SoliForum - 3D Printing Community — PLA on Kapton tape?

Re: PLA on Kapton tape?

2015-12-21T09:20:29Z

I was printing a large Arkham city Batarang. Still printed mostly fine. The item is laying flat. The blade has an edge that is bevelled on both the top and bottom. Top bevels fine. Bottom bevel is lacking. For anyone who has printed a blade with bevelled edges any advice on how to get the bottom bevel to print better?

Re: PLA on Kapton tape?

2015-12-21T08:26:36Z

Don't worry too much about the exteme edges of the bed unless you're printing something which covers a very large area.
Most of my prints don't cover much more than about 100mm from the centre of the bed.
I tend to just concentrate levelling on that area only, unless of course I need to print something bigger.

Re: PLA on Kapton tape?

2015-12-21T06:13:33Z

Just to touch back on this, using the lowest temp for the bed setting of 41 and lowest recommended extruder temp of 180, with both doors open I have successfully printed a couple other items. I still think I need to level the bed better though but find it difficult to achieve a perfect level in all corners of the bed.

Re: PLA on Kapton tape?

2015-12-20T07:27:48Z

Finished a print of a case for a Samsung Galaxy S4 phone last night using kapton.
Took 1.5 hours and came out great. The PLA stuck like a lot limpet.
As Carl said, correct levelling is important.

Re: PLA on Kapton tape?

2015-12-18T04:37:27Z

PLA should stick to hot Kapton like glue. Assuming and that's the big word here that your bed is at the right first layer height and level.

90% of most adhesion problems can be attributed to a poor first layer.

Re: PLA on Kapton tape?

2015-12-18T03:31:22Z

I would like to touch on one of his points though. Can you print PLA reliably on Kapton? I myself use kapton sheets and would prefer not to tear them off once they are nicely applied. They seem to last a bit. I know Kapton is not ideal for PLA but was going back to the earlier question if you lower the bed and use a cooling fan would kapton work or is the surface not going to grab it properly?

Re: PLA on Kapton tape?

2015-12-17T11:45:23Z

Sounds like you are getting the hang of it. As others have said. PLA really does benefit from a fan mounted near the nozzle and directed to the printed material/heat bed.
That said perseverance and some adjusting you can get good results with pla. I have no fan on my sd 4 have not taken the time to add one. and I have still received compliments on my prints from others who have a fair amount of experience.
I personally like using hairspray on glass.
Tin

Re: PLA on Kapton tape?

2015-12-17T09:29:38Z

The problem with all the da vinci models is cooling. Everyone is hating on the extruder and nozzle but those are fine. Yes it's a bit obsolete but it works. If you know hoe to handle a soldering iron i would advise you to solder a extra fan to the existing fanand place it somewhere where it can cool down the layers.

Re: PLA on Kapton tape?

2015-12-17T07:58:43Z

I tried extruder settings at 180, bed temp at 41. Left the top and front door open on the da vinci. Sprayed the kapton with a few passes of aquanet hairspray. Printed one of those batman v superman throwing stars... just something small. It printed out much better than I was able to get with ABS. So Ill attempt this method on the larger object I was attempting to print tomorrow. Thanks for your help.

Re: PLA on Kapton tape?

2015-12-17T06:43:30Z

carl_m1968 wrote:

Try leaving the printer open and even putting a small fan in front of it. PLA is tricky and requires cooling of the previous layers most of the time.

Ill give that a try tomorrow when I can get me a fan in here. in the meantime Im going to try to print something small using the lowest bed setting and keep the extruder at the minimum hatchbox recommended settings of 180. I tried 175 and it was making a clicking noise, so Im guessing that means that either the bed was pressed too close to the extruder and restricting flow or the filament wasn't heating up enough to extrude properly...

Re: PLA on Kapton tape?

2015-12-17T06:17:40Z

Try leaving the printer open and even putting a small fan in front of it. PLA is tricky and requires cooling of the previous layers most of the time.

Re: PLA on Kapton tape?

2015-12-17T05:53:57Z

turned down the temp of heated bed to 60 and extruder to 190 and the print still gets all gummy. Im assuming thats a sign that its still getting too hot? I'll go again and try the bed temp at 55 and extruder temp at 180.

Re: PLA on Kapton tape?

2015-12-17T05:17:19Z

the object I'm printing is about 4 inches wide, 1.25 inches long and about 4.5 tall... should I turn down the bed and extruder and leave the doors open when it prints?

Ive printed this already in ABS and it prints fine. Annoys me if I can't get it to print using PLA... there has to be a way.. just need to find the right settings Im guessing.

Re: PLA on Kapton tape?

2015-12-17T05:13:18Z

reznor9 wrote:

I tried heated bed at 65, extruder at 200.
Checked on my print a half hour later and When the extruder makes a Passover I see the print flopping around all soggy like. I'm guessing the PLA is not cooling? I guess I'll try lowering the temp of the heat bed to 60. Extruder to 190. See what happens.

Unless you have cooling a fan that blows on the layers PLA is very hard to print. Also if you are printing something less than 5mm in diameter you will need to multiples of it or print something else next to it as the print head needs to move away from the layers for at least a few seconds to give them time to cool before the next layer is laid. Otherwise the entire model stays too hot and deforms.

Re: PLA on Kapton tape?

2015-12-17T04:57:22Z

I tried heated bed at 65, extruder at 200.
Checked on my print a half hour later and When the extruder makes a Passover I see the print flopping around all soggy like. I'm guessing the PLA is not cooling? I guess I'll try lowering the temp of the heat bed to 60. Extruder to 190. See what happens.