Rapid Prototyping in Your Home Shop! | HeyGears Ultracraft Reflex RS

[@PaulsGarage]

Check it out here (with extra $50 off sale price): store.heygears.com/products/16066055334019182606943835?source_type=sales_plugin_af&slt=sales_plugin_af&referral_code=NRSU37F7T79N Just the Printer here: store.heygears.com/products/16066054879476586102063835?source_type=sales_plugin_af&slt=sales_plugin_af&referral_code=NRSU37F7T79N

[@lunarrn]

We want a lathe. We want a lathe. We want a lathe. Etc

[@PaulsGarage]

I also want a lathe 🤣

[@C-M-E]

Autosupports are very identifiable when you get a bit of experience under your belt, or better known as Oversupports. People have very little idea how few supports it takes to properly do a resin print when you know what you're looking for and how to do it well. I do crash course schools on reddit quite often and prefer people do them manually not only to save material, but to learn the difference between what algorithms do vs a finely tuned eye that developed a knack for being able to successfully print Any object with zero failures. The best part is the one you only have to print once, as I often say. Add: Even when you find a Really consistent resin manufacturer, settings can vary by the day and time you print, which is something most machines don't take consideration for (or any on the consumer segment anyway). I know, it's more than 98% of users may ever investigate, but I've taken this to a fine science I tell you. The closer you can dial in a profile to its ultimate perfection, the better it can survive the gaps when things aren't optimum, like your print room with no HVAC spikes temperature in a Texas August. 😉

[@PaulsGarage]

You are right, it's best to learn how to do it manually, but I'm often surprised by how many people don't want to pick up small skills like that. It's crazy. I hear you on the climate issues, my garage goes from 98 and humid in the summer to 40 in the winter. I have a heater out there otherwise it would drop to -10. It's crazy how much prints change between 75 and 50 degrees.

[@Ps69pher]

This is great. Can we get more Gingery lathe videos, though? I got an itch and the only way to scratch it is with more Gingery lathe videos.

[@PaulsGarage]

Yes Indeed! Just been busy here. Honestly if these printer videos didn't have a deadline I probably wouldn't be making videos at all right now. Maybe I should do an update video or something to explain? But yes definitely more gingery videos

[@blazunlimited]

I second this Gingery suggestion.

[@joell439]

@@PaulsGarage- Hope you’re just busy and you and the family are well.

[@IGBeTix-Electronique]

Agree with you !

[@PaulsGarage]

It's mostly just business with work, but there is some other stuff going on. Most of my family is *mostly* well.

[@jamesokane1739]

If you forget to file your taxes, It will know. If you take an extra cookie, It will know.

[@BadYossa]

That was a very informative vid - like a good rant too. Phenomenal wee machine and a very good price, given the quality of it's output. Cheers for that!

[@PaulsGarage]

The price is on par with more normal printers but the quality is amazing

[@slimplynth]

"up the wazu".. instantly reminded me of General Rankor from Spy Hard 😂

[@WhiteGloveFans]

I use the casting resin in my Reflex. It was an excellent printing/casting experience. You’ll be blown away by the print quality and it burns out clean. But you’re going to need a Reflex. This is the printer all hobbyist casters will end up using so long as their hobby is casting and not printing…

[@PaulsGarage]

That sounds promising. I've had good luck with monocure burnaway but that resin has no wax in it, so it prints more like a regular plastic. Still requires some dialing in to get it looking the best, though. What investment do you use?

[@WhiteGloveFans]

Optima prestige and normal resin burnout schedule. Only think I’ve noticed lately is I really have to let my flasks dry out before burnout, but I think my investment is old and that it has nothing to do with the PAC10 resin. I havent met a single other person who has used the resin yet other than me so I’m eager for someone else to see what I’m seeing here.

