Resin Vs Filament 3D Printer: Is There a Superior Printing Technology?

Filament 3D printers have been the de facto starting point for those starting out in 3D printing. At some point, it was the only accessible choice. With consumer resin printers now available a new 3D printing landscape has opened up for the average user. Resin and filament 3D printers are both used to print plastic products. However, these technologies and their printing outcomes are so different that it is unlikely you’ll choose a filament printer when you need a resin printer. Additional factors such as cost and ease of use also play a part in the resin vs filament 3D printer debate, but user need is the hidden hand that dictates the final decision. Will your needs lead you to a filament or a resin printer?

Comparison Summary

Category	Author's Choice
Ease of Use	Filament
Print Quality	Resin
Material Options	Either
Cost	Filament
Safety	Filament
Community	Filament
Best Overall for beginners*	Filament

What Are Resin and Filament 3D Printing?

Resin and filament 3D printing are both methods of manufacturing plastic products using additive manufacturing techniques. However, the systems that produce the products have very few similarities and their raw materials are in two distinct product classes.

Resin 3D Printing

There are several types of resin 3D printing technologies and they all use a light-cured resin as the material. This means that the resin is in a liquid state but hardens when exposed to certain types of light. Some resin 3D printer types you’ll hear about are:

Stereolithography or SLA printers
Digital light processing or DLP printers
Liquid crystal display or LCD printers (also commonly referred to as masked stereolithography or mSLA printers)

SLA printers use UV lasers as the light source that cures the thermosetting resin while DLP printers use digital projectors as their UV light source. In LCD printers, the light comes from LEDs that shine through the LCD screen and onto the resin.

In SLA printers, the laser hits the resin at a single point. This means that a single layer is printed (cured) by tracing the laser along a predetermined pattern. In both DLP and LCD printers, an entire layer is cured at once by flashing or projecting the shape of the layer at the resin at once.

DLP and LCD printers are faster than SLA printers since whole layers are cured at once.

Good-quality DLP and true SLA printers are typically not consumer/hobbyist products. The technology that has made resin 3D printing a real option for the masses is LCD or mSLA.

Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) 3D Printers

FDM 3D printing works by extruding molten plastic onto a build plate along a predetermined pattern to form each layer. The materials used are thermoplastics i.e. plastics that can be melted and reformed into different shapes.

All FDM printers have an extruder and follow this basic principle. However, the elements of these printers can be moved in different ways using different mechanisms. This has resulted in many different types of FDM printers including the well-known cartesian printers such as the Prusa MK4.

Resin Vs Filament 3D Printers: Ease of Use

Ease of use matters whether you are a beginner or experienced in 3D printing. When technology is not easy to use, the chances of making an error are higher, and failed prints are not even the worst thing that can happen.

Filament 3D Printers

You can attain good quality prints using a filament 3D printer without putting too much effort into it. These printers have come a long way since the early 2010s, and the quality of FDM 3D printers in the market today makes it easy for complete beginners to get the job done.

All you need to do to print using a consumer-grade filament 3D printer is to load the filament and upload the g-code for the model you want to print. Depending on the material you’re working with, you may need to take extra measures such as adding glue or adhesive tape to the print bed.

Many prints from FDM printers are considered done as soon as the printing process is complete. Additional steps may include the removal of supports, sanding, vapor smoothing, or painting, but none of these are required for each print.

Resin 3D Printers

To use a resin printer, you will need to put on the necessary protective gear, add your desired resin to the resin tank, upload the model, and start the printing process.

Once the printing process is done, the part needs to be washed and cured. This may involve transferring the print to a washing and curing station or manually washing the prints in a tub of isopropyl alcohol and curing them in the sun.

Resin printing at its most basic is a multistage process that requires the use of protective gear to keep the user safe from the resin. There’s also the added challenge of safely cleaning or disposing of anything that comes into contact with uncured resin.

As a result, as far as ease of use is concerned, this printing technology comes second in the resin vs filament printer debate.

Resin Vs Filament 3D Printers: Print Quality

The print quality of different 3D printing technologies can be assessed using parameters such as:

Resolution or degree of detail
Accuracy and precision
Aesthetics

Print Quality of Resin 3D Printers

Resin printers excel when it comes to print quality because they use a tightly controlled beam of light to define what should be cured. A sub $300 resin printer can achieve a horizontal resolution of 0.035mm (35µm) with a minimum layer height of 0.01mm (10µm).

