<p>Yes, it has been done for many years - but it's not referred to as FDM when you use deposition of resins. At room temperature it's often called <strong>Direct Ink Writing</strong> (DIW, <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352940721000445" rel="nofollow noreferrer">example</a>), and if heated it's often called <strong>Hot Melt Extrusion</strong> (HME, <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29859323/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">example</a>).</p>
<p><em>Disclaimer: I work for Hyrel 3D, a 3D printer manufacturer which has been making heads that deposit one- or two-part resins since 2015. See <a href="https://hyrel3d.com/wiki/index.php/Published_Papers" rel="nofollow noreferrer">over 300 published papers</a>, many of which cite this exact process.</em></p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-05-03T21:59:16.583Z
2022-05-03T21:59:16.583Z
Davo
<p>Apparently now the answer is yes. A company called MASSIVit has a system they call GDP - gel dispensing printing - that's essentially what I asked about, on an extremely large scale. 3D Printing Nerd has <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSE2q_ejjKc" rel="nofollow noreferrer">a video</a> from their booth at Formnext 2021 in Frankfurt, Germany.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-12-04T17:55:15.667Z
2021-12-04T17:55:15.667Z
R.. GitHub STOP HELPING ICE
<p>There is this <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3CY3P28qyQ" rel="nofollow noreferrer">enter link description here</a> printer which uses a liquid resin that's cured using UV at the very tip of the nozel, it prints in layers like an FDM printer and is extremely fast but can't do small details.</p>
<p>I've only ever seen it print at a large scale I don't know if there is a prototype for a desktop version.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-05-06T19:30:52.777Z
2022-05-06T19:30:52.777Z
Aaargh Zombies
<p>Is this what you're looking for?</p>
<p>(<a href="https://the3dprinterbee.com/how-does-a-resin-3d-printer-work-sla-dlp-lcd-explained/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://the3dprinterbee.com/how-does-a-resin-3d-printer-work-sla-dlp-lcd-explained/</a>)</p>
<p>Material Beam</p>
<p>Material blasting is a unique 3D resin printing technology that can be compared to an office inkjet printer. It is also considered one of the fastest and most accurate 3D printing technologies available for resin printing today.</p>
<p>Material Beam 3D printers are similar to inkjet 3D printers in that they also have a print head from which thousands of tiny resin droplets are applied to the building platform and then cured with UV light. Once a layer has been completed, the building platform automatically lowers to the height of a layer and the process is repeated until the object is completed.</p>
<p>The technology of material blasting enables high dimensional accuracy, but speed is also a convincing point. The process in which the resin droplets are ejected from several print heads, which in turn move back and forth over the building platform, is known as line-by-line cutting. This ensures that multiple parts can be produced without affecting the build speed. As a user, you also have the choice between matte and shiny surfaces on your 3D printed object. However, the individual components for material beam technology are very cost-intensive. Other disadvantages are the waste of material when you choose to print matt surfaces and the low strength of the 3D printed parts.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-01-28T15:49:51.603Z
This is very interesting and I think it qualifies as an answer, but not quite the sort of thing I was wondering about.
R.. GitHub STOP HELPING ICE
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-01-28T15:24:54.843Z
2021-01-28T15:24:54.843Z
Perry Webb
<p>After seeing a question about FDM printing of temperature-resistant parts, high-temperature 2-part epoxy came to mind. Are there any (experimental or production) FDM extruders for laying viscous, fast-curing epoxy, mixing it at the last moment before extrusion? Or likewise other cured/resin materials, either 2-part or UV-cured (with whole print volume flooded with UV)?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-01-27T00:54:05.433Z
I vaguely remember that there had been experiments with some kind of air curing resin iirc... like... it would spray down a resin like from an ink cartridge...
Trish
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-01-28T14:08:34.937Z
It seems possible to print uncured resin with FDM, then cure it later with UV, temperature, or the curing process.  It probably wouldn't use filament and a hotend nozzle.  Two part epoxy would be a challenge.
Perry Webb
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-01-28T14:43:34.093Z
Yeah, I assumed it wold be unheated and be more like a paste extruder.
R.. GitHub STOP HELPING ICE
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-01-28T14:57:41.917Z
Maybe an intense solid state UV laser focused where the extrusion hits the print would work.  Dentists are using resins for fillings with blue light cure rather than UV.  This is also an option.  It's safer and may be easier to implement.
Perry Webb
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-01-28T16:09:33.427Z
@PerryWebb: I was thinking of extruded material being sufficiently viscous that there's no race to cure it before it flows. I don't doubt the kind of thing you're talking about is possible too, but it's likely a much higher price bracket than what I had in mind and oriented (I think) towards high resolution rather than ability to FDM-print parts without the thermal property limitations.
R.. GitHub STOP HELPING ICE
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-01-28T16:41:33.667Z
What mechanism would you use to get the resin through the nozzle if it is thick enough to hold it's shape without curing?
Perry Webb
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-01-28T18:04:45.433Z
@PerryWebb: Whatever paste extruders do. I'm not actually sure how they work but I assume it's some sort of drum/syringe type of thing.
R.. GitHub STOP HELPING ICE
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-01-28T18:46:18.410Z
Were you thinking about a paste extruder addon?
Perry Webb
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-01-30T11:22:40.237Z
FDM might be the wrong term... Paste or resin jet? Liquid Deposited Manufacturing?
Trish
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-01-30T18:04:02.597Z
Maybe it's a stretch but I think FDM is a fairly accurate description even when the layers fuse by chemical process rather than thermal changes.
R.. GitHub STOP HELPING ICE
<extruder><extrusion><print-material><paste-extruder>
Are there FDM epoxy/resin printers?
R.. GitHub STOP HELPING ICE
# Are there FDM epoxy/resin printers?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2021-01-26)

