8:35
this much liquid at high speed, but was this even needed? My cheap ultrasonic cleaner does a better job of cleaning models
8:42
without so much risk. And the reason you get two cleaning tanks is because each has got a screw valve in the base
8:48
and a no return valve in the lid. When a wash is finished, simply put your full box on top of the
8:53
empty one, release the screw valve, and all of your cleaning liquid flows from one box to the next
8:59
leaving you with nought but washed models in the top box. But I swear there was an earlier version
9:05
of the Haguears website suggesting this printing to cleaning system could be used somewhat
9:10
glovelessly but the plate doesn't fit in the curing boxes unless it's got really small models on and
9:15
you wedge it in sideways so you still need to scrape the models off the plate and you need
9:21
gloves for that and even when rinsed the models still need a final cure before you can handle them
9:25
with naked skin so you need gloves for that stage too and when you flush your liquid from one box
9:31
to the other the first box will still have some small dregs of resin contaminated liquid on the
9:37
bottom of the valve hole, and they'll go all over your desktop or wherever you sit the box
9:41
So you're going to need gloves to clean that up too. So like I said, the engineering is great
9:46
ingenious even, but it's like Haygears have spent all this time developing a pen to write in out of
9:51
space when their competitors, and probably us too, are happy enough just to use a pencil
9:57
Now back inside the printer, and speaking of something else that could be looked at as
10:00
overengineering, let's talk about the resin system. So you may see that Haygears resin comes in these
10:06
funny shaped bottles. This is so that they can slide into the back of the machine upside down
10:11
I have the 1 litre bottles but the cavity in the back is large enough for what seems to be 2 litre
10:16
bottles, though these don't seem to have materialized yet. To put these in the machine you remove the top
10:22
lid from the bottle and flip it on its end. Don't worry about spillage at this point because each
10:26
bottle has a spring valve in its second lid. Pop this in the machine and the reflex recognizes what
10:32
type of their resin you're using. I'm assuming there's an RFID tag in the bottle or the label
10:37
somewhere. What's really cool is that the printer also seems to be able to tell how much resin is in
10:43
the system at all times too, even though I poured in my original bottle of resin. Now I don't know
10:49
if this is due to sensors or an estimate based on when you put a bottle in or what, but it works
10:55
Now as far as spills when you flip the bottle upside down, well remember that second protrusion
11:00
I talked about at the back of the vat that has a small post in it which pushes into the spring valve
11:06
and releases the resin quite similar to the mechanism that Nova 3D uses on their printers
11:11
but hay gears have gone a step and then a jump and then a leap further by having an electromechanical
11:17
sluice gate inside the printer between this protrusion and the rest of the vat now within
11:23
the rear area of the vat, this protruding area, just like Nova 3D's solution, resin will stop
11:30
flowing when the level of resin around it reaches the height of the neck, thanks to how atmospheric
11:35
pressure works. But throughout the print, this sluice gate opens when it needs to steadily fill
11:41
the vat and then closes again. Now most people are probably thinking, isn't this just a bit of a step
11:46
too far? Couldn't we just adopt the spring mechanism alone? Well, thanks to the sluice gate
11:53
the print as it refills and this would ensure that there's no liquid movement during the curing stage
11:59
of the printing process. And as part of this system the printer also has a magnetic resin level sensor
12:05
that attaches to the left side of the vat and not only does this have conductive metal prongs to
12:11
determine the current resin level but it's got a built-in IR sensor too. And this yeah does seem a
12:17
bit more than over the top to many people out there but it's another level of precise control
12:22
that can ensure not only successful but nigh on perfect prints. However when you're removing these
12:29
resin bottles you do need to wait and hope that once you've lifted the bottle out slightly the
12:34
dripping stop before you remove it fully or you'll end up with drips on the inside of your machine
12:40
where you don't want them. In reflection a clear window on the inside back panel would have been
12:45
helpful here because you can't see if it's still dripping behind opaque gray plastic. And the
12:50
biggest question I've had about this printer, and probably one you've got right now, is can we use
12:55
our own resin? And the answer is yes and no. It's yes if you are able to find a resin that just so
13:03
happens to work with the exact settings used in the variety of resins that Haygears has available
13:08
and you'll find out why that's a more difficult task than it seems shortly. But officially
13:13
the answer is no, in that A, Haygears have expressly said you will void your warranty
13:17
if you cause damage by using third-party resins, and B, you just can't set this printer up in the same way that you can any other resin printer
13:28
But before you say screw this, I'm out, please let me at least show you what all this means
13:32
because you haven't seen the print quality yet, nor have I talked about screen resolution, and that's for a very good reason
13:39
So anyway, one of the reasons you'll find it difficult to find compatible resins
13:43
is because this printer works on a different UV wavelength to most others
13:47
Typical resin printers operate at a wavelength of 395 to 405 nanometers
13:53
