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  1. #1
    Engineer-in-Training
    Join Date
    Mar 2014
    Posts
    223

    Printing directly on aluminium heated bed?

    A few weeks ago I made an aluminium plate to use over the heating element on my printer, since the glass I was using started to break due to the thermal cycles.

    I dutifully covered it in Kapton tape and it works very well, too well, ABS sticks so strongly to it that I haven't dared printing anything with a large base surface area yet.
    I was thinking of using the bare metal surface instead to see how that would work, but then again that would involve removing the tape, testing, and if it doesn't work covering it with tape again... oh the bother!

    So before doing that, anyone has tried to print on bare aluminium before? does it work well or at all?
    I've thought of anodizing the plate also, wonder if that would make any difference.

  2. #2
    Senior Engineer
    Join Date
    Jun 2014
    Location
    Burnley, UK
    Posts
    1,662
    I just hairspray the heated aluminium bed. I have tried blue tape, that usually rips. Kapton tape is fine but it sticks so well that I have to wait for the bed to cool right down and let it pop off on its own which means that you don't get to play with whatever you printed, you have to stare at it for 30 minutes beforehand which doesn't fit with my NOW personality.

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