Today we will take a look at an honest YouTube review by Dan from Clean Mind Jewelry on the latest 3D jewelry printer by Phrozen-the Phrozen Sonic Mini 8K. We will see how he likes the printer and whether it stays true as the best resin 3D printer for jewelry printing.
He also talks about the machine’s specs, setup, print quality, and whether it is worth the price as a jeweler. Before we go into detail about this article, let’s summarize the highlights of this review first.
- The print quality, consistency, and overall value of this jewelry 3D printer.
- The Sonic Mini 8K is the highest-resolution resin printer currently available on the market. At 22 microns, it’s just mind-blowing.
- With print results three times finer than a regular human hair strand, the Sonic Mini 8K is easily the best resin 3D printer for jewelry.
- The importance of a high resolution 3D printer in making or breaking a great jewelry design.
Why a Jeweler Chose the Sonic Mini 8K?
Before we begin, let’s take a look at the most important specs of these 3D jewelry printers first:
- 7.1" LCD panel
- 7,500 x 3,240 pixels
- XY resolution of 22 microns, giving outstanding details
According to Dan from Clear Mind Jewelry, the resolution of this small 3D printer is impressive, giving him the assurance that he can make the finest details in his jewelry. As a jeweler, he believes that the higher the detail, the greater the product quality is, which is why high resolution can easily make or break their jewelry’s quality or credibility.
Most of the time, the finer details tend to get lost during manufacturing due to molding, casting, and an active polishing process. So Dan wanted to make sure that he started his work with the highest details possible.
Let’s see whether the value for money in this insanely detailed 3D printer for small businesses holds true.
Setting Up the Printer
After aligning and assembling all the parts, he decided to test out the blue cast resin X filigrees, which is now known as the king of cast resin, with the Sonic Mini 8K, known as the best resin 3D printer for jewelry. The resin promises exceptional print details in the designs, especially on the surface and curves, which significantly helps designers reduce the time taken to finish the product, thus reducing the cost of labor and material.
Setting up one of these jewelry 3D printers was easy, especially with the great instruction manual provided. After leveling the bed, removing protective films, and slicing his models, he was ready to go. He filled the vat with resin, did some exposure testing, and off he went to print his models. In the image below, you can see the test results of different jewelry items.
Dan chose to use Lychee as his main slicer software as it offers fan support functions for the jewelry prints. It adds delicate supports just right where he wants it to be, making removing each piece of jewelry easier, and ultimately, allows him to use less resin on each print, further reducing the production cost.
Comparing the 2K vs. 4K vs. 8K
As you can see from the image below, the 8K panel results show sharp details with pretty much no visible pixelations.
Dan used a macro video camera to go into detail and see how crisp and smooth the details from his designs are. All of the curves for such a tiny piece were so flawless without any artifacts. Even the tiniest holes in the design had excellent resolution and were without any pixels.
The results were a world apart from the 2K or 4K prints which look jagged and gnarled.
So is this the best small 3D printer for printing jewelry? In Dan’s opinion, this printer is excellent. He feels that it is definitely one of the most compelling options in the market, especially as the best resin 3D printer for jewelry.
As a Jeweler, Do You Need the Sonic Mini 8K?
However, as much as Dan loves its exceptional quality and highly promotes it as the best resin printer for jewelry, whether you need it or not highly depends on your jewelry printing needs. If you are printing chains or larger earrings, the Sonic Mini 8K might be too small for mass production, and you might want to consider something larger like the Sonic Mighty 8K instead.
Overall, from his time printing jewelry with the Sonic Mini 8K, Dan can confidently say that he didn’t get any failure whatsoever. Everything comes out perfectly flawless, with all the details captured beautifully in the prints. Though, with time, it’s inevitable that you may need to change or upgrade some parts.
With that said, with such fantastic prints, exceptional print quality, and high consistency in each product, along with relatively cheaper and affordable replacement parts, it is a no-brainer 3D printer for small businesses.
For example, although the LCD panel costs $180 and the machine costs less than $700, for a jewelry business, there aren’t many instances where the machine couldn’t pay for itself quickly. Dan believes that this high-resolution resin printer is such a great choice for small businesses as it easily makes up the investment and allows for a significant profit for any jewelry business.
The overall quality and consistency of the products from this machine are excellent. As a small 3D printer, it did a terrific job creating what it does best, high-resolution prints with the most intricate details.
Want to see the full review from Clean Mind Jewelry? Watch the video below!
Originally published at https://phrozen3d.com.
Phrozen is a Taiwanese 3D printer company aiming to bring 3D printers to the mass. We produce professional consumer-friendly 3D printers for personal, industrial, and medical applications. As a tech startup company, we have since expanded our market internationally with clients from the art, dental, and jewelry industries who benefited from the use of 3D printing.
