For comparison, below are some of the main properties of tough and standard resin:

Tough Resin

• Produces sturdy, shatter-resistant parts
• Ideal for functional prototypes and mechanical assemblies
• Has excellent resistance to cyclic loads
• Not suited for thin walls (1 mm is the recommended minimum)
• Harder to remove from the build platform than standard resins
• May cost up to $300/kg

Standard Resin

• Produces fragile parts with low impact resistance
• Ideal for detailed and high-resolution prints
• Produces smooth surface finishes
• Affected by color (like smooth/shiny finishes)
• Relatively easy to use
• Low cost

There are a handful of general tips when printing with tough resins. While each resin manufacturer provides its own specific recommendations, the following guidelines should also be observed:

• Layer height: Tough resins usually print better at 50 and 100 microns.
• Supports: Avoid printing directly on the build platform, since it can be really hard to remove. Fully supporting the part might be beneficial, as support structures can be broken instead. Warming the build platform with heated air can also make life easier during part removal.
• Cleaning: Unless otherwise stated by the manufacturer, tough resins can be washed in regular isopropyl alcohol (IPA). Make sure you don’t leave the piece in IPA for more than 20 minutes, as this may cause it to become brittle.
• Post-curing: Tough resins reach their optimal properties when properly post-cured. Be sure to follow the instructions from the manufacturer, as some resins post-cure better in different wavelengths and with an additional heat source.
• Speed: When working with tough resins, adjusting your lift and retract speeds is crucial. Due to their higher viscosity, tough resins benefit from slowing down lift and retract speed. Additionally, increasing the temperature slightly can decrease the resin’s viscosity, allowing for faster speeds.

You’ll note that for tough resins, every manufacturer provides technical specifications regarding mechanical behavior. We won’t get into much detail on these properties, although some basics can be extremely helpful for the uninitiated in material engineering (most of us).

Tensile strength is a value representing the maximum tensile force (pulling two ends of the material away from each other) that a material can handle before critical damage, while Young’s modulus evaluates how much force is necessary to start deforming it.

Shore D hardness tells you how hard or soft a material is, where higher numbers denote higher hardness. There are several different Shore Hardness scales. Flexible resins typically use Shore A, and tough resins use Shore D.

It’s also important to consider a material’s impact strength, which quantifies its ability to withstand sudden and intense impacts or forces. It’s measured through standardized tests like Izod impact. This involves striking a rod-shaped sample and measuring the energy lost per unit area (J/m) or cross-sectional area (J/m²).

Samples can have a V-shaped indentation (notched) and or be unnotched. The notch acts as a stress concentrator, revealing a material’s susceptibility to crack propagation. Unnotched samples showcase overall energy absorption. In this article, we’ll report the notched Izod test results when available.

So now that we’ve covered the basics, let’s get started on the top picks for ABS-like tough resins!

When it comes to creating durable models or projects requiring robustness in high-stress environments, the Resione M58 ABS-like tough resin could be a perfect choice. There are also two other notable variants, M68 and K. Both share similar material properties but have ~10% higher impact strength.

For M58, think printed miniatures, action figures, even dental models – anything that needs to survive an accidental tumble. M68 suits projects involving model building, artwork, or props, while K is the preferred choice for higher-precision figures and parts. However, it’s important to note that the manufacturer advises against its use in underwater scenarios.

What if your project demands resilience against water exposure and needs more toughness? Resione formulated HT100 for this purpose, and it’s available at a similar price. This is a heat-resistant resin that not only withstands room temperature water but can endure boiling water for some hours, along with other high-temperature and pressure circumstances.

All resins are compatible with most UV 395-410 nm DLP and LCD resin 3D printers.

• Impact strength: 51.4 J/m
• Tensile strength: 52.3 MPa
• Young’s modulus: Not reported
• Shore D hardness: 87
• Color: Light gray
• Cost: ~$60/kg

Resione M58 Resin

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and 

Formlabs’ Tough 2000 resin is a reformulated version of their old Tough Resin. According to the company, it’s the strongest resin in its portfolio, offering the same – if not better – properties than those of ABS plastic.

As with any Formlabs material, Tough 2000 was developed for use in their own machines, namely the Form 2 and Form 3. Formlabs highly recommends post-curing times of 60 minutes at 70 °C to bring out the best mechanical properties.

