Fast Cure

In SLA 3D printing, the post-curing of parts is a necessary step as it helps maximize the parts' properties and performance, as well as achieve biocompatibility in the case of some materials such as medical or dental resins. In order to speed up the post-curing process for the dental 3D printing sector, Formlabs has designed the Fast Cure post-curing unit.

Image 1: The Fast Cure post-curing unit. Source: Formlabs.

With Fast Cure it is possible to cure 90 % faster in comparison with other post-curing equipment such as Form Cure. This means parts are ready within 1-6 minutes, allowing for same-day dentistry, more throughput and high customer satisfaction. Fast Cure is a powerful high-performance post-curing unit compatible with multiple resins (also third party) and Formlabs SLA 3D printers:

Table 1: The compatibility of Fast Cure with resins and printers. Source: Formlabs.

Formlabs has made sure through rigorous testing that Fast Cure can post-cure parts 3D printed with the Formlabs Dental resins in a smooth end-to-end workflow for safe and efficient patient treatments. Fast Cure is equipped with a 7.9" touch screen that makes it easy to start a cure cycle with preloaded validated settings for each Formlabs Dental resin.

Fast Cure offers unprecedented post-curing speed (*depending on the material used) when compared with other post-curing equipment:

Table 2: Comparison of post-curing times for Fast Cure and Form Cure. Source: Formlabs.

Another valuable feature of Fast Cure is that it requires no preheating thanks to 200 W powerful 405 nm LED lights (56 multidirectional LEDs). Compared to Form Cure or Form Cure L, Fast Cure provides much more curing power. Fast Cure is compact (27.5 x 31 x 31 cm) and provides a working space ideal for the post-curing of dental parts such as arches, crowns, bridges, etc. Fast Cure has a turntable with a 18 cm diameter that can fit up to 8 horizontal dental arches, and the maximum part height is 6.5 cm (vertical dental arch).

Image 2: The Formlabs solution for dental 3D printing with the Form 3B+ printer, Form Wash and Fast Cure (right). Source: Formlabs.

In order to ensure the upgradability and versatility of the Fast Cure post-curing unit, Formlabs made it possible for users to create and save custom settings for third party dental resins. To further accomodate the user, and allow for working with a wider range of materials, Fast Cure is equipped with an inlet where a nitrogen tank can be connected for nitrogen post-curing (not required for Formlabs dental resins).

On the Formlabs support page the user can find numerous articles on the usage, maintenance, safety and curring settings for the Fast Cure machine.