The Reflex and its resins operate more in the range of 385 nanometers
13:59
And according to their own documentation, depending on which of their resins you use
14:04
this wavelength will dynamically change for the most efficient and sharp curing of that particular material
14:11
Now, I don't believe this means that the printer can't cure other resins because, well
14:16
I expect the curing station to use the same UV wavelength and as I said I've been using that for
14:20
the last eight months to successfully cure models printed on various other printers with various
14:26
other resins. And the channel Greedy 3D has now shown this printer working with third-party resins
14:31
too, so that's proof enough that it works. But as you don't have access to any of the exposure
14:37
settings, you can't actually dial this printer in at all for the best exposure of any third-party
14:42
resin. So with that third party resin you'll get whatever results you get from the settings
14:47
predetermined by the different resin types available from Haygears for this machine
14:53
And if you happy getting non results from a third party resin then why go to the expense of a machine like this You losing all of the benefit it offers So honestly that not a rhetorical question
15:06
If you do see value, what value do you see here? Now, I expect before long
15:11
someone with one of these will find a directly compatible resin, and they'll prove the results
15:16
by showing comparable exposure tests of this resin against Hagear's own. But forgive me that
15:22
I just don't have the time to do that myself for you. So ultimately, until someone does that work
15:28
which I'm sure will happen and it'll happen before long, the answer is no, you can't use
15:34
third-party resins or at least if you do, you can't get optimal results from them. But wait
15:39
trust me, please trust me, this is still a milestone machine that everybody in resin printing
15:45
should be fully aware of for several reasons and the first one of those is print quality from this
15:51
machine. Now for this review I'm using Haygear's newer and slightly cheaper PAP10 resin which by
15:58
their own definition is specifically designed for miniatures and this printer has given me the
16:04
sharpest prints from any 3D printer I have ever used. Ever. And yes I'm including DLP printers in
16:14
that. And I know this because I printed the same exposure test on this machine as I have on every
16:20
other machine I've reviewed so far. Now, not that I can calibrate this printer's exposure, but just
16:26
as a point of reference. I'll explain what I mean shortly. For now, let's just focus on print quality
16:31
and I'm also sorry that it looks like this, but it cracked when I post-cured it because I left it in
16:36
for 30 minutes with large models, like an idiot. I'm not perfect, just look at the things that we're
16:42
going to look at. You can still see them. Now, immediately as I looked at this test, I could tell
16:46
couple of things. One is that this is ever so slightly overexposed as we just about have more
16:53
posts than holes but that makes sense because perfectly balanced exposure is rarely if ever
17:00
the best exposure and you can see my video on setting up a 3D printer for more details on why
17:05
But this printed 14 posts noticeably which is the most I've ever had on any printer ever
17:13
and 13 or maybe 13 and a half holes. And yeah, I'm saying half because if I look in certain lights
17:20
I can just about maybe see a recess there. But it's when I look at the bottom lines on this exposure test
17:27
that's what blew me away. Not only have all of the vertical lines rendered
17:31
all but the final three of the opposing recessed lines have rendered too
17:36
Now, many of you watching probably don't even realize just how incredible this is
17:42
But put simply, this is easily and measurably the sharpest printer I've ever used
17:48
And if this excites you, it's about to get better too. A lot better
17:53
Now before I explain why, we need to talk about the thing that I normally open a video with
17:59
yet in this review I've left until now, and that's the screen size and resolution
18:04
Now you won't find any specs on the Hagear's website listing screen size in inches or resolution
18:10
or what K the screen is. And that's because Heygears are an industrial level resin company
18:16
who actually know what they're doing and have no need to rely on any of that marketing bulls**t that the other brands use
18:24
And for more on this, check out my 12K printers are irrelevant video
18:28
Instead, all we're told is the XY pixel size, or as I like to call it, the AVC, which is 33 microns
18:36
And they also tell us the build volume, which is 192 by 121 by 220 millimeters
18:43
Now, many of you out there with some experience would liken this resolution to something like an Elegoo Mars 3
18:49
Well, again, just hang on. They also tell us here that the accuracy of a printed voxel is plus minus 16 microns
18:56
which means the true output quality of a voxel from this printer is in the range of 17 to 49 microns
19:06
bad right but look hey gears are at least telling us how accurate this is other brands aren't and
19:13
whatever their accuracies are i bet none of them are anywhere near 16 microns based on the results
19:18
i've seen with my bare eyes and a macro lens see i haven't talked about this for a while but i need
19:24
to here just to put everyone in the same picture in case you don't know due to lcd bloat which has
19:29
resin reacting to offcast light, no LCD printers are able to give a one-to-one screen pixel to
19:36
printed voxel accuracy. That's why DLP printers exist and are so popular within industrial resin
19:42
printing. It's because of the accuracy. There are so many variables within resin printing that
19:48
affect the final result. Temperature, curing time, lift speeds, light source too. And this printer
