Printing minuscule objects

Question

I am not familiar with 3D printing at all, is it possible to print tiny objects with some 3D printing technology that is available to a consumer audience? I am not talking about microscopic scale, but about say a figurine that is 4mm tall. However, the size required for the eye of the figurine, for instance, would be in the ballpark of 0.5 millimeters (500 microns) in diameter.

Answer 1

Resin

Today's hobby grade resin printers are capable of amazingly tiny detail. The hole is about 1.5 mm diameter, and the pencil point in the photo below is of the same scale as the part. It was farther out of the frame and composited in to provide a better reference.

This part was constructed on request of a train aficionado desiring to have hinges for the freight cars he was building.

Details that are not holes would be more easily accomplished. Depending on the orientation of the figurine, you can get between 0.037 mm and 0.050 mm resolution. This is due to different resolutions in the x/y plane and the z-plane. If the figurine's feature was vertical, the z-resolution could be 0.050 mm but the x/y resolution would be 0.037 mm.

There's a great reference page from Chitubox describing the different technologies as well as a couple photos.

This image is of a model constructed with 0.047 mm resolution. The following image is of a model constructed at 0.100 mm resolution.

Above images from linked site.

FDM™

Referencing the comment below, it should be noted that the above information is specific to resin printers. It is very much different when discussing filament printers. Filament printers (FDM™ or FFF) will have much coarser resolutions. It's typical to have layer thickness (z-resolution) of 0.100 mm. Every one of my FFF printers can print at that resolution.

The x/y resolution is based on the nozzle diameter. The common nozzle is 0.40 mm diameter, limiting the resolution to slightly greater than that, as the filament will bulge as it is extruded.

One can find 0.25 mm nozzles and expect approximately 0.30 mm width of deposited filament. I've read of 0.10 mm nozzles, but once you reach that level, it's time to think of resin printing.

I had attempted to print the door hinge bracket on my FFF printer, using 0.100 mm layer height on a 0.40 mm nozzle. It was a complete mess.