Kings SLA800

Kings. Ten years on the market, three iterations of the same body, more than 500 units shipped worldwide, and here we stare at the chunky SLA800.

Core concept

Short phrase: big vat, steady beam, long shifts. That is the elevator pitch. The longer story jumps back to 2018 when Kings 3D rolled out the first SLA800 to replace a pair of their older SLA600 units that were constantly overbooked by shoe-last makers in Dongguan. Version one had a smaller door, annoying hinge, limited firmware, whatever. Fast-forward to 2023, firmware 3.x, upgraded motion cards from Beijing Leetro, new chiller loop, here we go.

Why UAE shops even look at resin

Oil and gas fixtures? Sometimes. Footwear moulds? More often than you think, Sharjah has a cluster. Foundry patterns for investment casting? That is the juicy part, especially once you do sand casting of aluminium valves and need net-shape masters the next morning. Traditional CNC can carve the pattern from PU board, true, yet you burn half a week, you clean chips everywhere, and your operator drinks three extra coffees. The SLA800 drops a 450 mm tall master overnight, hands free, and the surface already sits around Ra 0.8 µm after a quick IPA bath. No dust, no metal chips, only the sweet smell of uncured resin.

Specs picked apart

Before diving further I will pin a small table, numbers speak louder:

Numbers aside, a single detail often ignored: the Z-ball-screw uses a 40 mm diameter shaft, ground class C5, so backlash basically hides under 5 µm even after one year of sand-blasting heat.

The viscosity sensor hooked into the resin tray sends a ping every 2 min, the firmware decides whether to stir the paddle. Sounds minor, saves a batch of ceramic-filled resin when the AC fails at noon.

Daily workflow in real words

You power up, the GUI does a 90 s self-diagnostic, checks laser temp, chiller loop, galvanometer drift. Swipe right, load the sliced file via LAN or the ancient USB slot, stop snickering, some shops still insist on sneakernet. Once the job starts you are free for the rest of the shift, the only human touch needed is to peel the cured cake from the vat edge after print layer 200 so it does not weld itself. Takes you literally 15 s with a plastic spatula.

• One operator can babysit up to 4 SLA800 units because the beacon light tells the status from thirty meters,
• No exhaust duct is required if the AC ties into a carbon filter cabinet supplied by Kings, they throw it in the crate now,
• Resin top-up happens automatically through a peristaltic pump hooked to a 20 L keg behind the frame, so spillage risk is below tea-cup level.

After print, move the tray to the UV oven, which is just a repurposed stainless drum with 36 LEDs inside, sell the old metal-halide lamp already.

Post-processing nuance

Some Gulf users skip full sanding and go straight to silicon molding, they only run a quick 240-grit hand wipe plus a thin coat of autoclear. Saves half a day. That strategy works because the SLA800 beam footprint is under 0.15 mm, edges come out crisp, draft angles stay intact.

Series internal battle

• SLA600: 600×600×400 mm, cheaper entry fee, but you end up slicing large casings in half, glue nightmare follows.
• SLA800: middle child, sweet spot. Fits through a standard 2.4 m factory door, no crane needed.
• SLA1000: 1000×1000×600 mm, looks tempting, yet the vat weighs 450 kg empty and shipping alone equals the price of a decent pick-up.

Most machine shops in Abu Dhabi landed on the SLA800 after doing the math, build area versus floor rent is better.

Kings versus the crowd

Let us be blunt, the main rivals are UnionTech RSPro 800 and 3D-Systems ProX 800. Quick rundown:

• UnionTech uses an open vat design, easier to clean, but resin evaporation doubles in July humidity, you will burn 15 % more material.
• 3D-Systems ships brilliant software, absolutely, yet spare parts ride a long boat from the US, your laser tube might sit idle for 5 weeks.
• Kings drops spares from Shenzhen to Dubai cargo hub in 4 days on average, customs clearance is smooth because HS code 84439930, random fact nobody tells you.

The price gap? I promised not to talk numbers here, just note that Kings historically positions itself around 30 % below the US brand while throwing a two-year laser warranty into the box.

Maintenance snapshots

Another bullet list because this part is usually buried in footnotes, and then people act surprised when the galvanometer fries:

• Replace optical window every 12 months, costs like a fancy dinner in Abu Dhabi
• Calibrate chiller loop quarterly, tap any HVAC tech, they do it in 15 min
• Update firmware only when power is on UPS, one shop in Al Ain bricked a board during a brown-out, took a week to reflash

Two sentences to wrap this up: there is no messy recoater blade here, Kings uses a dip-and-retilt mechanism, fewer moving bits. The only consumable beyond resin is the Teflon release film, 0.2 mm thick, slide it out, slide new sheet in, done.

Who buys and why

Footwear moulders, dental labs that run BIG implant guides, art studios printing mosque miniature domes, even a drone housing start-up near JAFZA. The common thread, they all need surface finish straight out of the vat. They also value that the chassis fits in a freight elevator.

In short, SLA800 does not try to be everything, it just keeps churning parts while the AC hums above 24 °C. That is it, no fluff.

Bottom line benefits

The machine lands in a wooden crate, you wire it to a three-phase 380 V feed, fill the vat, press start, sleep. Less headcount per shift, tighter tolerances on master patterns, predictable cycle time. Those three points drive purchasing teams in Dubai and Sharjah to sign the PO.

Kings backs the unit with regional service via a small tech cell in Ras Al Khaimah, response under 48 h, parts shelf filled in advance. That simple assurance tilts the decision for many mid-size job shops.

So, if you need a resin workhorse that fits the corridor, drinks 7 kW, and does not whine about Gulf humidity, the SLA800 sits high on the candidate list, full stop.