19:54
opened my eyes to just how much the UV wavelength can play a part too, and I've no idea how to
19:59
how I could possibly emulate UV wavelength tests to dial in any other consumer grade printers or
20:05
resins. But Hagears with their history and industry grade printing have shown that not only do they
20:11
understand all of these variables but have dialed in their settings and then some to ensure every
20:16
print on this machine is as good as it can possibly be and they've done all of that work for you
20:24
And if you've watched me for a while you'll know that I thought and even told people LCD quality
20:28
had all but peaked with 22 micron 12k printers. But this unit goes to show that even 33 micron
20:36
printers under the right conditions can absolutely laugh in the face of their competition. And this
20:42
printer all but proves that 8k, 12k, 14k, 16k, all those daft K printers with the high resolutions
20:49
really just aren't quite doing the right things in order to give us better quality prints
20:55
all of that stuff we've been saying for the last year two years since 4k printers came out
21:01
this printer proves that point and i'm trying not to be a sap about this but it again it's blown me
21:09
away this is a premium printer for the premium purchaser it's oh my god wow and there are
21:15
drawbacks but i haven't even shown you the true wow of this printer yet and i promise i'm not just
21:21
dragging this out. You'll understand when you see it in a mo because this is a resin printing game
21:27
changer for those of you who hate to clean up supports on your models because Haygears have
21:32
all but eradicated that need too. Now I talked in the intro about this being the bamboo of resin
21:38
printers but that is a bit disingenuous to Haygears because well I doubt in any way or in any meeting
21:45
they've had they decided they wanted to be like bamboo at all. They've probably not even discussed
21:51
them. They're just being themselves. But the result is similar because what Bamboo Lab delivered in
21:58
FDM printing, Haygears have all but done in resin printing, and it's got little to do with the
22:03
printer itself. As incredible as that is on its own at a hardware level. It's all about the software
22:11
which means it's all about the slicer. Now I could do a whole video and then some on this thing alone
22:16
But we are already double my normal video length and there's still some stuff to talk about
22:22
So I gonna overview it and the point is they get it now I spent so long with this printer being irritated by how it works but in reflection I learned that my ire was due to no more than my own arrogance
22:35
having spent so long learning and understanding and showing how resin printers work
22:40
You know, just when some things come along that's so different, my natural reaction was to just
22:46
fight against it. But does that not make me guilty of the same thing I complain about in my FDM
22:52
review videos when people with years of FDAM experience reject the more user-oriented bamboo
22:57
approach. It does, and so it's a good job I checked myself before I made a video dispelling this
23:05
brand's approach to resin printing, because yeah, this is pretty much everything we've been wanting
23:12
So this slicer, Blueprint, it connects directly to your printer or printers, all of which are stored
23:17
in your cloud account. You can hold your projects in the cloud or locally on your PC and transfer
23:23
files via USB if you wish, and you can even transfer prints to the printer via LAN or cloud
23:29
It's your call. And this is a proper integration too. You can actually view all of the printer info
23:35
like serial number, you can download logs, you can view usage stats and stuff, and it's all useful
23:40
info. When a slice is complete, you get preview images from multiple angles showing you what will
23:47
be printed. It's really great though because this isn't set up the same way a normal slicer is
23:53
the process of printing works a little differently to what many people are currently used to. So
23:59
before you begin adding models, you actually need to create a new project and you need to select
24:04
your printing parameters before you begin anything else. And yeah you can change these later but
24:10
let's just go through them. So you'll choose the printer type, I'm assuming they'll have more coming
24:14
in the future and you also select the resin tank style and I'll explain the pulsing release resin
24:20
tank in a mo because that bit's the game changer. Then you select what type of model you're printing
24:26
and this then suggests various material types so for miniatures which I'm printing the only option
24:31
they recommend is Haygear's UltraPrint PAP10. Once you've selected that you then choose your
24:37
layer thickness 50 microns as standard for speed and 30 microns for a bit more detail and once the
24:43
project setup you can then add your models and go through the very clear and almost guided workflow
24:49
denoted by the tabs at the top of the screen prepare support layout and slice within prepare
24:55
you can move and orient your models but i wouldn't overlook the top two options for repair and
25:01
printability the repair process yzes the model and even explains any issues it finds along with
25:07
what those issues kind of mean. Though I do wish this would then link you to an external page or
25:13
document which explains this in a lot more detail because many of these current explanations left me
25:18
wondering okay so what should I do about it. But still having at least this much explains a little
25:26
in the slicer and it's on its way to exactly what Bamboo does by telling you what the potential
25:31
issues are in real time so you can take educated action to resolve problems before they occur
25:37
