The Elegoo Saturn 3D resin printer prototype.
Let’s have a look.
Hey guys.
Elegoo reached out to me recently and asked
if I’d be interested in looking at their
Saturn printer. This model is still under
development and of course I bit their hand
off.
The first thing you notice about this printer
is its size. Folks often complain that resin
printers only handle small prints, and Elegoo
are certainly taking on that challenge with
zeal.
Look at this build plate. It feels solid and
massive – and I mean that positively. Look
at it next to the Mars.
Straight off, when unpacking, I hit a problem.
In removing the protective covering from this
screen I also removed some black tape which
I think should be there. Removing it has revealed
this ugly void. But this is a prototype so
I’m happy to ignore that and I’ve added
my own black tape.
Just like the Mars the Saturn has adjustable
legs in case your worktop isn’t level.
This sturdy base section is fully metallic
and speaks of quality.
Unfortunately, the power switch is still located
at the rear, where I would have preferred
the side.
Whilst there we can see that the Saturn has
two cooling fans and as such it’s a little
nosier than the Mars, but it’s still fairly
quiet and nothing the grumble about.
The power lead gets plugged in here and what’s
this…? An Ethernet Port. That suggests the
Saturn can be networked, a feature we normally
associate with big boys like Formlabs.
The USB port is located on the front below
the screen. Now I criticised the Mars for
having a rear USB port and recommended front
or side location, so I should be happy here.
But I’m not really. With the memory stick
plugged in, there’s now an obstacle in the
way of the touch screen. This didn’t stop
me using it even with my meaty fingers, but I can
see accidents waiting to happen here and maybe
potential damage to the stick or the port.
A little away from the screen would be safer,
or maybe the side would be better still.
The resin tray is, of course, similarly large
and again it feels the part.
Elegoo have included these location points
to help seat the resin tray, and have you
noticed the lack of side brackets? This tray
positions nicely into predetermined slots.
There’s a nice clunkiness to it. I feels
nice and firm.
There’s a single drive rail on the Z arm,
but the side supports are widely spaced and
suggest good stability.
The build plate clunks on like a piece of
farm machinery – big, reliable and ready
to work.
Now that’s what you call an Allen Key!
I won’t bore you with levelling as I covered
this in more detail in my Mars review, but
the same paper technique was applied.
Strangely, levelling a much bigger plate somehow
seems easier.
I’ll go with standard Elegoo Grey resin
I think.
Boy it takes a lot of resin to fill this tray.
The screen looks the same size as the Mars
to me and touch screen works just as well.
The menu is just as simple and intuitive.
And just like the Mars, the writing is too
small. This really bugs me. There’s no reason
why this text can’t be larger. If Anycubic
can do it with their Photon S, then Elegoo
surely can too.
I couldn’t find the test print on the memory
stick, even though it was actually there,
but again let’s put that down to a Prototype
glitch. I changed its location manually and
it was happy to go from there.
In action it’s not as fast as the Mars.
The plate descends slowly, smoothly and quietly.
And as you’d expect, the test prints are
excellent, every bit as good as the Mars if
not a little bit better. The only problem
I had was with plate adhesion… the prints
were securely attached I I’ve marked them
in a few places trying to prise them off.
But a big build plate demands a big print,
so I turned to the David Eastman “Deadpool”
bust I printed a few weeks ago.
The Saturn specs are already built into the
latest version of ChiTuBox and the size difference
is obvious. The the longer and wider plate
now fully accommodates this fabulous print
which would normally be a task for an FDM
printer. But I will scale it down just a tad.
And 20 hours later here’s the result. It’s
my biggest print to date, with FDM or Resin
(lots of swearing BLEEPED out)
Hmmm….Yes….
I guess I’m not used to handling such large
prints.
I enjoy busts of all sizes but this one is
fantastic. The incredible detail created by
David Eastman is showcased beautifully here.
So what are my thoughts on the Elegoo Saturn.
This is a prototype and so I’d expect bugs
but other than the tape and the memory stick issue
I have nothing strange to report.
Yes I’d like the power switch on the side,
but I can live with it.
No, I don’t like the positioning of the
USB port, which for me should also be on the
side, but again, it wouldn’t stop me using
it.
I do wish they’d work on the Interface more.
The main buttons are great but once you’re
searching for print files, the writing is
very small and has my nose against the screen
– which causes me to gag on the protruding
memory stick.
We live in an age of tiny screens. The menu
of my Creality CR10S is half the size of the
Mars or the Saturn, but reading filenames
on a scrolling list is easy. Come one Elegoo,
if Creality managed it, you certainly can.
There doesn’t seem to be any air filtration
that we see on printers like the Photon S,
but personally I’m a family man who’s
changed his share of nappies. Nasty pongs
don’t put me off and hand on heart nothing
has nauseated my nostrils, so I’m not bothered
about carbon filtering.
So that just leaves the matter of price, and
as this is a prototype, I really don’t know.
It’s much bigger than the Mars and for me
the quality seems a little better, so it’s
obviously going to going to be more than the
Mars, but lets hope Elegoo continue to challenge
the market with affordable printers.
In a nutshell guys, I love it. It ticks all
the boxes for me and even with the issues
I’ve mentioned, it still tugs at my heart
strings. Time will tell is Elegoo make any
more modifications to the prototype, but even
if they don’t, it’s a printer that’s
destined to not disappoint.
I hope you enjoyed this preview of the Elegoo
Saturn. If you have any questions or comments,
as always, leave a message below.
So take care guys and thanks for watching.