[@PaulsGarage]

@WhiteGloveFans that makes sense. I think all plasters have a shelf life, especially if they are stored in areas that can get humid like my garage. I am always worried about steam explosions from my pottery days, so I usually add a candling period (200f for many hours with the kiln lid cracked open) before cranking the temperature. Don't know if it's needed but I'm scared to skip it lol I've lost so many pots

[@WhiteGloveFans]

@@PaulsGarageok cool, thats what I started doing too. Would be cool to see you get a Reflex and put it to work printing patterns

[@RajeevCyrus]

@@PaulsGarage Could you please do a small print what that monocure? I've seen the RS print well with other resins on other videos but no one has tried a "casting" resin as far as I know. I'm thinking since the monocure is more like a regular resin it might work as well as other non heygears resins do. I am very curious to how well it or any other casting resin would work with the RS even though it's not "officially" supported.

[@foldionepapyrus3441]

Big question with a printer like this is does it work at all if the company does go bust, or drop support!? Locked down products don't tend to be a good choice. Convenience and quality that comes from having them do all the calibration can be worth it no doubt about that, especially if its your business and you don't have a large enough staff and money pile to do all the calibration work in house quickly enough to actually produce your products. But when its locked down so you can't play with the settings for alternative resins at all it leads to other dependency questions for me as well. As then I start wondering does it even work without an active internet connection etc. So a machine you are not allowed to adjust the settings on at all is a big fail for me, I'd probably not step away from their resins while the price is right as that convenience is hard to beat. But the options being open so you can use another resin for whatever reason you might have is an essential feature to have IMO - for any number of reasons you might have to order off their resin menu, even if they offer resins for every need you have and its just a shipping issue that means you can't get the official resin for a few weeks but need more resin NOW! (Edit as I noticed stupid grammar errors)

[@RoiskiaFilms]

If HeyGears goes down, the printer is a paper weight (as of right now). The slicer requires you to log into one of their servers before doing anything. If you cant log in, for what ever reason, you cant use the printer.

[@foldionepapyrus3441]

@@RoiskiaFilms Well that kills an otherwise well executed machine by the looks of it.

[@PaulsGarage]

You are correct, you are locked in and dependant on their resins and settings. Fortunately those are very high quality, but if the company disappears you are done. They are a pretty big company in the industrial and dental worlds, though, so I would expect them to stick around. As for internet servers, you need to be connected for the slicer, but you can use a USB to transfer files to the printer. I suspect it's because it uses a server somewhere to calculate the supports and do the actual slicing. I don't know that for certain, but it works MUCH faster than other slicers on my laptop, so it's either much more efficient at doing calculations or it's doing the calculations somewhere else on a much faster machine. Again, not sure exactly, that's just my observation.

[@rons3580]

​@PaulsGarage Everybody talks about Hey Gears servers. I'd be more worried about local internet failure. If your neighborhood connection goes down because someone digs up your physical connection you are as down as if the company shut its doors.

[@Lin-HAOZI]

I understand your concerns. I happen to know some people within the company, and they mentioned that they plan to launch the offline version by the end of this year, as well as open up certain third-party resins. I also maintain a positive outlook on HeyGears not going bankrupt; after all, a company without economic and technical foundations wouldn’t take such risks with a closed-loop system, especially after facing some criticism from users regarding their previous generation of products. In terms of technology and company scale, I believe they are far more advanced than many other consumer-grade UV printers on the market today, and you can’t deny that, right?

[@PatrickHoodDaniel]

Awesome video as usual! I love the idea of the mask.

[@PaulsGarage]

@@PatrickHoodDaniel thank you! The mask thing has been on my wish list for a while, especially with the resp-o-rator being discontinued. Now I just have to finish the thing 😂

[@tomasjosefvela1]

Maybe a strip of foam padding below the eyes, keeps the breath out and pads it against your face. awesome stuff man, thanks for sharing!

[@PaulsGarage]

Good idea! I'm going to print another one bigger and with some modifications on a larger printer

[@LukePighetti]

you ever look at epoxy cast aggregate beds? some large format industrial cnc machines cannot be poured cast iron so they create a rigid mold and fill it with aggregate stone and then pour slow cure epoxy in leaving a layer at the top where beds and ways are cast in place. super interesting process that would work awesome at home cast machinery bed scales

[@elitearbor]

10:45 Man... that is so. Very. Relatable. It's basically my biggest pet peeve in the world, poor maintenance access consideration during the design phase. I've had to pass on fixing things for friends/neighbors because of that exact issue, when I know it's otherwise a $5 fix to save a $500 assembly.

[@PaulsGarage]

It's the worst. I have an old car I can open the hood and touch every component easily, and a newer car and I open the hood and I don't even see an engine. The engine is under the dashboard! Gotta change a spark plug? Take a wheel off, and a fender liner. 😡

[@elitearbor]

Or, in a similar vein, most of the sparkplugs are easy to replace. For those against the firewall, you'll need four extensions, three universal joints, and a small child to climb inside the engine bay...

[@jmone3559]

This closed ecosystem lends itself well to commercial use. You select the printer and supplies you need to suit the required task at hand. So, if you are an investment casting shop, you would get the printer model and consumables for that. Dental? Same thing. Get the model and resins for that. No stuffing around, and it would crank out the models from day one. And they provide support for it all. If you are hobbyists, and like the, "hey I got a great deal on 5L of some random resin".... this is not for you.

[@PaulsGarage]

Exactly. This isn't a machine for people who like to screw around with random stuff. It's for specific applications, like when accuracy and production ease is required.

[@AllStreetsEnd]

Sometimes a turn key is the best way to go, the combo price is reasonable too

[@PaulsGarage]

I'm surprised by the price too

[@seanburnett7760]

Great video as usual. I don't know why you don't have 1M subscribers. Stupid algorithms.

[@DaveEtchells]

This sounds like the Bambulab of resin printing; a tool for people who want to work on projects vs work on their printer :-) The closed system is a turnoff, but only because of bad experience I’ve had with companies either going belly up or simply deciding they needed to go in a different direction, leaving me with paperweights and boat anchors. A local-only version of the slicer and at least some ability to run other resins would get me to buy one. (Apart from my ,omg-term concerns, their resins are in a range I’d consider affordable, particularly for more or less guaranteed results.) (Great review btw, thanks!)

[@andrewyork3869]

7:11 these companies are alway in that push and pull between open and closed. I dont blame them for locking everything down on this.

[@Convolutedtubules]

I hope everything is well with you, and that you find the time and motivation to work on your projects, such as the lathe. I'm tired of sponsorships being the main reason for an upload, but I'm happy that you are getting paid.

[@JustNicksIt]

This is great! For the face shell was that all just auto supported? No manual supports added too? I want to try larger prints like that but nervous when I see so few supports on large pieces in Blueprint! I’m used to over supporting these on other printers and still failing!

[@PaulsGarage]

I never add manual supports to stuff in blueprint. Prints still fail occasionally but I usually just reprint and it works fine. On other slicers yeah I go crazy with supports and heavy anchors and everything

[@ATD-distractions]

Been casually watching this technology waiting for cost to come down and when it would be convenient enough to print replacement parts to replace manufacturer 'designed to fail' parts. Sounds like this is getting close, the 'off grid' version would be nice...

[@PaulsGarage]

I was thinking the same thing about plastic parts. I have some in mind to test, I just haven't gotten to it. They are working on the "off the grid" software, it will show up eventually.

[@DerpyMail]

For a respirator, have you look at PAPR (Powered air-purifying respirator) options?

[@PaulsGarage]

I have looked at them and i am probably going to end up there, i just always go through a "screwing around" phase first.

[@ThinkDesignMakePteLtd]

Hi!! could you please share the dimensions of the box the printer came in ? does the pulse release module come separately packed? I intend to get this freight forwarded to Singapore, so the dimensions of the box and weight of the package will really help with cost planning! Much appreciated.

[@madshader]

Ahhh i missed the discount deadline, so I guess I'm gonna go with the GK3 Ultra instead. How would you compare the print quality of the GK3 ultra vs the Reflex RS?