Thanks to this resolution, layer lines are not even noticeable without the use of magnification. This also means that resin printers can achieve an outstanding level of detail especially when compared to filament 3D printers.

Even though resin prints are known to shrink to some degree during curing, they can still attain better accuracy compared to filament 3D printers.

Print Quality of Filament 3D Printers

Filament printers take a resounding beating when it comes to print quality in the resin vs filament 3D printer debate.

A good filament printer will only have a minimum resolution of 0.1mm on the Z-axis, and 0.3mm on the X and Y axes. These can be improved to 0.05mm by fine-tuning the extrusion system, but this still doesn’t get them close to resin printers.

Additionally, getting the highest resolution possible using an FDM printer requires the use of smaller nozzles. The smaller the nozzle the slower the print and the more likely it is to clog. This means that even printing at the best resolution FDM printers can achieve isn’t realistic.

Resin Vs Filament 3D Printers: Material Options

Comparing the material options in resin vs filament printers is surprisingly tricky. The materials used by these two technologies, thermosets vs thermoplastics, are fundamentally different despite all of them being plastics.

Resin Printing Materials

The materials used for resin printing are thermosets. This means that once the parts have been cured, they cannot be melted down and reformed into different shapes. Thermosets burn when they are heated.

There is a wide range of material options for resin printing including:

Clear resins
Flexible resins
Tough resins (ABS-like)
Heat resistant resins
Dental resins
Standard resins
Plant-based resins
Water-washable resins

Many of the best resins in the market are not consumer-grade and are used for specialized applications in industry. Consequently, a lot of resins are not in the price range of 3D printing enthusiasts.

Filament Printing Materials

Assessing filament printing materials is a lot easier. These materials are all thermoplastics with familiar names and properties. Buyers will somewhat know what to expect when they go looking for materials that include:

PLA
ABS
PETG
Polypropylene (PP)
TPU
Nylon
HIPS
Polycarbonate
ASA
PVA

Additionally, there are composite materials that are filled with fibers and filaments to provide certain qualities. These include carbon fiber-filled and metal-filled filaments.

There is no clear winner in this case because both technologies have a good range of materials that are suitable for very different applications. Filament printing may have an advantage for beginners because some of its materials are well-known consumer-grade plastics.

Resin Vs Filament 3D Printers: Cost

The cost of resin and filament 3D printing can be broken down into:

Printer costs
Material costs
Maintenance costs

Resin 3D Printing Costs

A sub-$200 resin printer is attractive until you realize you’ll also need to buy a wash and cure station which will cost you around $110 extra on the low end. You may also incur other costs early on if you have to install a fume hood or window to deal with the fumes produced by resins.

Resin printing also comes with a list of consumables that include:

Resin
Isopropyl alcohol for washing prints
Nitrile gloves
Paper towels

One Kilogram of resin is usually more expensive than one Kilogram of filament. The costs of the other consumables may be low, but they will always be present.

Lastly, certain parts of your resin printer will need to be replaced over time. The transparent surface at the bottom of the resin tank will need to be replaced if it develops holes or becomes cloudy. It may also become more sticky resulting in more print failures.

The LCD panel has a limited lifespan and should be replaced once it exceeds the specified number of working hours.

Filament 3D Printing Costs

Desktop filament 3D printers have several things working in their favor when it comes to cost. The technology has matured to the point where $500 or less will still get you a printer that’s good enough to produce high-quality prints.

In many cases, there is nothing extra you need to buy but there are plenty of optional extras to improve the printing experience such as print beds with different properties, extra nozzles with different diameters, nozzles made from different materials to print special materials, high-flow extruders, etc.

Filaments will be the main consumable you’ll need to worry about, but you may also need to buy adhesive tape and glue sticks for the print bed.

Much of the maintenance of filament 3D printers won’t cost you money but will cost you time. The nozzles will wear, especially if you print with abrasive filaments, e.g., those filled with metals and carbon fiber. Luckily, new nozzles are cheap and you can get hardened ones that wear less.

Resin Vs Filament 3D Printers: Safety

At this point, most of the safety concerns associated with filament 3D printers could be classified as common sense. The same can’t be said about resin 3D printers.

Resin 3D Printer Safety

The safety issue with resin printers has less to do with the printer and more to do with the resin. The resin used in these printers is toxic and can pose several health issues including:

Skin irritation
Respiratory system irritation
Harmful if ingested

Additionally, many of these resins are also environmental hazards that have been shown to be deadly to aquatic animals.

