The RepRapMicron project has printed a 0.5 mm Benchy using a new fiber-optic UV print head called the PIKA UV Head, achieving a resolution of approximately 9 micrometers. The system cures eSun Standard Resin in-situ by routing UV light through a trimmed single-mode fiber optic patch cord paired with a 3W UV LED module. This is microscale open-source 3D printing, the same philosophy RepRap applied to desktop FDM, now pushed into territory where sneezing can permanently lose your print.
The build uses off-the-shelf components deliberately. The fiber cable was cut with a hacksaw, not precision-cleaved equipment. The LED module's wattage rating is unverified, but it cures resin. Post-processing follows standard SLA protocol: wash the part, wash the fiber tip, cure. Overhangs remain a known weak point and are flagged for future revisions.
The full technical documentation lives on the RepRapMicron GitHub wiki, with print photos and video on the RepRap blog. Read the original for the build specifics, because the gap between 'fiber optic patch cord' and '9 micron resolution' is exactly where the interesting engineering decisions are buried.
[READ ORIGINAL →]