If you’ve recently bought a resin printer, figuring out how long to cure your finished prints can be a challenge. That’s often because different types of resin take different times to cure.
In addition, 3D printers use both two-part resin with a hardener and UV-curing resin. Here, you’ll need different curing times and equipment for each resin type.
In most cases, it should take 1-5 minutes to cure a resin print. The smaller your print, the less time you should spend curing it. However, some 3D print resins can be left for longer in water or without a light. Large prints may take up to 12 minutes with a light.
4 Resin Curing Time Factors
In most cases, the largest factor affecting how long resin prints take to cure is the resin itself. This means that the curing and drying times on the package of resin you buy is the most important factor.
Different types of resin have different chemical makeups. In each case, it’s important to read the instructions and follow them on a brand-by-brand basis.
1. Model Size
Larger models and prints require longer curing time.
Here, a very large print may require as long as 12 minutes under a UV lamp. On the other hand, something small, like a mini for a tabletop game, may require as little as a minute of cure time.
If you’re not using a UV lamp, you might end up having to scale up even further. For example, a mini left in the sun might cure in under an hour. On the other hand, a large model might require 10+ hours.
Here, print size, complexity, and details on parts will all impact how long the model takes to cure.
2. Resin Type
SLA and DLP printers use UV-sensitive resin. Here, you can already choose from dozens of different types of resin. For example, resin with ceramic, clear resin, rigid resin, etc.
New: Filament Printing 101 Course- Our new Filament Printing 101 Course is just for you! Lean how to create perfect professional prints without all the hassle.
- Don't let common mistakes hold you back, click the link to learn more and get ahead now!
Each of these resin types will have its own post-curing light requirements (although 405nm is common). In addition, the density and type of resin will greatly impact curing time.
Denser resins or those with reinforcement will normally take longer to cure. In most cases, water-washable resins require a longer curing time as well.
For example, Elegoo’s water-washable resin requires 2-10 minutes for most prints. On the other hand, its “standard” resin normally requires 1-8 minutes.
3. Curing Method
Curing your 3D print with a UV light or in a curing station will always go faster than curing your print in the sun or with a regular light. The more you control the atmosphere, humidity, and light from every direction, the better the curing will go.
For this reason, if you choose to cure resin prints in natural light, the answer is usually “when the surface is cured” rather than a timeline.
That’s because factors like humidity, cloud cover, the direction of your windows, etc., will all impact how much UV radiation your print is exposed to.
On the other hand, if you’re curing a 3D print under a nail curing station, you’ll have to rotate the print to ensure that every side is exposed to light. If you do so, you’ll have to add more time per side, because each side will still take time to cure.
4. Resin Color
The darker your resin, the longer it will take to cure. White and clear resins cure the fastest.
This happens because darker pigments absorb the 385nm and 405nm wave light needed to cure the resin. This means you’ll have to expose it to light for longer before it absorbs enough.
Of course, this varies depending on the pigment used, so always check the recommendations on the package of resin you are buying.
How Long Does It Take To Cure Resin Prints? (Timetable)
| Cure Type | 26mm Print | 100mm Print |
|---|---|---|
| Curing Station | 1-3 Minutes | 2-8 minutes |
| Nail Lamp | 4-10 minutes | 30-45 minutes |
| Natural Sun | 1-3 hours | 8-40 hours |
Cure times can vary significantly based on factors like weather, your machinery, and settings. Therefore, you always want to check what your specific settings and resin type are.
However, you can use the following cure times as a general rule of thumb when curing your resin prints.
Outside
It’s not recommended to cure resin prints outside unless you can control weather and exposure to dust and wind. Uncured resin is sticky, which may mean that your 3D print will pick up dust and other debris, which will become a permanent part of the shell.
However, the sun is a perfectly appropriate way to cure many types of resin. At the same time, it takes significantly longer than a curing station or box.
In the best conditions with full sun and no clouds, you’re looking at 1-12 hours of sunlight exposure to cure most models, depending on their size.
If you have less ideal conditions, such as clouds or weak sun, you can sometimes have up to triple that timeline. Therefore, most people prefer to use a UV light curing station.
Under UV Light
UV curing stations and even nail curing devices are great ways to cure your 3D prints more quickly. These machines expose your print to high doses of 405 nm light to harden it more quickly.
In this case, you can expect even the largest print to be cured within about 12 minutes. Small models will cure in about 1 minute.
Here, if you’re using a nail-curing device, it’s important to cure the model on each side including the top and bottom. This prevents one side of the print from not curing properly if it doesn’t receive enough light.
Professional curing stations like those offered by Elegoo, Creality, Prusa, Flashforge, and others work to expose your model to an equal amount of UV light from all sides.
Without UV Light
Most 3D printers use UV-sensitive light. If you have a printer that works without UV-curing resin, the resin will say this.
In this case, you’ll most likely have a two-part epoxy resin, which is printed using a “hot melt” technique. This is much different than most resin printers, which use light to harden prints out of a vat of resin.
However, it’s significantly difficult to keep 3D prints away from UV exposure without keeping them in a dark box. Household lights, sunlight, and even some refracted light at night contain UV.
In Water
If you’ve heard of “water curing” resin, it’s actually not a replacement for using light to cure resin.
Instead, water replaces the isopropyl alcohol wash to remove sticky residue after the print. Here, “water wash” resins are sold to help home printers and prototypes reduce costs.
Water-wash resin also has pros and cons.
For example, while it is cheaper and doesn’t require that you constantly have alcohol on hand, it is more vulnerable to humidity and moisture. In most cases, it’s also more brittle.
How To Tell If Resin Prints Are Cured
Taking your resin prints out of a UV curing machine on time is critical to maintaining their strength and stability. In fact, over-curing your resin is the easiest way to produce brittle prints.
Here, timelines can vary quite a bit. However, for most resin, it’s fully cured when it starts to look completely matte.
It’s also perfectly okay to take your print out of the UV light if you’re not sure. It’s better to put the print back in to cure for longer than to leave it in too long.
And, with a little trial and error, you’ll quickly get a feel for the resin you’re using and how long it takes to cure.
4 Tips To Speed Up Curing Process
If you’re curing resin without any equipment, it can take a long time.
However, there are a few steps you can take to ensure your curing process is as fast as possible.
1. Buy A Curing Machine
Having a professional UV curing machine is the best way to speed up curing your prints.
Curing machines expose your print to UV light from all sides at once, ensuring an even cure in very little time. These machines can fully cure a 26mm miniature in as little as one minute.
In addition, they normally include heat and humidity control. This means your 3D prints will cure in optimum conditions for strength and stability.
Most are also relatively inexpensive, with Anycubic, Creality, and others all offering models below $150.
2. Increase The Temperature
Most resin cures faster when it is warm.
If you’re not using a curing machine, try using a space heater or a heat lamp to ensure your prints stay warm while you cure them.
3. Reduce Humidity
High humidity can increase curing time. Therefore, you can use a dehumidifier or a dry room to speed up resin curing time.
However, this will not have a dramatic impact on resin curing time.
4. Buy A Resin With Short Cure Times
Different types of resin require different curing times. The fastest curing times are usually “fast and rigid” resins, which are sold to quickly prototype or mock-up designs.
Often, these are brittle, which means you don’t want them for every application. However, they do cure very quickly.
Final Thoughts
If you’re using a resin curing machine, you can normally expect curing times between 1 and 8 minutes. On the other hand, if you’re using the sun, timelines can vary from an hour to over 40. Resin curing time also depends on the type of resin, size of the print, and other factors. In addition, it’s always important to check the recommendations on your specific resin type to see how long you should cure it.
