3DPrinting
3DPrinting is a place where makers of all skill levels and walks of life can learn about and discuss 3D printing and development of 3D printed parts and devices.
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Funny, in terms of "set and forget" I rank resin way above fdm.
The handling of the resin doesn't detract from this at all. You have to do it every time so it's not like you're spending hours trying to figure something out like with fdm. Even after you get your filament and printer tuned just right, each print represents its own unique challenges if not designed perfectly for 3d printing. On top of that, there's way more points of failure in an fdm printer, and unless you're technologically inclined it can be really difficult to figure it out. (Obviously problems like this decrease when you get a machine like a Bambu.)
I've spent weeks at a time trying to tackle issues with my fdm printer, and even when it's in full working order, you never know when something might go wrong.
My second hand resin printer from anycubic, however, just... Prints. It took me an hour or two to learn the new "mechanics" of resin slicing, prepping models in the slicer takes a little longer than it does with fdm, but it just cranks prints out and i don't even worry anymore if I'm going to come home to a busted print or not. At worst a small detail will have failed to print properly. Fdm printer messes up halfway through and you might end up with a 100g solidified mass of plastic around your hotend..
Not as bad as FDM but you do need to consider resin and drainage for any part that could have hollow/pockets.
A few degrees difference in ambient temperature can drastically affect your exposure times, and god help you if you have a print failure and forget to clean and filter your vat.
As far as model complexity for 3d printing, you absolutely still have those issues, unless you only ever print pre-supported models (which I absolutely love, but aren't ubiquitous.)
I have a pretty heavily customized ender 3 and I don't recommend that to people who don't want 3d printer maintenance as a hobby either to be frank.
I will say though, my issues with resin are never with the machine itself, it's always the material and the specific prints.
Whole heartedly, FDM is laughably worse at the hobby/consumer level. I sold my Ender 3 because it was just a pain in the ass, intending on never 3D printing again.
A coworker mentioned the Elegoo Mars 4K being so cheap so I gave it a shot. I’ve printed so much with it, and I have literally never had a problem once I dialed in my exposure time with the resin I like. I don’t even fuss with how long the resin has sat idle. Months can go by between prints and I don’t even bother stirring it. It just cranks things out like a magician.
Everyone who can set up adequate ventilation and buy thick rubber gloves: get a resin printer and never look back.
Well, I should say that fdm certainly has its place. I do a lot of part prototyping, for something that I might need to print 5 or 6 different versions of, I'm 100% going to use my fdm printer.
Resin printers imo are really only good for things you want to look pretty or have shapes too complex to achieve with fdm. If it's something that prints easily and doesn't need immaculate quality, [and you have an fdm printer that doesn't make you want to commit war crimes (like the ender 3)] fdm is less annoying.