After seeing a question about FDM printing of temperature-resistant parts, high-temperature 2-part epoxy came to mind. Are there any (experimental or production) FDM extruders for laying viscous, fast-curing epoxy, mixing it at the last moment before extrusion? Or likewise other cured/resin materials, either 2-part or UV-cured (with whole print volume flooded with UV)?

**Tags:** extruder, extrusion, print-material, paste-extruder

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: I vaguely remember that there had been experiments with some kind of air curing resin iirc... like... it would spray down a resin like from an ink cartridge...  
> **username_2**: It seems possible to print uncured resin with FDM, then cure it later with UV, temperature, or the curing process.  It probably wouldn't use filament and a hotend nozzle.  Two part epoxy would be a challenge.  
> **username_0**: Yeah, I assumed it wold be unheated and be more like a paste extruder.  
> **username_2**: Maybe an intense solid state UV laser focused where the extrusion hits the print would work.  Dentists are using resins for fillings with blue light cure rather than UV.  This is also an option.  It's safer and may be easier to implement.  
> **username_0**: @username_2: I was thinking of extruded material being sufficiently viscous that there's no race to cure it before it flows. I don't doubt the kind of thing you're talking about is possible too, but it's likely a much higher price bracket than what I had in mind and oriented (I think) towards high resolution rather than ability to FDM-print parts without the thermal property limitations.  
> **username_2**: What mechanism would you use to get the resin through the nozzle if it is thick enough to hold it's shape without curing?  
> **username_0**: @username_2: Whatever paste extruders do. I'm not actually sure how they work but I assume it's some sort of drum/syringe type of thing.  
> **username_2**: Were you thinking about a paste extruder addon?  
> **username_1**: FDM might be the wrong term... Paste or resin jet? Liquid Deposited Manufacturing?  
> **username_0**: Maybe it's a stretch but I think FDM is a fairly accurate description even when the layers fuse by chemical process rather than thermal changes.  

---

## 4 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2022-05-03. Score: 4

Yes, it has been done for many years - but it's not referred to as FDM when you use deposition of resins. At room temperature it's often called **Direct Ink Writing** (DIW, [example](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352940721000445)), and if heated it's often called **Hot Melt Extrusion** (HME, [example](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29859323/)).

*Disclaimer: I work for Hyrel 3D, a 3D printer manufacturer which has been making heads that deposit one- or two-part resins since 2015. See [over 300 published papers](https://hyrel3d.com/wiki/index.php/Published_Papers), many of which cite this exact process.*


---

### Answer by username_0 on 2021-12-04. Score: 2

Apparently now the answer is yes. A company called MASSIVit has a system they call GDP - gel dispensing printing - that's essentially what I asked about, on an extremely large scale. 3D Printing Nerd has [a video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSE2q_ejjKc) from their booth at Formnext 2021 in Frankfurt, Germany.


---

### Answer by username_4 on 2022-05-06. Score: 1

There is this [enter link description here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3CY3P28qyQ) printer which uses a liquid resin that's cured using UV at the very tip of the nozel, it prints in layers like an FDM printer and is extremely fast but can't do small details.

I've only ever seen it print at a large scale I don't know if there is a prototype for a desktop version.


---

### Answer by username_2 on 2021-01-28. Score: 1

Is this what you're looking for?

(<https://the3dprinterbee.com/how-does-a-resin-3d-printer-work-sla-dlp-lcd-explained/>)

Material Beam

Material blasting is a unique 3D resin printing technology that can be compared to an office inkjet printer. It is also considered one of the fastest and most accurate 3D printing technologies available for resin printing today.

Material Beam 3D printers are similar to inkjet 3D printers in that they also have a print head from which thousands of tiny resin droplets are applied to the building platform and then cured with UV light. Once a layer has been completed, the building platform automatically lowers to the height of a layer and the process is repeated until the object is completed.

The technology of material blasting enables high dimensional accuracy, but speed is also a convincing point. The process in which the resin droplets are ejected from several print heads, which in turn move back and forth over the building platform, is known as line-by-line cutting. This ensures that multiple parts can be produced without affecting the build speed. As a user, you also have the choice between matte and shiny surfaces on your 3D printed object. However, the individual components for material beam technology are very cost-intensive. Other disadvantages are the waste of material when you choose to print matt surfaces and the low strength of the 3D printed parts.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: This is very interesting and I think it qualifies as an answer, but not quite the sort of thing I was wondering about.  

---