in the printer itself. It just needs to do a little bit more of actual educating before this
25:44
is the perfect platform. Yet already it is still a light year ahead of Chitubox or Lychee
25:50
Now the second tab isn't normally something I cover but it's kind of the reason why I'm covering
25:56
this slicer at all. It's Hagear's automatic support algorithm, which is by far the best thing
26:03
I have ever seen. Again, I initially rejected this, but after spending time with it, it makes a lot
26:10
more sense. You see, I found it weird that I couldn't actually manipulate any of the actual
26:15
support posts themselves. You can only select points on the model where you want the supports
26:21
to connect. But actually, the algorithm does such an amazing job of orientation and support angle
26:27
itself that I never needed to change anything. The few times there was some slight encroachment
26:33
of the support across the model surface, it was so minuscule that it was irrelevant to the actual
26:38
print. Put it this way, I typically only print pre-supported models because I can't be bothered
26:44
to support them myself in reviews with this printer i've opted for the unsupported models
26:50
and i've preferred this slicer to support them for me but there's also another reason for that
26:57
which i'll come on to shortly and i swear i promise i am i swear to you i am not trying to
27:02
drag this out now it just you'll see why it makes more sense in this order when you look back over
27:07
the video at the end trust me please i hate feeling like i'm one of them s who just
27:12
keeps going oh yeah I'll get onto that in a minute and never gets to the point but I hope you've seen
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that we've already covered so many points and the only part of the video that's actually a waste of
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your time is this bit where I'm explaining why I'm not wasting your time even though I'm wasting
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your time by explaining it. I'm now apologizing to you to preempt any negative comments I get for
27:29
this video that I'm going to get anyway no matter what I do so sorry not sorry this is a really
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complicated printer that does so many things in so many new ways that I have to explain it all
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it's taking a while yeah it is what it is so moving on to the layout tab this is completely
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automated and it doesn't take long to orient all of your models across the surface of the plate and
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ensure everything fits and when you get to the slice function it does all this in the background
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and gives you a pop-up when the slicing is complete you can then send this to the printer
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via lan or cloud but the fact that slicing has become a background task means you can get on
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with another project whilst you're waiting. And if you've got issues with a print, there's a feedback
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request module built right into the slicer so you can upload your slice file and say, hey I'm having
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an issue with this. Heygears can then use that to gather feedback and respond to you and they've
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already improved their platform and resin settings due to the feedback I gave about printing miniatures
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when I had the prototype unit because we were initially limited to only 50 micron layer heights
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when I printed models in that video. And trust me, this is just an overview of the features
28:39
All in all, the app is so smooth. Even now, years down the line
28:43
both Lychee and Chitubox have so many daft little visual bugs that it annoys the hell out of me
28:49
They're both just such janky apps still. This is a smooth and responsive
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well-built professional application that shows Haygears are taking this seriously where all other brands are still just playing
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Again, believe me, I've only just scratched the surface and I could and maybe should do another video on this slicer
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but right now we haven't got all day and you want to know if this printer's worth buying
29:15
Well, one final thing before we conclude, and I promise this is the last thing
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it's the Pulsing Release Module or PRM. This add-on accessory, which costs more than most people's printers
29:27
is an absolute game changer in resin printing. Now depending on how new your reflex is you may
29:34
already have the rubber gasket needed to fit this in the machine. I had to install mine separately
29:39
which was only a case of peeling off the frame around the display putting the gasket in place
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and fitting a new frame that you get with it. It was that easy. You connect the PRM up to the
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printer with its control and power wire and then you fit the air hose. Now what this is is basically
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an air compressor that constantly runs and pumps air into the printer
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a frequency that's in line with the lift and retraction of the build plate