• Impact strength: 40 J/m
• Tensile strength: 46 MPa
• Young’s modulus: 2,200 MPa
• Shore D hardness: Not listed
• Color: Gray
• Cost: ~$200/kg

Formlabs Tough 2000 Resin

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and 

Siraya Tech’s Blu is one of the most popular tough resins in the market, partially due to its low price point. At around $50 per kilogram, this resin is comparable to standard resins in cost while still providing better mechanical properties.

Blu is advertised as a fast and easy-to-use resin that works well with most desktop 3D printers as well as common cleaning and post-cure methods. Be aware that it was designed for LCD and DLP printers, not SLA. Siraya recommends printing Blu at temperatures of 25 °C or above, although a heater is rarely required.

• Impact strength: 45 J/m
• Tensile strength: 39 MPa
• Young’s modulus: 1,500 MPa
• Shore D hardness: 85
• Colors: Obsidian Black, Clear V2, Emerald Blue
• Cost: ~$50/kg

Siraya Tech Blu

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and 

Phrozen Impact-Plus is a tough resin that has been developed through a collaboration between Loctite and Phrozen. Designed with durability and flexibility in mind, this resin also showcases one of the highest impact resistance among its counterparts, ensuring that printed models or parts maintain their integrity and return to their original shape after bending.

This combination of high-impact resistance and exceptional flexibility positions the Phrozen Impact-Plus as an ideal resin for projects demanding toughness and the ability to withstand cyclic loading. It’s particularly useful for applications like belt buckles or other functional parts. Not to mention its impressive weight endurance, with objects printed from this tough resin capable of carrying loads exceeding 150 kg!

• Impact strength: 137 J/m
• Tensile strength: 30.6 MPa
• Young’s modulus: 943 MPa
• Shore D hardness: 72
• Color: Black
• Cost: ~$110/kg

Phrozen Oynx Impact Plus Resin

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and 

Liqcreate’s Strong-X is perhaps the toughest resin on this list. Boasting a 91 MPa tensile strength and 135 MPa flexural strength, it can easily be applied for heavy-duty uses. Strong-X also provides high-temperature resistance, enough even for injection molding applications.

And yet the coolest part is that it can be printed on most budget DLP and LCD printers, including the Anycubic Photon, Elegoo Mars, and Wanhao D7. (See the full compatibility list.) The only downside is cost: Priced at around $175 per kilogram, it’s one of the more expensive resins in the market.

• Impact strength: 20 J/m
• Tensile strength: 52-84 MPa (dependent on the UV post-curing process)
• Young’s modulus: 2,900-3,400 MPa
• Shore D hardness: 87-90
• Color: Gray
• Cost: ~$175/kg

Liqcreate Strong-X

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and 

The ABS-Like Resin+ by Anycubic is perhaps the cheapest tough resin available. There is a generous variety of colors to choose from, and the resin has a lower concentration of harmful volatile organic compounds (VOCs) according to the company.

Its toughness comes from the addition of polyurethane acrylate in its formulation, which gives this material a higher tensile and bending strength. Anycubic also claims it has a longer conservation period (up to 18 months) and user reviews are very positive.

• Impact strength: 45 J/m
• Tensile strength: 35-55 MPa
• Young’s modulus: 1,400-1,600 MPa
• Shore D hardness: 84
• Colors: Aqua, Beige, Transparent Green, as well as black, gray, white, and  transparent
• Cost: ~$40/kg

Anycubic ABS-Like Resin+

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and 

eSun’s Hard-Tough resin is a urethane acrylate resin appropriate for LCD printers. It claims to have hardness and toughness comparable to ABS filament and is able to produce prints that can withstand impact and wear.

When it comes to usage, eSun provides printer-specific setting recommendations on the product page for download. Generally, it’s recommended to print at temperatures between 18 and 35 °C. For post-processing, eSun also recommends placing the parts in a 50 °C oven for 20 minutes after the post-cure step.

• Impact strength: 40-110 J/m
• Tensile strength: 30-60 MPa
• Young’s modulus: Not listed
• Shore D hardness: 75-81
• Colors: Black, white, gray, blue
• Cost: ~$60/kg

eSun Hard-Tough Resin

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and 

The Prusament Resin Tough is Prusa Research’s line of tough materials intended for their own resin 3D printers. It offers decent mechanical properties in terms of strength but a significantly low heat resistance of up to only 50 °C.

