Monochrome Screen

If you haven’t been living under a resin rock for the last year, you will likely be familiar with the recent change in technology and the benefits it has brought. If not, here is a quick recap. Monochrome screens allow for better light permeability compared to the formerly used RGB ones, which result in faster layer curing times as well as a prolonged screen lifespan due to less light exposure.

To put it in numbers, layer curing times that used to take around 6-8 seconds have now been cut down to 2-3 seconds, and the lifetime of the screen has quadrupled to ~2000 h of use.

Needless to say, the Epax E10 features it.

Resolution

The second big change that resin 3D printers have undergone lately is the inclusion of 4K HD screens. As a larger print area also means a larger granularity of pixels, it is only natural for manufacturers to strive for higher resolutions. With its 192 x 120 mm build area and a 3840 x 2400, 8.9-inch 4K screen, the Epax E10 can churn out prints at a 51-micron resolution, on par with the competition.

Epax takes it a step further, though, and plans on releasing an upgraded version of the E10 as well as an upgrade kit. This would equip the printer with a 10.1-inch, 5K LCD that offers a bigger print area of 216 x 135 mm, at an even better resolution of 45 microns (4920 x 2800 pixels). That means bigger prints in, theoretically, better detail.

Improved FEP Foil

To cure the resin in the top-down process, resin 3D printers feature a transparent vat bottom, typically consisting of an FEP film. Epax, however, uses an nFEP (non-FEP) foil made from a special Teflon material. These were typically used in DLP and SLA machines due to the technologies’ higher requirements.

Epax claims the foil is smoother than conventional FEP films and provides greater air permeability, resulting in less vacuum suction force. In general, the larger a print is, the more peel force applies every time the print plate lifts after curing a layer. This can lead to print artifacts or even complete failures, so a potentially superior non-stick surface would be welcomed.

Moulded Vat and Build Plate

Presumably, to keep the costs down, Epax went for a molded plastic composite vat as well as a partially molded build plate. The print surface itself is a metal plate. Whether a plastic or metal vat is best to keep considerable amounts of resin at bay over time is open for discussion.

From our experience, we have yet to find a real drawback for the plastic ones. You should be careful with your full resin vat, metal or not, but if you feel like you want a little extra base weight to it, Epax overs additional metal vats.

ChiTu Firmware

The Epax E10 houses a ChiTu mainboard and runs on ChiTu firmware, which offers a well-designed user interface that lets you control the printer via its 3.5-inch color touchscreen.

As such, ChituBox might be your go-to slicer. It is a highly capable resin slicer with everything you need for successful resin 3D printing. However, the Epax E10 can be used with multiple slicers, such as Lychee – another powerful resin slicer.

Further Features

• Connectivity – the Epax E10 offers USB and Ethernet connection, both located conveniently on the printer’s side
• Dual linear rail guides – providing the lead screw with guidance to move more precisely
• A manual bed leveling system