UV Post-Cure Calculator
Estimate post-cure time in a wash-and-cure station from part thickness, resin type, UV intensity, wavelength match and rotation. Flags under-powered stations and over-cure brittleness.
Post-curing is where good prints turn strong or brittle. This calculator estimates how long to cure a washed part in a UV station from the resin type, the part's thickest section, your station's UV intensity, the wavelength match between resin and lamp, and whether the platform rotates. It flags both under-powered setups that will never fully cure and sessions long enough to embrittle the part.
curl -X POST https://toolsamurai.com/api/v1/resin-printing/uv-post-cure-calculator \ -H "Authorization: Bearer sk_live_•••••••••••••••" \ -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ -d '{ "resin_type": "standard", "part_max_thickness_mm": 5, "uv_power_density_mw_cm2": 7, "wavelength_match": "exact", "is_rotating": true }'
The method behind the numbers
Each resin type maps to a target full-cure dose in joules per square centimetre — standard resins need the least, tough and ABS-like need more, dental the most. That target scales up with part thickness, because UV has to drive through the resin and thick sections cure slower at depth.
The station's effective intensity is its rated UV density reduced by two factors: wavelength match (a 405 nm resin under a 405 nm lamp is fully effective; a mismatched 365/405 pairing wastes most of the light) and rotation (a static platform only lights one side at a time). Cure time is the target dose divided by that effective intensity. If the platform doesn't rotate, the tool also tells you when to flip the part so both sides see equal exposure.
See it in practice
A typical mini in an Anycubic Wash & Cure 3 at ~7 mW/cm².
- resin_type
- standard
- part_max_thickness_mm
- 5
- uv_power_density_mw_cm2
- 7
- wavelength_match
- exact
- is_rotating
- true
A thicker engineering part that needs a longer, higher-dose cure.
- resin_type
- tough
- part_max_thickness_mm
- 10
- uv_power_density_mw_cm2
- 7
- wavelength_match
- exact
- is_rotating
- true
Frequently asked questions
Can I over-cure a resin print?
Yes. Past full cure, continued UV makes parts yellow, brittle and prone to cracking — especially thin features. That's why the tool warns on very short, very high-dose sessions: more time isn't always better.
Does wavelength really matter?
A lot. Most resins are tuned for 405 nm. A 405 nm station cures them efficiently; a 365 nm lamp (or vice-versa) only overlaps partially, so the effective dose is a fraction of the rated power and cure times balloon. Match the lamp to the resin where you can.
Why flip the part if my station doesn't rotate?
A fixed lamp lights one face strongly and leaves the shadowed side under-cured. Flipping at the halfway point gives both sides a roughly equal dose — the tool computes that midpoint for you.
Should I cure under water?
Curing submerged removes the oxygen-inhibited tacky surface layer and gives a cleaner finish. It doesn't change the dose maths here, but it does improve surface cure — a useful trick for sticky standard resins.
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