Still, according to the manufacturer, this resin is free of strong chemicals with high odor and potential health risks, making it ideal for hobbyists and beginners. This Prusament material also has the biggest color availability in the tough resin market: 12 in total!

• Impact strength: ~2 kJ/m² (notched Charpy)
• Tensile strength: 38-45 MPa
• Young’s modulus: 1,600 MPa
• Shore D hardness: ~76
• Colors: 12 options including Rich Black, Anthracite Gray, and Prusa Orange
• Cost: ~$60/kg

Prusament Resin Tough

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and 

Photocentric’s UV High Tensile Resin makes parts with considerably high tensile strength and overall durability. Like other tough resins, this material requires some special handling like pre-heating the resin up to 30 °C prior to printing.

Though it was designed to work with Photocentric’s 3D printers, it’s compatible with most LCD and DLP printers on the market. The company even provides a list of compatible third-party 3D printers and instructions on how to calculate the proper exposure times based on the output power of your machine.

• Impact strength: 8.1 kJ/m²
• Tensile strength: 65 MPa
• Young’s modulus: 2,610 MPa
• Shore D hardness: 80
• Color: Gray
• Cost: ~$80/kg

Photocentric UV High Tensile Resin

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and 

Available for ~$30 per kilogram, Sunlu ABS-like resin is yet another budget-friendly tough resin and is available in over a dozen colors. The manufacturer claims that the resin has a pleasant and minimal odor, but some users have reported a noticeable or strong smell.

The reviews confirm that it has good fluidity and produces parts with decent tensile strength. They also highlight that this resin is consistently durable across many batches of print, striking a good balance between flexibility and toughness.

However, if your project requires more flexibility, you can consider Sunlu’s high-toughness flexible resin that has a lower Shore hardness of 70D and better ductility. For absolute toughness and temperature resistance, there’s also the high-temperature resin with a Shore hardness of 88D while boasting a tensile strength of 43 MPa and Young’s Modulus of 2,070 MPa.

• Impact strength: 60 J/m
• Tensile strength: 34 MPa
• Young’s modulus: 1,020 MPa
• Shore D hardness: 75-80
• Colors: 13 colors including a few clear colors and two shades of gray
• Cost: ~$30/kg

Sunlu ABS-Like Resin

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and 

Loctite is a brand best known for its adhesives, sealants, and chemicals in general. While photocurable resins fit the description, it might come as a surprise that Loctite produces and sells resins for 3D printing.

Loctite 3843 HDT60 High Toughness resin is a professional material that provides high impact strength and moderate temperature resistance. It’s compatible with any DLP printer that covers the 386 nm wavelength spectrum.

This material is extensively documented, from printing settings to post-curing instructions, so be sure to check its datasheet for more information.

• Impact strength: 53 J/m
• Tensile strength: 51 MPa
• Young’s modulus: 1,800 MPa
• Shore D hardness: 67
• Colors: Matte black, white, clear
• Cost: ~$205/kg (black), ~$250/kg (other colors)

Loctite 3843 HDT60

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and 

The superb mechanical properties of B9Creations’ ESD-Rigid Resin make it more than just a tough resin. Besides showing one of the highest tensile strengths of all tough 3D printing resins, it has a high heat deflection temperature and is electrostatic discharge (ESD) safe.

For this reason, it can produce static-dissipative parts appropriate for ESD compliance and high-stress applications. Yet, all these perks come at a high cost and added requirements, including a special hardware kit by B9Creations that includes a Wax Release Agent and a compatible build platform.

• Impact strength: 24 J/m
• Tensile strength: 68.1 MPa
• Young’s modulus: 2,600 MPa
• Shore D hardness: 87
• Color: Black
• Cost: ~$500/kg

B9Creations ESD - Rigid Resin Kit

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and 

To finish off this strong list, we have ETEC’s E-Rigid Form. This is a polyurethane-based resin that can produce parts that rival injection-molded ones. It offers high tensile strength and good heat deflection temperatures, being ideal for both functional prototyping and end-use parts.

The E-Rigid Form is also water resistant, with an absorption rate of 0.67% for 48 hours of exposure. It’s an engineering-grade material that the manufacturer advises using with their own 3D printing platforms such as the Envision One and the D4K.

• Impact strength: 30 J/m
• Tensile strength: 68-73 MPa
• Young’s modulus: 2,950-3,250 MPa
• Shore D hardness: 87
• Color: Black
• Cost: Available on request only