Resin 3D Print Volume Calculator

Resin 3D printing (SLA/MSLA/DLP) uses liquid photopolymer resin cured by UV light to build objects layer by layer. Unlike FDM (filament printing), resin is sold by volume (typically in 500 mL or 1000 mL bottles), so you need the print’s volume to estimate its cost.

Volume of a 3D Object (general): For a solid box: V = Length × Width × Height For a cylinder: V = π × r² × H For a sphere: V = (4/3) × π × r³

Resin Cost formula (what this calculator computes): Total Resin = Slicer Volume × (1 + Support %) × 1.05 waste factor Cost = Total Resin (mL) × Resin Price per Liter ÷ 1000

Enter the volume your slicer reports for the model as sliced. If you hollowed the model, the slicer already reports the reduced volume, so there is no separate fill input. The 5% waste factor covers resin left in the vat, drips, and wash-off.

What each variable means:

• Print Volume: the model volume reported by the slicer software (e.g., Chitubox, Lychee Slicer), in mL or cm³ (1 cm³ = 1 mL). Hollow the model in the slicer first; a 2–3 mm shell with drainage holes can cut resin use by 60–90%.
• Resin Price per Liter: standard resins run $20–$40 per liter; premium/engineering resins $50–$200.
• Support %: additional resin consumed by support structures; typically 5–20% of model volume.

Worked example: A figurine’s slicer-reported volume after hollowing is 11.3 mL. Supports add 15%, and the calculator adds 5% waste. Standard resin at $30/L:

Total resin = 11.3 × 1.15 × 1.05 = 13.6 mL Cost = 13.6 × $30 ÷ 1000 = $0.41

Resin density note: resin is denser than water, around 1.1 g/mL. A 500 mL bottle weighs about 550 g, not 500 g. Slicers report volume in millilitres and bottles are sold in millilitres, so the two match; it is only the shipping weight that surprises people.

The 5% waste factor, and why our resin cost page agrees with it

Every print leaves resin behind: the film on the build plate that drips back into the vat, what soaks into the supports you snip off, and what goes down the drain with the isopropyl alcohol at wash time. Five per cent is a conservative figure for a tidy operator. Our resin print cost calculator applies the same 5%, so the two pages return the same millilitres for the same print rather than quietly disagreeing by a twentieth. Hollowing changes this more than anything else you can do. A solid 30 mL bust becomes a 6 mL shell with a 2.5 mm wall and two drain holes, and it cures faster and warps less into the bargain.