Formlabs is launching a new family of resins alongside the Form Studio 1 mSLA 3D printer: Alpha Resins. The lineup includes Alpha Grey, White, and Black for general use; Alpha Clear for transparent parts; Alpha Model for detailed figurines and assemblies; and Alpha Fast for high-speed iteration. Here's what each one does.
These resins are designed for all-purpose, general use printing. Users can produce parts with a rich, matte color, fine features, and smooth surface finishes. Maximum print speeds reach up to 45mm/hr. The Alpha Grey, White, and Black Resins deliver solid mechanical properties: an ultimate tensile strength of 43 MPa and 34% elongation at break, rivaling ABS.
Sample parts printed with the Formlabs Alpha Grey, White, and Black Resins.
Alpha Clear Resin offers the same crisp detail resolution as the Alpha Grey, White, and Black Resins in a transparent material for see-through parts. It is dimensionally accurate, so parts with proper tolerances assemble cleanly. Print speed and mechanical properties are comparable: 38 MPa ultimate tensile strength and 32% elongation at break.
A part made out of the Formlabs Alpha Clear Resin.
This resin is designed for smaller models with intricate details. The fully matte finish accepts paint evenly, and excellent dimensional stability means multi-part models assemble with precision. Thin features flex instead of snapping, so finished models hold up to shipping and drops.
A model printed in the Formlabs Alpha Model Resin.
Alpha Fast Resin is built for speed. Print speeds reach up to 130mm/hr, more than 2.5 times faster than other Alpha Resins, with Formlabs-validated settings that maintain part quality at every speed. Mechanical properties hold: 46 MPa ultimate tensile strength and 34% elongation at break.
Parts printed with the Formlabs Alpha Fast Resin.
Resin safety is a common concern for new users. Alpha Resins are the first 3D printing resins to earn UL GREENGUARD Gold certification, when printed on the Form Studio 1 with a Formlabs VOC Extractor. These materials can be safely used indoors with minimal odor and health risks. Alpha Resins contain no chemicals with known long-term effects on organs or reproductive health. They are non-toxic and do not cause skin irritation. Parts printed in any Alpha Resin meet ISO 10993 requirements for long-term (>30 days) skin contact when printed on a Form Studio 1 and post-processed following Formlabs guidelines.
The Alpha Resin family covers the most common use cases on the Form Studio 1: general-purpose parts, transparent assemblies, detailed models, and fast-turn prototyping. All five materials are UL GREENGUARD Gold certified for indoor use with the VOC Extractor, which removes the biggest barrier most teams face when bringing resin printing in-house.