[@PaulsGarage]

good question, the stats say the GK3 ultra has a screen with smaller pixels, but i don't think the difference is enough to matter. it's going to come down to the resin and how well you calibrate it. The advantage of the Reflex RS is that the resin and software is already calibrated to the extreme, and the resin is really good stuff. in my opinion, the big benefit of the GK3 ultra is the size, and that you can use any resin you want. But that comes with needing to calibrate other resins yourself. learning to calibrate resin is a good skill to have, though. If you don't need the size of the GK3 ultra, you can probably save some money by getting a GK2 instead. I suspect the GK2 and Reflex RS use VERY SIMILAR screens. Size and resolution is about the same.

[@wolfwind9658]

Have you considered full head hood respirators?

[@KurtWal1]

Does this printer have an exhaust port you can rig for venting fumes to the outside?

[@PaulsGarage]

Not that I can see. I haven't tried any of those systems. I just have the printers in a garage

[@userI3I2]

Is it safe to breathe through resin printed parts? Doesn't resin off-gas for a while after curing?

[@PaulsGarage]

Excellent question, I have been worried about that as well. I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. In the meantime, my plan is to cure the part thoroughly, let it sit for a while, and then coat the interior in something. Don't know what yet, because coatings have their own potential problems.

[@Practical3DP]

​@@PaulsGaragecerakote

[@Just_An_Idea_For_Consideration]

WHICH 3D Resin Printer would you prefer, based upon your knowledge and experience: The Ultracraft Reflex RS?, or The Uniformation GK3 Ultra?

[@PaulsGarage]

If i had to pick one, it would be the gk3 ultra because of the size and because I can use casting burnout resins. If they release a casting resin for the RS, I would probably use the RS for that task over the gk3. I print large things, though, so the size is the decision maker for me . Gk3 link for reference: uniformation3d.com/products/uniformation-gk3-ultra?sca_ref=4345752.v3kdNjnqDi

[@justinchamberlin4195]

I'm conflicted about all of the HeyGears printers...a lot of care and effort was put into the physical aspects of this printer, from the design of the vat to the build plate to the cure station (the washing station seems a little overdone and most reviewers have experienced hard-to-clean spills with the auto-loading resin bottles, however). But the completely locked-down and online-only nature of the slicer means that anything from a local Internet outage to a meteor smashing into HeyGears' server farm means you now have a very expensive brick on your hands. I'd rather work a little harder at dialing in settings if it means I can use any resin I please and can print as long as I have power and resin available. There's also something to be said for people learning about 3D printing processes, making mistakes and knowing how to avoid them in the future. Someone who buys an Ultracraft Reflex RS who just wants to push a button and receive prints is going to be bewildered if some of the fancy tech on the printer takes a dive. I've made a *lot* of mistakes with my Ender 3, Sidewinder X1, Sonic Mini 4K, and SV06 Plus, and have learned a lot from them as well...I'd hate for others to be deprived of similar learning opportunities. What I'd like to see is more of the deluxe features from HeyGears printers (especially the built-in vat heater) to percolate down to more budget-friendly printers in the near future, as have so many other things in both filament and resin printers over the last few years. One other gripe: the peel assist thingy HeyGears sells is as ludicrously overpriced as it is loud. It seriously sounds like a jet engine when it operates, and I think it costs about as much as one as well.

[@Standbackforscience]

HeyGears is rapidly becoming the new Bambulabs. They're carpetbombing youtubers with freebies, while hoping no one pays too much attention to their shady business practices. Heygears' slicer is hidden behind a login, if their server dies or you have no internet or you get banned for some reason, your printer is a paperweight. Also, their slicer soft-locks you into their resin, in that it makes it extremely difficult to use other resins. I would absolutely 100% avoid these printers. Oh, and Bambulab are unethical, open-source stealing patent trolls.

[@Convolutedtubules]

You know why we're all here, and it's certainly not for all the paid product reviews. It feels like almost every video is trying to sell you something. I hope it's worth it.

[@MonstaMunch101]

PSA: There are loads of videos of people using a wide variety of third party resins on this printer with zero issues. Just take a look for yourself.

