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I have been printing with PLA plastic and have experienced problems with the corners of the object not properly sticking to the printer bed (causing the end product to warp). I have heard of various solutions but I know it may depend on the type of filament being used. Will making a PLA/acetone slurry and blue painters tape work for PLA and what would be a good solution for ABS prints?
Cheers! :cool:
Make sure your using a heated bed, i usually set mine around 90c for ABS. I print on glass with ABS Juice(ABS n Acetone), I don't get warping very often...if i do its because i printed too close to a draft or something..youd be suprised how much it will help just to cover the print envelope so no air gets in...
You won't be able to make a slurry out of PLA and acetone, but there are lots of options for PLA. First and foremost, though, use a heated bed if at all possible and make sure your print bed is level and the bottom stop calibrated so you get a nice smoosh of plastic against the bed when you print your first layer.
For PLA, I find printing on either glass or aluminium covered in a layer of Kapton tape (to protect the heat bed), then painted with a dilute mix of PVA glue (about 1:1 glue with water) works wonders and solved all my lifting problems. Blue painters tape also works well, but getting pieces unstuck can be a problem.
For ABS, ABS/acetone slurry seems to be your best bet. Other options are to print a raft, print a wall around your piece to prevent breezes cooling and warping the ABS or printing ears with your piece to help adherance at the corners.
I print PLA on a glass build platform unheated using an Elmer's glue stick (purple) rubbed on glass with a thin layer. I also like to print this way using a raft. This seems to reduce or eliminate warping issues. The glue stick works for ABS and Nylon as well.
Thanks for all the replies! I have a MBot 3D II printer and it doesn't have a heat bed. Is this something I could add to my printer?
I don't know about that. I was going to suggest Davopads, 60C and Aqua Net, but I don't think you'll get great ABS results with an unheated bed.
When you say "Davopads" are you referring to a circle extruded to 1 layer thickness and printing on top of this surface? What would be the difference between this and a raft? How well does Aqua Net work without a heating bed for PLA prints?
Thanks so much guys - this information is really helping! :)
Yep. See http://3dprintboard.com/showthread.p...light=davopads
Some images on page two.
That is very interesting and something I might end up trying if worse comes to worse. One question though. how are the prints supported in areas with no Davopad underneath? Wouldn't those areas of the print sag and hit the print bed?
The Davopads are flush with the lower surface of the printed item, so there is nowhere to sag.
Unlike a raft, which is placed below your object's face, the Davopads are flush with the object face (you slice them together with the object). I think this is all explained in the thread I linked.
Awesome. I will give it a better look when I get home later. Thanks for the tips!
Cheers! :cool: