Olga "Dr. O" Ivanova - Additive Manufacturing Professional

B9 HD SLATE

The first layer is never perfect. That’s why we print the second.

There’s a particular kind of excitement that comes from cracking open a fresh bottle of resin — especially one as moody and opaque as B9Creations’ HD Slate. It promises "exceptional detail," and to its credit, it mostly delivers… but like any material, it comes with quirks, caveats, and a certain attitude.

Let’s call this a first encounter, not a final judgment.

Through a Slate, Darkly: First Impressions with B9 HD Slate Resin

The Castle Test

To put HD Slate through its paces, I turned to a model type that leaves no place to hide: castles.

Not sleek, minimalist shapes — no. These were intricate fortresses, bristling with turrets, crenellations, stone textures, stairwells, and architectural features that practically dared the resin to falter. And it didn’t.

The results were stunning.

Even more impressive: one of the castles was scaled down three times — a model shrinkage that would normally sand off fine details like a belt sander on a sandcastle. But Slate held on. Every brick, archway, and window lattice stayed sharp, clean, legible. Detail retention was almost absurd. It made me second-guess whether I’d scaled it at all (note to self: measure next time, then boast).

The surface texture had that rare quality where the prints didn’t just look good — they felt good. There’s a tactile crispness that gives the sense of miniature permanence. No softening. No sludge. Just... definition.

The Pigment Problem

After leaving the machine idle for some time (I’ll need a few more experiments before I can speak in absolutes), I noticed the resin in the vat had started to behave... differently. Pigment had clearly begun to settle. Not dramatically, not catastrophically, but enough to cloud the FEP window and cast a hazy film across what should’ve been a clean stage.

Cue the ritual: vat removed, resin stirred, filters deployed, FEP cleaned like a surgical tray.

Now, to be fair: many pigmented resins will settle if left too long. Thus, this isn’t a death knell for Slate, but it is a warning. Idle time is its enemy. Lesson learned: this is a resin that rewards motion. Shake, stir, agitate before every run, and definitely after any pause. Think of it less like a static material and more like a temporary suspension that needs your attention.

Verdict (for Now)

HD Slate has some serious potential — especially for engineers and designers chasing intricate surface details. But it’s not a plug-and-play wonder. It rewards the attentive. The curious. The fussy, if we’re honest.

For now, I’ll keep it in the rotation — with a stir stick close at hand