[@PaulsGarage]

I will check that out! I buy lots of resin for the other printers, it would be nice to have a one size fits all resin.

[@BobKatzenberg]

They make full face respirators.

[@Convolutedtubules]

Im never going to buy any of the products you review, I'm just here for the lathe and of course the rants.

[@joell439]

👍👍😎👍👍

[@PaulsGarage]

👍👍

[@JohnSmith-rt5yq]

I wish he would tell us what other printers he has used...

[@PaulsGarage]

for resin, a mars 4 max, mars 5 ultra, uniformation gk2, uniformation gk3 ultra, and a creality halot mage 8K. I might be forgetting one or 2, i have given some of the old ones away

[@JohnSmith-rt5yq]

@@PaulsGarage of those, do you feel the heygears is better? Considering the price?

[@PaulsGarage]

@@JohnSmith-rt5yq I think it depends entirely on what you want to do with it. Some people get into 3d printing as a hobby for it's own sake, and for that, i think this is a bad printer. it's mostly locked down, not a lot of room for playing around with it. There are people doing hacks and things, but you can get more freedom with any other machine out there. I think if you just want a tool to print you plastic things and you aren't really concerned with printing as a hobby itself, this is the way to go. You don't have to mess with it, it just works well. If i had to pick one and only one printer for myself, it would be the GK3 ultra, but that is down to the size. It's about the same price as the RS, but it's much larger, and I can use burnout metal casting resins. If HeyGears releases their casting resin (they do have one) for the RS, I would probably prefer the RS for that application, but I would have to try it to be sure. The GK3 ultra's huge size can't be compensated for, though. I like printing big stuff. If you don't need anything that big, then i'd probably get the RS or a GK2.

[@ChandraSinto]

@@PaulsGarage Hello, do you have any plans to use their casting resin? That video would be very helpful, especially for me, as I have never used a 3D printer before and I plan to buy a 3D printer for lost wax casting needs.

[@JohnSmith-rt5yq]

I buy the sunlu resin at $15 a kg.... this is twice the cost.

[@PaulsGarage]

i use sunlu abs-like a LOT. It's great for the price. I have to say back to back the resin shown here is a bit tougher and much crisper looking. The edges are much sharper, it doesn't round out the details as much. that being said sunlu abs-like is great stuff, especially for the price, which is why i use it so much, but the resin i used with this reflex is noticeably better. It may not be twice as good, but its definitely better. I'm still buying abs-like for the rest of the printers.

[@NoMercyFtw]

So you're designing something in your shop and then all of a sudden the Internet goes out, then what do you do, guess what the answer is ? Use another printer lol...............

[@aeroshot-sk8qt]

Haha no! Because whenever your internet connection fails you are dead in the water and your heygears 3d printer is a paperweight.

[@roberta3246]

No December they’re making it a standalone bold also

[@peterdocter4659]

I usually like your videos, but in this case, it's more promotion then anything else, the problems you had with printing, we're basic and easy to overcome, with a few youtube tutorials or just basic knowledge really, and the right programs. it's not the printer, it's the software and knowing how to use it! So yeah bit disappointed here. People just need to learn the skills they need, shortcuts come from knowledge, the other way around will leave you with the question of how and why, when you run in to problems!

[@PaulsGarage]

Honestly, I agree with you. Basic issues that can be overcome with a little learning. But I'm constantly surprised by how many people (who aren't makers, admittedly) who just get scared off by little things like that. I've been able to make *engineers'* eyes glaze over when I explain stuff like that to them.

[@peterdocter4659]

@@PaulsGarage Yeah, "the solution" isn't, buy this printer and use this software! And "the problem"isn't, "it doesn't work" It's you're doing it wrong, understand what you're doing and learn how to solve. I respect the honesty man!

[@peterdocter4659]

Especially resin printing, it is pretty easy! You can try different resins and increase the uv time, not much more to it. You could make some tutorials, for instance if it's just look and feel, hollowing out, saves a lot of resin and reduces weight.