Topic: Pro Tip for Kapton Users: 100 sheets for ~$20
Hi guys,
I never got around to sharing this, but when I saw the price of Kapton in the Solidoodle store ($15 a sheet!!!!), and read that it should be replaced every few prints (or as it gets damaged) I thought this could end up costing more than filament!
Now, after a few months of bed-stick trouble my final, 100% works all the time solution is a combination of a glass bed, kapton tape on the glass, and an ABS slurry on the Kapton. I'm going to be building a modified bed soon so the heating pad is right against the glass to try and further reduce warping, but that's another story. The long and short is, I rely on Kapton and usually end up replacing it every 5-15 prints depending on the prints and how much they stick.
This is what I found: Bulk Kapton is CHEAP. On eBay I found a 100ft roll (aka 1000+ prints, even with screwed up applications), 200mm wide, for $21 CAD. That's right. The equivalent of 100 kapton squares for $21. Is it likely true Kapton brand tape? No. Does it work just fine (for me anyways)? Yes. Just search for 200mm 100ft Kapton on ebay and sort by price+shipping.
I was stoked by this discovery and I hope this helps save some people some money if their personal always-stick solution involves still using kapton tape!
