SoliForum - 3D Printing Community — What are you using as a printbed?

Re: What are you using as a printbed?

null@example.com (Gordym) — Wed, 23 Apr 2014 16:50:26 +0000

I only print with ABS. I still use the Stock Solidoodle SD2 print bed, no glass, two layers of Kapton tape. No hair spray or abs glue. I set my print bed for 95 and wait until it gets to at least 85 before I start my print. Just the other day I printed a Yoda head at 1.7 scale so the base consumed a large portion of the print bed and it never curled or lifted. Once I got my bed level, most of the curling and lifting issues went away. I did find that wiping the kapton occasionally with alcohol tends to make it stick better.

Re: What are you using as a printbed?

null@example.com (rvanee) — Wed, 23 Apr 2014 01:45:05 +0000

I print ABS only so far (so far is about 1.5 years)....

8x8 thick decorative beveled edge candle mirrors from "Big Lots" Store
on top of original Soli 2 bed (with original Kapton)

Mirror is held in place by
1) a printed home made permanent vertical wall registration corner on the back right. The corner structure friction mounts/clips to the original black bed structure.
2) a sliding vertical wall reg corner on the left front corner with an small overlapped edge onto the top surface of the mirror. also home made, clipping to the original black bed structure.

I slide the mirror under the left front corner clip and drop it into the rear registration corner and done. Reverse procedure to remove. Basically, mirror is not strained or stressed by clips. All I can say is that it doesn't move during normal printing. I have had catastrophic print failures where the extruder hits a high point on a print and forces movement of the plate and the sliding front corner clip. The few times it's happened, I prefer that to the alternative of snapping and cracking of printer or printed parts.

Garnier Fructus Style Hair Spray from Amazon sprayed generally at the start of a day of printing.

Just started to using occasional localized Glue stick applied once per day to fix occasional curling of large prints in back left corner, which has always been low in temperature. Working well.

And the controversial bit is that I print at a bed temp of only 80 degrees C. I know that higher temp is usually recommended, but I ran the optimization experiments and this is what works for me. With the thick mirrors, it takes about 20 minutes to stabilize at start of day, but only 5 to 10 minutes between plate changes. On small prints, I start printing at a measured 70 degrees, saving a few minutes.

Most prints pop themselves off the plate after letting the plate set and cool.

Re: What are you using as a printbed?

null@example.com (wardjr) — Tue, 22 Apr 2014 19:08:11 +0000

That's a problem worth addressing. You could isolate your bed to it's own power supply. That should improve your beds heating ability. It is the most important mod I ever done and I have done a lot of mods.

Re: What are you using as a printbed?

null@example.com (3dcad) — Tue, 22 Apr 2014 19:04:13 +0000

wardjr wrote:

108 for bed temp

Cant get it past 95 or so without the temp dropping during the print. Also it takes 30-45minutes to get it to 95.

Thanks for the reply

Re: What are you using as a printbed?

null@example.com (wardjr) — Tue, 22 Apr 2014 18:55:12 +0000

I don't have any warping or curling issues ever with ABS or Nylon.
Enclosure
Glass + hairspray (rarely applied) and leave the glass dirty from past prints.
108 for bed temp
Most importantly Reduced first layer extrusion width (roughly half nozzle diameter)
And virtually no Z-height from nozzle (Squished to bed but not rough due to reduced extrusion width)
With this set up the first layer goes down almost transparent and doesn't release until it cools.
Hope this helps

Re: What are you using as a printbed?

null@example.com (renee) — Tue, 22 Apr 2014 18:48:29 +0000

I use Lexan, bought in 8x10 size at HomeDepot, in these conditions:

PLA 60C first layer and 45-50 after first layer. Sticks really well every time.

ABS 80C has been working for me. Don't use a lot of ABS though.

FlexPLA - No heat and lightly sanded before printing.

What are you using as a printbed?

null@example.com (3dcad) — Tue, 22 Apr 2014 18:07:17 +0000

I have used the following so far:

-Regular kapton + ABS = issues with warping and sticking to the bed
-Regular kapton + hairspray + ABS = issues with warping and sticking to the bed but a lot better than without hairspray
-A4 copy paper + ABS= works suprisingly well but it leaves pieces of the paper on the printed parts
-Regular kapton with glass on top + ABS = issues with warping and sticking to the bed
-Regular kapton with glass on top & hairspray +ABS = issues with warping and sticking to the bed
-Regular kapton with glass on top & slurry (thin pieces abs and aceton mixture) +ABS =works very well so far, no warping at all
-Regular kapton with Plywood on top + ABS works well but needs more testing
-Regular kapton with fiberglass wallpaper on top + ABS .. testing at the moment.... seems to work

-A4 copy paper + Nylon (taulman 645) = works ok but not very good also (this might work with some more testing)
-Regular kapton with glass on top + Nylon (taulman 645) = issues with warping and sticking to the bed
-Delta terry-net + Nylon (taulman 645) NOTE: on a cold bed= works well (Delta terry-net is some medical aid undercast material I had laying around)

All tested with the bed at 95 celcius except for the last one. Are you guys having some good results with other printbed surfaces also?