Hi, my first post here also. I have a few questions and comments.
1) Do you have an idea of what monomers and possibly oligomers you are going to use? Are there specific mechanical properties you are trying to get?
2) Regarding the stabilizer, all commercially available monomers and oligomers should come pre stabilized for safety during transportation and storage. Most likely they will be stabilized with either hydroquinone (HQ) or monomethyl ether hydroquinone (MEHQ). Shelf life will vary drastically depending on composition and the storage conditions but I have seen everything from below 4 months to upwards of 5 years.
3) If your monomer selection, light source, photoinitiator, and dye are selected correctly you will likely not need a catalyst but I dont have acces to a printer of this type so I can't say for sure.
4) "Medium viscosity" is relatively easy to achieve but your monomer/oligomer selection will determine your viscosity range.
4) 450-490nm light is a very high wavelength and you will likely have issues with any resin that has a photoinitiator at this wavelength curing under normal lighting but if that is not a problem then it is mostly down the selecting the correct photoinitiator. I recommend taking a look at [
forums.reprap.org]
5) As far as the ratio and mixing you will probably have a formula that ends up with looking like the following
100-x-y% Monomer (1 or more individual monomers)
x% Oligomer (optional, usually added to free radical resins for durability)
y% Photoinitiator (usually 1-4% of the reactive portion of a formula)
Blend the monomer(s) and oligomer (if using) first to your desired viscosity
Add the photoinitiator in a room that has color filters for wavelengths below 500
Add the pigment/dye
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/30/2013 10:50PM by Azrael511.