If you’ve been following the newer innovation from the resin 3D printing community, perhaps the name Wash & Cure is nothing new to you. It’s a post-processing contraption that has been around for a while, with almost every company offering at least one among the vast of their product selections.
But, here's the catch..
According to VogMan, Phrozen's has gone one better!
So what's so great about the Phrozen Wash & Cure Kit? How will it improve your 3D printing post-processing workflow, and how is it different than others on the market?
Let's cover everything about the Phrozen Wash & Cure Kit:
- What’s included in the Wash & Cure Kit.
- How to operate the Washing and Curing Station.
- Why it’ll improve your work efficiency.
The Wash & Cure Kit Is So Compactly Large
The Phrozen Wash & Cure Kit consists of two machines that’ll optimize your post-processing. Although look large, they have arrived safely in a single neatly-packaged box. Geoff from VogMan agreed that apart from looking stunning, the Wash & Cure Kit is fully functional and can easily handle prints from the Sonic Mighty 8K—which could be as big as 24 centimeters.
But, what if you don't own a Phrozen 3D printer?
No worries! The Wash & Cure Kit is compatible with almost every 3D printer brand currently available on the market.
The Washing Station
The base for the Washing Station is wide and stable. Geoff also finds it surprisingly lightweight, considering it needs to be firm enough to hold up to eight liters of liquid and the weight of the building plate with fully printed models on it.
It came with a chrome basket that could easily hold an array of prints within the cleaning solution. The upper section can comfortably hold the building plate of the Sonic Mighty 8K, Elegoo Saturn 2, and Anycubic M3 Plus. There's also a smaller attachment that helps you to suspend the smaller building plates like those from Sonic Mini 8K, Elegoo Mars 3, or Anycubic M3.
However, Geoff mentioned that he wishes the power switch was located on the front as it's more accessible and will save him more space since he won’t need to leave much room in the back and around the printer for his hand to reach in. But apart from that, the control is wonderfully simple:
- Turn the dial to adjust the washing timer.
- Push it to start washing, and push again to stop.
- Push and hold to cancel the settings.
For such a large Washing Station, it's not surprising that it’ll require a huge amount of cleaning solution. To completely fill up the Wash & Cure Kit, you'll need a total of eight liters of alcohol, IPA, or other cleaning solution of your preference. Fortunately, it's completely watertight, so you can keep and reuse it, and the internal impeller is driven by a magnet. It’s such a large impeller and has a lot of inertia to overcome. Due to this, the Washing Station has a relatively slow start and will take up to 25 seconds before it can get to full speed.
The good point is it prevents your finely delicate prints from suddenly spinning around the wash stations. The slow start gives you more opportunities to stop before things go too wild. As for stopping, it doesn’t wind down and goes with a full stop instead. Yet, most critically, it works incredibly well as a Washing Station, and that’s all that matters.
The (Drying and) Curing Station
Normally, after you are done with the washing, you'll be required to leave your pieces for a while to dry or blast them immediately with an air compressor. But, the Wash & Cure Kit also dries! It’s the key feature that was hidden from the name and is such a game changer.
The Curing Station came with two brushless fans that blast air around the enclosure. If you use ethanol or IPA, five minutes should be enough for you to fully dry most prints. However, if you are dealing with Water-Washable Resin and are cleaning with water, Phrozen offers up to two hours of settings that allow you to achieve this. Even more, you can automatically cure your prints right after it dries as this machine allows you to do both continuously!
The turntable of the Curing Station is the easiest to fit and remove that Geoff has ever encountered. It's large, stable, and turns reassuringly slow to prevent your prints from falling over. There are two tall strips of UV lights at the back of the machine, with a short one beneath the turntable to cure the underside of your models at the same time. Again, the highest time setting is two hours, which could be an overkill for all but the thickest and largest models.
You also have plenty of options with the Curing Station. There's an option to dry and cure, just dry, or just cure. It's like having a mini hair salon.
Should You Get the New Wash & Cure Kit from Phrozen?
Minor picking aside, Geoff seems to be happy very happy with his Phrozen Wash & Cure Kit. It has a beautifully clear user interface, it washes, dries, and it cures with plenty of options, overall a great solution for your post-processing needs.
The Wash & Cure Kit might be slightly more expensive compared to others on the market, but with that, you can cure larger models, have the drying features, and have the flexibility of adjustable duration cycles.
Geoff himself personally found the Wash & Cure Kit to be very capable:
- It's attractive.
- It’s large enough to wash and cure models up to 24 cm.
- It offers a wide range of options (wash, dry, and cure).
- It has a beautifully clear user interface.
- It does exactly what you want it to do.
Still aren't so sure whether this post-processing unit would be a great fit for you? Then, take a moment to watch Geoff's complete review below to see why it's one of the best Wash & Cure unit on the market!
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VogMan (formerly VegOilGuy, formerly VOG) or also known as Geoff, is someone who enjoys figuring out how things work, as well as finding the best and easiest way to do things. Geoff shares unboxing videos of 3D printers, 3D printing tips, and tricks, casting tutorials, and pretty much anything that interests him. You can check out his works on his website—VogMan, or on his Youtube channel under the same name.
