Epax made its name with quality resin 3D printers that typically trended a little pricier than the competition. With the Epax E6, the company ventures into the busy mid-sized and, get this, budget, resin mask stereolithography (MSLA) market.
Featuring a monochrome and 2K resolution screen, the E6 certainly has what it takes not to be dismissed at first glance. But only with a deeper spec dive can we tell whether there’s enough to it to stand out among the competition.
Features
Mono Screen
A new resin 3D printer that doesn’t feature a monochrome screen on its spec sheet is practically dead on arrival. That’s something we can probably agree on. The Epax E6 does have a mono LCD masking over its UV light source, which means it’ll be able to whizz through the lights-on part of each layer in short order – a couple of seconds, if even that. It’s fast.
The use of a mono LCD brings print speeds down compared to RGB LCDs (which are still prevalent in MSLA printers of recent years) and has the benefit of a longer lifespan. That’s right, this particular piece of hardware in the printer is considered a consumable – the pixels deteriorate over time when exposed to UV-light, generally after around 2,000 hours of exposure. You will have to replace it.
Resolution
The E6 features a 6-inch 2K LCD, which means that it spreads its 2560 x 1620 pixels across a printing area of 128 x 81 mm. This gives an XY resolution of ~50 microns, which is about par with many similar machines, although bested by other recent printers that use 4K resolution LCDs. Combined with the Z-axis layer height of 10 microns, the E6, we expect, will be capable of highly detailed prints.
Improved FEP Foil
Like its bigger brother, the Epax E10, the E6 features the company’s nFEP (non-FEP) foil. Sitting taut at the bottom of the resin vat, each layer of a print is hardened against this sheet and has to peel free with each layer change. Made from a special blend of Teflon, nFEP, according to Epax, is smoother than conventional FEP films and provides greater air permeability, resulting in less vacuum suction force. In short, this should mean fewer print artifacts and failures.
Molded vat and print plate
To keep the price competitive, Epax uses a molded vat and partially molded build plate. The actual print surface itself is metal, so no concerns about adhesion here. Some prefer a metal vat, arguing that liquid resin could degrade plastic resin vats over time. Across the many resin printers we’ve tested, we haven’t experienced any issues with plastic vats. If you want to run multiple vats for different resins, the plastic vats can be a decent money saver.
ChiTu Firmware
The Epax E6 uses a ChiTu mainboard and runs ChiTu firmware. Given this single source, we expect it to be the typically smooth and easy-to-use user experience. You interact with the printer via a 3.5-inch color touchscreen on the front of the base unit.
As such, ChiTuBox is the default slicer for the Epax E6. Handily, it is a highly capable slicer with everything you need for successful resin 3D printing. You won’t be limited to ChiTuBox alone, though. Popular third-party slicer Lychee can output ChiTu-friendly print files and even has a printer profile configured and ready to go for the E6.
Further Features
Additional features on the Epax E6 are:
- Connectivity – the Epax E6 comes with Ethernet and USB connection, the latter being located easily reachable on the printer’s side
- Dual rail guides for a stable and secure Z-axis movement
- A manual print plate leveling system
Price
The Epax E6 can be currently found at different vendors for ~$299; not the cheapest 2k mono LCD printer going, but then there are many unique aspects to the E6 that could justify the price. On the other hand, though, there’s no air filtration fan, something that draws people to Elegoo’s Mars Pro machines, or even Wi-Fi connectivity, a draw for Anycubic’s pricier resin machines.
Reviews
The Epax E6 surfaced in the last weeks of 2020, and plenty have posted reviews of it since. The machine seems to have been well received, printing objects reliably and at high resolution. Pretty much what you can expect from a low to mid-tier resin 3D printer these days.
Tech Specs
General Specifications
- Technology: MSLA
- Type: Resin
- Year: 2020
- Assembly: Fully-assembled
- Manufacturer: Epax
3D PRINTING SPECIFICATIONS
- Build Volume: 128 x 81 x 155 mm
- Layer Height: 10+ microns
- XY Resolution: ~50 microns ( 2540 x 1620 pixels)
- Z-axis positioning accuracy: 0.01 mm
- Printing Speed: N/A
- Bed-Leveling: Manual
- Display: 3.5-inch touchscreen
- Third-Party Materials: Yes
- Materials: 405 nm UV resin
SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS
- Recommended Slicer: ChiTuBox, Lychee
- Operating system: Windows / macOS X / Linux
- File types: STL
- Connectivity: USB, Ethernet
DIMENSIONS AND WEIGHT
- Frame dimensions: 230 x 200 x 390 mm
- Weight: ~9 kg
Similar Printers
Creality LD-002H
The Creality LD-002H offers a similar build volume and resolution to the E6 but comes with an air filtration system. It costs about $50 less, though.
Elegoo Mars 2
The Mars 2 is a feature-stripped but no less competent version of Elegoo flagship Mars 2 Pro. It has many of the same features as the Epax E6 but costs a sizable chunk less at ~$250.
Phrozen Sonic Mini 4K
The Phrozen Sonic Mini 4K is close to the same price as the E6 but has a 4K LCD, which gives smaller pixels and a sharper print resolution. The build volume of 135 x 75 x 130 mm is a little smaller than the Epax E6, though.
License: The text of "Epax E6: Specs, Price, Release & Reviews" by All3DP is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
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