After his 8K 3D printer April Fools prank in 2021 boasted more than ten thousand views, Greg from 3DPrintingPro finally received the first ever 8K resolution 3D printer in the consumer market, in August of the same year.
Today, we'll look back on Greg's unboxing review of Sonic Mega 8K.
Curious about what he said about this 'ginormous size' machine? Here are some things we are going to cover:
- Astounding size of Sonic Mega 8K.
- Importance of the perforated building plate.
- Printing capability of Sonic Mega 8K.
- Things you need to know before getting the largest 8K resolution 3D printer on the market.
Sonic Mega 8K Building Plate Area Is Too Big to Be True
If you are familiar with Greg's unboxing and review video, then you'll know that his wife will normally take care of the unboxing part before Greg take in to review the goods. However, for this one, he couldn't let his wife do a full unboxing as usual as he was afraid that 'she might die and it was not worth the risk.' With handles on each side of the printer to help with lifting, Greg believes that the Sonic Mega 8K should be lifted together by at least two people, due to its massive size.
Perforated Building Plate Is Exactly What You Need
According to Greg, the Sonic Mega 8K built is surprisingly small for the monstrous build plate. He compares it with Phrozen Transform, which has a larger body, yet the building plate was nowhere near the Sonic Mega 8K. The 330x185x400 mm building plate was perforated with holes to mitigate and lessen the peeling force. Although some people believe that it's going to be an issue, Greg believes that the perforated build plate actually makes a lot of sense and will help you to print better.
Here are the two possible scenarios where he thought perforated building plate might be an issue, but turned out to be wrong.
1. Resin didn’t get cured and stuck
It's a reasonable concern to think that resin might get cured and stuck on the holes. However, after his five days of vigorous testing, he found that it was not even an issue at all. All his test prints show that anything cured inside the hole will come out together, and get removed with the support.
2. Just squeegee the excess resin away
When you remove the building plate, resin might accidentally drip through the holes. But he claimed that it's not much of an issue either. In his own words, "Just squeegee away all the resin on the top of the building plate with a silicon squeegee. Then, grab the handles on the building plate and transfer it to a paper towel."
Although some people might find it as an extra chore to do, Greg mentioned that with a printer that size, it was expected that it won't be the easiest. It only took him about 30 seconds to squeegee the leftover resin off, and it's such a small price to pay to print these huge things.
Greg then proceeded to check all the other parts, including the 'super heavy duty' z-axis, the doors that add such a nice touch, and a resin vat that is attached with screws. He loves that the resin vat has a handle and sits perfectly on the bed. He suggested that it should come with small feet or legs, so he won't need to worry about scratching the FEP when he puts his resin vat on other surfaces. So, placing a microfiber cloth underneath would be the way to go.
Print One Huge Terrain or Dozens of Miniatures Army?
Greg especially loves the huge build volume. It allows him to print out huge terrain that doesn't fit in any other resin printers. These terrains might print out okay on an FDM printer, but printing it out with a resin 3D printer is just incredible. He also mentions how the terrain he printed with the resin 3D printer is heavier than the FDM-printed one, giving it a more solid feel, so it sits nicely on the table and is not as easy to knock off.
Due to curiosity, he lined up his 36 mm turtle monk miniatures on the building plate just to see how it would fit. Well, lo and behold, the Sonic Mega 8K comfortably fits 35 pieces of the model! It's definitely a great tool for creating an army of miniatures at once. An impressive boost to anyone's printing efficiency.
As a miniatures guy, the Sonic Mega 8K gave him an opportunity to do what used to be something impossible, or could only be done in an FDM printer. Now that he got this machine in his hand, he doesn't feel like using his FDM printer anymore!
What You Should Know Before Getting a Sonic Mega 8K
Overall, Greg mentions that the 8K details really deliver. Although the 43 μm screen resolution doesn't feel like much at first, at 15 inches, the 43 μm 8K resolution turns out to be incredibly insane!
The light source test was perfect, especially for a printer that size. The price might be on the upper end compared to other home printers, but if you are interested in big-size models, it's going to be a great fit for you. It's a solid machine, well constructed and well designed, and it prints great.
However, Greg also discussed the hassle it would be to clean out the entire vat when it comes to failed prints, as the vat requires around one and a half bottles of resin to reach the max level. Another important thing to note is the huge size. Although it was so great in how it allows you to print such big models, you need to also have a big setup with it. It needs a big cleaning area to clean the big models you printed, the humongous building plate, and the resin vat. But it's all worth it. You just need to make sure that you know what you're getting into.
Here's a short recap of what you should expect upon getting a Sonic Mega 8K:
- The largest LCD 3D printer on the market with a large building plate.
- 15” Mono-LCD Screen with 8K resolution capable of intricate miniature details.
- Perforated building plate that will help you achieve a successful print each time.
- Resin vat that requires up to one and a half liter of resin.
But most importantly,
- Freedom to print pretty much anything you’ve ever dreamed of, including huge terrains and an army of miniatures.
Watch the video below for the whole unboxing and review by Greg, or check out his Youtube channel—3DPrintingPro, for more 3D printing-related videos that you sure don't want to miss. Or, check out our Sonic Mega 8K's Starter Guide to learn more about the printer.
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Greg Kourakos is a successful real estate attorney by day and a professional 3D printer at any other time. Known in the community as 3DPrintingPro, he owns a popular Youtube channel that provides in-depth reviews for various 3D printing-related technologies in the market while also sharing his knowledge on the field, such as painting tips, troubleshooting, how to modify models in 3D builder, and the one he’s famous for, placing supports like a pro. You can find him on his Youtube channel: 3DPrintingPro.
