The affordable Elegoo Saturn 3D printer offers unmatched performance, size, and usability. The Elegoo Saturn is unrestricted by the limits of the majority of standard-sized resin-based 3D printers thanks to its huge build volume. A 4K monochrome LCD panel produces exceptional fine details with high print quality and extraordinary precision. Additionally, quick print speeds for a reasonable balance of quality and quantity are made possible by layer curing durations of 1.5–2 seconds. The Elegoo Saturn can produce numerous minis in one batch while also producing large, wide items thanks to its enormous build volume.
Design
This Saturn was shipped by Elegoo with a sticker on the UV-resistant lid, which was a thoughtful addition for a review unit. As far as we can determine, this is the only distinction between this unit and a standard retail unit, therefore if you buy this printer directly from Elegoo, your experience with it should be comparable to ours. The Saturn is a standard resin MSLA 3D printer that makes use of a resin vat, a masking LCD, a UV light source, and one axis of motion. We put this printer together in under five minutes, most of which was spent taking the foam and packaging out of the box. The printer only needs to be calibrated before printing; no mechanical or electrical assembly is needed. The calibration procedure is nearly effortless, and using the device straight out of the box was quick and simple. The Saturn’s masking LCD measures 8.9 inches and has a resolution of 3840 by 2400, giving it an effective XY resolution of.05mm. We had no trouble removing the protection stickers that were placed on the masking LCD during shipping before printing. In order to prevent a new user from unintentionally removing it while removing the rest of the stickers, the manual makes sure to specifically note that the black protective tape surrounding the masking LCD must be left on the device. The resin vat on the Saturn is locked into position quickly and consistently thanks to four bolts that protrude from the bottom and serve as locating posts. The fact that resin vats typically rest with the delicate FEP film flush against the surface they are laid down on makes this one of our biggest cleaning challenges. As a result, even a small table bump could potentially dent or deform them. It’s a small detail, but a welcome design change that the four posts on the corners of the Saturn’s vat keep the FEP film slightly elevated during cleaning. The resin vat also has a max fill line printed directly on it, which eliminates the worry of resin spilling if it is overfilled. This feature shows that Elegoo has given some thought to the needs of users who frequently change vats or drain and replace resin, along with the spout that is molded into the vat.
Elegoo Saturn review: Features
In comparison to the marginally more detailed 0.047 mm (47 microns) found on the Mars and Mars Pro, the Saturn’s 8.9-inch masking LCD has a 4K resolution of 3840 x 2400, giving you an XY resolution of.05mm, or 50 microns. For resin printers, smaller is better in terms of microns because it allows for finer detail, although a difference of three microns will be undetectable to the human eye. If you’ve used a Mars or Mars Pro printer and were pleased with your printouts, there’s a good chance you’ll also be pleased with the Saturn’s print quality. Be aware that the protective film that will be on the LCD during shipping must be removed before usage. Be careful not to remove the black tape that encircles the screen, though. As the Elegoo Mars 2 Pro has an air filter and rubber seal, the Saturn does not, so be sure to place it where there is good ventilation. The cooling fans can be a bit noisy even without the air filter, but as long as you’re not trying to sell in the same room as it’s running (which we wouldn’t recommend), you won’t hear it behind a closed door. Before you start adding resin to the vat, the Saturn’s build plate needs to be leveled, but this process is much simpler than it is for many other well-known printers. All you need is a piece of paper, which is included in the box, though regular printing paper would also do the trick. Simply use the provided allen key to loosen the two bolts on the build platform, then cover the LCD screen with paper. After setting the Elegoo Saturn to self-level, all that’s left to do is retighten the bolts and you’re ready to begin printing. On the USB drive that comes with the Elegoo Saturn, there are a few files, including a download for the ChituBox slicing programme. You shouldn’t need to manually upload the printer profiles because they were already available, and the programme lets you make the customary tweaks to improve your prints. There is no need for additional apps because the application is feature-rich and very user-friendly. ChituBox can generate supports for files, calculate the cost of printing, and determine how much resin you’ll need. Although there are other programmes you can use with Elegoo printers, we have no complaints about this one.