Due to these dangers, working with resin printers demands that you employ many safety measures including:

Wearing nitrile gloves
Using protective goggles
Working in a well-ventilated area
Reading the safety instructions that come with any resin
Having a plan for the proper disposal of resin and anything contaminated e.g. paper towels.

From personal experience, I can attest that even with these safety measures in place, cross-contamination is still a risk when working with printer resin. Mistakes can happen even to experienced makers.

There are plenty of videos on YouTube exploring the issue of the toxic nature of resins and what it means now and in the future. One maker even tells the story of how he sustained chemical burns after spilling resin onto himself while moving a printer.

Filament 3D Printer Safety

In the case of filament 3D printers, the dangers posed by the heated parts and the moving parts are straightforward. Hot things will burn you, fast-moving parts can hit you hard, and spinning gears will ‘crush’ or pull anything that gets caught in them.

Heated beds on consumer filament printers can reach 110℃ (230℉) and some extruders get as hot as 300℃ (572℉). To put that into context, boiling water is ‘only’ 100℃ (212 ℉).

As small as they are, the gears and belts found in many filament printers can still injure you. The fast-moving print beds and extruders are not to be underestimated either.

There have been concerns that the ultrafine particles (UFPs) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emitted by filament 3D printing may pose long-term health risks, but the research on this is still in its early stages. UFPs can also come from other sources including vehicle exhaust, burning of trash, and factories.

All filaments used in 3D printing produce both UFPs and VOCs, some of which are classified as carcinogenic. The toxicity of these emissions is not well understood yet so it is best to err on the side of caution.

You can take certain measures to limit your exposure to UFPs and VOCs while using your filament 3D printer such as:

Using the printer in a well-ventilated environment
Using an enclosure for your 3D printer, ideally one with a HEPA filter.
Using materials that produce lower levels of emissions
Sourcing materials from reputable manufacturers.
Monitoring the air quality in your printing environment

Resin Vs Filament 3D Printers: Community

One of the best things about 3D printing today is the robust community of makers that surround it. There are many pages, groups, blogs, YouTube channels, etc. that are dedicated to answering most of the questions you will have about 3D printing.

In this regard, filament 3D printing is certainly at an advantage as the technology got a headstart in the consumer market. It also helps that filament 3D printing is less costly than resin 3D printing making it easier for more people to get started with it.

As a result, as far as the availability of community support goes, filament 3D printing comes out ahead in the resin vs filament 3D printer debate.

It definitely helps that filament 3D printers are machines that can be tinkered with and customized in more ways than resin printers. Some of the most popular 3D prints online are upgrades to accessorize filament printers or improve certain functionalities.

The Bare Facts of the Resin Vs Filament 3D Printer Debate

Although filament printers seem to come out ahead in the resin vs filament 3D printer debate, the print quality of resin printers is sometimes an indispensable factor. This is why the results above may not dictate what printer you get.

There is some overlap in what these printers can produce but what we aim to print with filament printers is usually very different from what we aim to print with resin printers. Applications will often have aesthetic and functional needs that overrule your opinions on which technology is better overall.

There is an exception when it comes to beginners who have no idea where to start. Due to the lower costs, ease of use, known risks of working with resin, and the presence of a larger community to lean on, filament 3D printers currently make the most sense for beginners.

Author's Notes

I thought I’d add this section to give my own subjective view on this debate. Take everything in this section with a pinch of salt.

I am currently biased towards filament printing because it’s the technology I’ve used the most and also what I find to be more useful. I feel like at this hobbyist/enthusiast level or even for small 3D printing businesses, there are plenty more truly useful things that can be printed using filament printers compared with resin printing.

I also have a huge issue with the safety aspect of resin printing. I think the toxic nature of this material makes it a problem for users and it’s not a pleasure to store either. Leaks and drips do happen.

I believe that the resin vs filament 3D printer debate will truly have its moment once both technologies improve and there is more overlap in what they can accomplish.

Resin printers main challenge seems to be on the material side of things. Will we eventually get materials that are just as strong and affordable as filament and less toxic?

In the case of filament printers, how can the resolution of the printers be improved while increasing the speeds when using smaller nozzles? It may seem like filament printers have already reached the apex of their resolution but I believe smaller nozzles are still possible if we start to rethink the extrusion technology.