? Filed under “Tools AND Toys”:

Elegoo's Mars 2 Pro is a fantastic way to get into the world of 3D printing, whether you're wanting to craft figurines to paint, design and manufacture your own chess pieces, create little sculptures to place around your house, add some fun accessories to your kids' toys, prototype physical products, or produce those bits and bobs you might need on DIY jobs.

Source: ELEGOO Facebook page.

It's an MSLA/resin-style printer, which means it has an LCD screen at the bottom of the print chamber, which can activate or deactivate specific pixels while a UV light shines beneath it. As the print plate repeatedly dips into the tank of resin, this UV masking determines the shape of each layer, over and over, until you have your finished model.

Technology's neat, isn't it?

Source: ELEGOO Facebook page.

That LCD screen offers 2K HD resolution (2560x1440), so your prints can have a phenomenal amount of detail, with print layer lines so fine they're practically invisible, resulting in unbelievable crisp, smooth models.

Moreover, each layer only takes about 2 seconds to cure, whereas many printers at this price point would take more like 6–8 seconds per layer — it's a huge time saver.

Norman Chan of Adam Savage's Tested made a 24-minute video that discusses the Mars 2 Pro's strengths and a couple of its weaknesses:

The Mars 2 Pro is $300 on Amazon, and as of this writing (July 23rd, 2021) there's a coupon box on the page you can check to get $40 off that. Quite a deal, I'd say.