Elegoo Saturn review: Leveling
To ensure that the resin cures uniformly throughout each layer while using an MSLA resin 3D printer, the build platform must be absolutely level with the FEP film. It can be difficult for beginners to level the bed properly, and it can be upsetting when prints fail as a result. Elegoo has solved this issue by employing a special levelling procedure that is quick, easy, and straightforward to complete. The Elegoo Saturn includes straightforward step-by-step instructions for levelling and makes use of a build platform held rigid by two bolts. We observed as the build platform self-leveled and sat exactly flush after releasing the two bolts on the build platform and covering the masking LCD with the included piece of levelling paper. We simply tightened the two screws in the prescribed order and raised the build platform after the axis had come to a stop. The Saturn feels almost effortless to set up in comparison to the levelling procedure on a printer like the Longer Orange 10, which uses four screws that must be tightened in a star pattern and have a tendency to shift during tightening.
Print quality and speed
Elegoo manufactures a variety of resin types for its printers, including environmentally friendly and machine-washable options. Anyone who doesn’t want to purchase isopropyl alcohol to remove any remaining resin before printing will benefit most from the water-washable version. However, you are not limited to using Elegoo-branded resin; any 405nm UV curing resin designed for printers will work just fine. also you will check our article on Elegoo Saturn review. Grey is the best color to display details and areas where the print may have failed, so unless you have a specific color in mind, we advise using it for the majority of prints. We printed a figurine of Samus Aran from the Metroid video game series without cutting it up to show the size of the Elegoo Saturn. The level of detail in this file, which was from Printed Obsession on MyMiniFactory, is astounding. There is no obvious layer separation, and the tiny details on her outfit and weapon look fantastic. She stands about 25 cm tall, and if you wanted to make the most of the space, you could have added some smaller tabletop miniatures to the build platform. At a resolution of 0.05mm, this print took 9 hours and 15 minutes to complete. This seems like a fair trade-off to get detailed models at this scale despite the fact that many FDM printers would have to sacrifice detail to match that speed. We enlarged this model of the James Webb space telescope because NASA also offers some entertaining STL files for 3D printers on their website. Given the type of supports included in the pre-supported model, this is a very bulky model that was initially created for FDM printers, but the unsupported version was simple to adapt in Chitu Box. This only took 6 hours and 57 minutes to print, but that time could have been significantly cut in half by increasing the layer resolution because there aren’t many tiny details that needed to be captured.
Elegoo Saturn review: Performance
Elegoo offers a variety of resin types, including “Eco” and “Water Washable,” but we went with the standard opaque black variety. The supplied test files are what we refer to as a “torture test” or bench, a model created to put a printer through its paces with a challenging design, and they are pre-loaded onto the USB drive. If you’ve never attempted 3D printing before, there’s an obvious problem with these files that reflects negatively on the printer right away. They are exceedingly difficult to remove without harming the model because they are unsupported and built directly onto the construction plate. Since the metal scraper included in the Elegoo Saturn kit is too thick to slide underneath the model, attempting to remove them will only result in damage. There are a few things you may do if you find yourself in the same situation. One option would be to manually add supports to ChituBox after loading the file there in order to raise it off the build plate. Another option is to purchase a razor window scraper that can slip underneath the build, or you can gently expand the plastic where the print is stuck by pouring boiling hot water over it, which will make it easier to remove. A FlexPlate system, a thin magnetic cover for the build plate that thanks to its flexibility enables simple removal of stuck prints, is something we would have loved to see. These are available for purchase from a variety of 3D printing websites, but Elegoo should have incorporated something similar into the Saturn design. Despite the challenges of removal, the benchmark prints were successful, with none of the model’s components printing incorrectly. We ran a test print of a tiny goblin figurine alongside other benchmarks to see how much detail the Saturn could pick up on a smaller scale, and we were pleasantly surprised by how small you can go. The loincloth is so thin that light can pass through it, but despite its thinness, it printed without snapping and every detail was captured.
Price and availability
It’s not impossible to find one, but you’ll need to keep a careful eye on your preferred retailer and move quickly when new stock arrives. The layout of the Elegoo website’s warranty section is a little confusing, but we eventually managed to figure out that the Saturn has a 12-month warranty on all significant components aside from the FEP and tools. also you will learn our article on Elegoo Saturn review.
Conclusion
Elegoo is well-known for its affordable resin LCD printer with a respectable build capacity, the Elegoo Mars. Additionally, the company has expanded its presence in the market for low-cost LCD 3D printers with the release of the Elegoo Saturn. The Elegoo Saturn has a larger build volume than the Elegoo Mars and a monochrome LCD that cures prints quickly. The build volume of the printer is in the middle, neither small nor large.