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Now, unfortunately, this compressor is so loud and constant that I just cannot be in the same room as the printer as it's printing
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which I normally can do because I've got extraction set up. Now, a V2 of this PRM should really include a tank, an air tank
30:19
to store the compressed air so it's not pumping for the whole print. But yeah, what this does is it pumps air between the release film and the LCD
30:27
Just before it lifts each layer, this air then removes the vacuum that is formed by the release film touching the LCD and significantly reduces the pull forces needed to remove cured resin from said film
30:42
Now, if you didn't quite follow that because it is a little bit complex and I kind of shot through it, I do recommend you use the brilliant YouTube feature of going back and watching it again until it's clear what I meant
30:52
But look, here's the benefit. The result is that you're able to print models with much thinner
30:58
contact points on your supports. Now, where other brands use frosty detail reducing ACF films to
31:06
achieve a similar result by also reducing the required peel forces, one, the ACF solution is
31:13
just nowhere near as good because you still need more pull force, but this method keeps your print
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sharp because it doesn't use frosty ACF and it lets you reduce your support contacts points
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down to almost nothing. I feel I need to put this into perspective quickly. If you've seen my
31:32
supporting miniatures video I talk about heavy, medium and light supports in Lychee. Now on the
31:37
advice of Dan from the Lion's Tower Miniatures who has created some of the best supported miniatures
31:41
I've ever seen, he taught me how to support miniatures. I've now changed the tips of my
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supports to 480, 280 and 200 microns for heavy, medium and light supports respectively. Now within
31:55
Blueprint the slicer here do you remember how I was talking about how I now opt to use their auto
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supports over pre-supported models? Well that uses 200 micron supports already by default. When using
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the PRM I'm able to get working support tips as thin as 100 microns and I'm able to do that easily
32:16
Put it this way, in Lychee, I only used the small 200 micron supports sparingly when I wanted them as imperceivable as possible
32:25
At 100 microns, you can't even tell they were there. Imagine that, resin printing without having to do any support cleanup at all
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That's what the PRM does. Now I have I also tried 50 micron supports and I started to get semi successful Before another app on my PC crashed the computer made slice and corrupted the file And I wasn starting from the beginning again I was thinking I was about four or five prints in
32:51
Now don't get me wrong, there are still some slight little specks and spots on your model
32:56
but these are so tiny and so imperceivable that it's like they're not even there
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But like I said, when I use this printer now, I've stopped using pre-supported models
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and I opt for this slicer's auto supports instead. Now yes sometimes I get small failures that I need
33:13
to tweak by adding a few more supports in a particular area but when the result is a 3D
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print with next to no support mark cleanup required that saves me so much post-processing time
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and well time is money. Is that time worth it to you for the additional cost of the resin in this
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printer? Well, here we are at the end of our journey, and I know it's been a long one, but I'm
33:37
sure you'll agree there's a lot going on here. The Hagear's UltraCraft Reflex is not only better than
33:43
any other printer I've ever used, but much like Bamboo's printers, the Reflex is the first printer
33:49
that feels like a real approachable product for this day and age. It's the iPhone to all the Nokia
33:55
N95 users, because it's realized what so many of us have wanted for so long, the best possible
34:02
quality from resin printing, with the smallest amount of user interaction needed to go from
34:08
unboxing to incredible print. There's no need to tweak or tinker with this at all. In fact, you can't
34:14
even if you wanted to. Just unbox it, throw models in the app, go through the steps it presents to
34:20
you, and get the best quality prints available on any current consumer-grade LCD printer. But
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should you buy it well let's assume if you're watching this and are therefore actually considering
34:31
it even after you've seen the price and now you understand that you need to buy their bottles of
34:37
resin ranging from 70 pounds or local equivalent probably about 80 dollars and up per bottle like
34:44
seriously hey gears we shouldn't need to pay you for the proprietary bottle and spring mechanism
34:48
every time maybe just sell us some refill packs please but again say you're okay with paying all
34:54
that so you don't need to do any legwork and ensure you'll always have the best quality prints
34:58
well Hageer's approach is here a bit of a double-edged sword whilst they take a lot of
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complexity away from you there is a borderline arrogance to this by removing all control from
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the user entirely for me on my first plate of test prints I did have a model fail which I supported
