Solid v. Hollow Print Curing

3D Printing
1

Being new to resin printing, I ask about FULLY curing prints.

I’ve printed a few things. I hollowed some with drain holes and see uncured resin drip out of the drain holes I added.

This brings me to my question; Do solid prints ever fully cure throughout?

Since the curing process requires exposure to the proper spectrum of light, and since that light never gets to the internals of a solid prints, how does the interior cure?

I may print a block and cut it open to see. I do have items I’ve purchased from professionals, but they’re too nice (read; expensive) to chop open.

Am I overthinking this?

I will add that I’ve made a UV light to stick inside and cure hollowed part interiors. It works quite well.

I can’t, though, shake the question about solid prints.

2

Welcome to the rabbit hole…

I have a resin printer also, and have wondered the same. I thought that since the UV light shines through the LCD screen, the resin gets partially cured to the previous layer enough to adhere to it. BUT I don’t know how ‘cured’ it really is, since I ‘wash’ all my pieces with iso and ‘sun’ cure them. I do know that a solid resin part used for structural mechanical assembles is not as ‘strong’ as I thought it would be, and after several days when it breaks the inside is still ‘moist’. So, there’s that…

I don’t use my resin printer any more cause of the messiness of the whole process. I’m not fond of the smell either.