Choosing and running a 3D printer
Should Your First 3D Printer Be FDM or Resin?
Summary
If you want brackets, jigs, organizers, and other everyday parts at a reasonable size, start with FDM. If tiny figures and crisp detail matter most, resin is the better fit. FDM printers and filament cost less and the main cleanup is snapping off supports, while resin prints come out smoother but always need washing, and some resins need a post-cure too.
Filament versus liquid resin
An FDM printer pushes molten plastic through a nozzle and stacks it layer by layer, which is why it's also called filament printing. A resin printer uses light to harden liquid resin one layer at a time. Early machines used a laser; many now use a digital projector (DLP) or an LED array behind an LCD screen (MSLA).
Detail
Formlabs, which makes resin printers, says in its comparison guide that FDM printers typically manage walls around 0.8 mm thick, and that raised or engraved details need to be about 0.6 mm wide and 2 mm high to show up. For its own Form 4, it quotes walls down to 0.2 mm, raised details at 0.1 mm, and engraved details at 0.15 mm.
Price and size
| FDM | Resin | |
|---|---|---|
| Printer (Formlabs' ranges) | Budget printers from about $200 | Low-cost machines $200–$1,000 |
| Largest desktop build volume (same source) | Up to 300 × 300 × 600 mm | Up to 353 × 196 × 350 mm |
Flashforge's Adventurer 5M, an FDM printer, has a 220 × 220 × 220 mm build volume and was on sale for $249 (regular $399) on September 23, 2026. Bambu Lab's A1 mini prints up to 180 × 180 × 180 mm.
After the print
Formlabs tells users to wash resin parts in isopropyl alcohol (IPA) or tripropylene glycol monomethyl ether (TPM). Its standard resins don't need post-curing, but some of its functional resins do. The washing guide asks you to wear gloves when touching anything with liquid resin or solvent on it, and to treat the solvent supplier's safety data sheet as the main reference for safe use and storage. Do the washing in a ventilated space with eye protection, and treat IPA as the flammable solvent it is, away from open flames and heat sources. Besides the printer, a resin setup needs room and equipment for washing and curing.
FDM has cleanup of its own. Formlabs lists manual support removal and says a high-quality finish takes lengthy post-processing, but no liquid chemicals are involved.
Sources
- Formlabs — FDM vs. SLA vs. SLS: 3D Printing Technology Comparison
- Formlabs — What post-processing is required?
- Formlabs — Best practices for washing prints
- Flashforge — Adventurer 5M
- Bambu Lab — A1 mini
Specs and prices are as published on these pages on the date above and can change; check the manufacturer or retailer before you buy.