35:17
myself in another slicer I've had no issues printing this model on any other printer and
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and you have seen it in nearly every recent review I done But instead of re a failed pre model I often just up the exposure a little on my printers to ensure success I can do that here
35:36
And when removing a model from the plate, several of them shattered on the base layers
35:41
I'd normally lower my base exposure settings here because I've seen this happen on other printers where I have a known good and flexible resin, but I've over cured the base layers
35:51
I think it's also the reason my exposure test cracked. I'd want to lower the exposure just a little bit, but I can't do that here
36:00
And when I print miniatures, I still very much prefer the properties of Wargamer resin
36:05
because we spent forever developing it to have the best properties for miniatures
36:09
where it's the right balance of sharp and flexible, where the PAP-10 resin here is sharp
36:14
but it's just too brittle after curing for intricate pieces not to snap easily
36:20
This is great for master prints or display prints only. i actually preferred their abs like pa u10 for usable miniatures and that's the stuff i used in
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my preview video which is more flexible but not quite as sharp but that stuff well it absolutely
36:36
stinks i think something halfway between these would be better though i'm yet to find a resin
36:41
company who actually understands what miniature printers need in a resin which is why we had one
36:47
made. Anyway, what I'm saying is I'd like to use my own resin, but I can't do that here. Now
36:55
Heygears are right. Most of the time, they have the absolute best resin settings available for
37:00
their resins down to the nth degree. But the rest of the time, for those odd few occasions where you
37:06
may just need to make a small tweak or change to something for whatever random scenario or reason
37:12
presents itself to you, you're stuck thanks to a whole new set of limitations you just don't get
37:18
from any other modern printer. And I know that dialing in a printer can be seen as a pain, trust
37:24
me, I do it more than most people, but it's not like it's that hard, is it? I mean, I've made a
37:29
step-by-step walkthrough in just a 20-minute video, showing just how easy it is, and once it's dialed
37:35
in for a particular resin, that's it. It's done forever. So is it really worth all this extra
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expense? I'd say this printer is still a top pick for those people who have the money for it and its
37:48
materials and those amongst you who simply want to print models to the highest possible quality
37:53
degree whilst learning as little as possible about the process. And there's nothing wrong with
37:59
releasing a printer that operates more like a tool for your hobby than a machine which becomes a hobby
38:04
in itself. I've championed this approach in the FDM world, and I do want the same in the resin sphere, too
38:10
I guess this sudden souring of my attitude from an overall positive video comes from disappointment because well because of the lockdown approach Well that coupled with the material price more so than the
38:23
machine price. And it's because this will undoubtedly limit this printer's reach in the
38:29
marketplace. And whilst I expect them to sell hundreds of units, I want this printer to sell
38:35
in the thousands because enough people investing in this platform and brand, it has the potential
38:41
to significantly disrupt the resin marketplace and push all 3D resin printer technology forward
38:48
But what do you think? Is this the machine for you? I don't think there's a wrong answer here
38:53
but I expect the results will be somewhat polarizing. I'd love to know why it is or isn't
38:59
your pick, and I'm certain Hagears will also read the comments on this video, so please drop one
39:04
below with your thoughts. If you are as impressed by this as I am, and you want this printer in your
39:10
lineup and you've got the money to continually pay for the materials it requires then please i
39:16
would appreciate you clicking the affiliate link in the description of this video before you go
39:21
ahead and finalize that purchase again i get a commission on that but i hope you'll agree that
39:26
i've really put the work in for this one i want to say thanks to our members and thanks to you for
39:31
watching if you got this far give yourself a pat on the back again i don't think i should apologize
39:36
for the length of this video i think we got to most of the points apart from the point where i
39:41
was apologizing for not getting to the points that was the only bit that didn't get to the point
39:45
anyway i'm tired of talking you're probably tired of listening you've just had your mind blown by a
39:51
printer and there's a lot to think about yeah so thank you for getting this far really appreciate
39:57
your time and effort if you have stuck this far and it was helpful please this time drop a comment
40:03
below click like click subscribe if you haven't already just let people know let me know that this
40:09
is good we are literally about to hit 50 000 subscribers and i think by the time this video
40:14
goes live after it takes forever to edit it we probably have reached that milestone which is why
40:19
i've already printed myself out the resin play button which youtube don't give out but i feel
40:25
was appropriate for this video and yes this was also printed on the ultra craft reflex and i used
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auto supports. Thanks again. Until next time, I'm just a girl standing in front of a boy
40:38
asking him to love her. Fohammer out