Anyone used Printbite surface ?

[curious aardvark]

Actually one of the things that's come out of this is the fact that I'm a lot more confident in both printing a lot of things at once and using the whole surface of the build plate.
Because even minute inperfections in your build surface will cause issues, I pretty much used to use either the centre of the plate or whatever part didn't have ripped, damaged or peeled tape/pva/pei.

With a big flat, smooth surface, I have none of those issues so can use the whole area secure in the knowlege that I won't need a hydraulic ram to remove anything and that a lot of small pieces will stick equally well no matter where they are.

So if you only or mainly use pla - I'd say you NEED a sheet of this stuff. Maybe not perfect - but at the moment - as far as pla goes - I can't think of anything that would improve it.

Some trolley tokens I just ran off.

29trolley tokens_800x600.jpg

[curious aardvark]

okay trying polymaker's clear polycarbonate.
Turns out my maximum extruder setting is 262c

the polycarbonate label states 255-280 and a bed heated to 80c.

left the bed at 60, can't be arsed to recalibrate. printing a carabiner. They're useful and long enough to test warp and stick and only take 10 minutes or so to print.

And it's off ! Didn't quite finish the first layer.

I think the problem is most likely the extruder temp. But I'll up the bed temp and try it again.

It's annoying as I've got a 200gm roll of this stuff and it would be nice to be able to use it.

***

Okay heated bed to 90c and recalibrated again.
And at 57% it's just popped off.

I will say that I do have my cooling fan on - and I'm not supposed to.
I really do need to fit an on/off switch.

I'll try the PC again after I have. But for the moment - it's a no go.
Likewise I can't try any nylon till I've fitted the switch.

[curious aardvark]

fitted a fan switch:

fan-switch_800x600.jpg

Came of a very old power supply that's just been scrapped (well it hasn't got an on off switch ;-)
I've even found the roll of taulman bridge.
So that'll be the next thing to try.

[curious aardvark]

Okay so I recently found a roll of taulman bridge I got for christmas a couple years ago and promptly lost.

It's been out of the packet for a couple weeks, soaking up moisture. If you're going to test this stuff then I like to test them in the environment they'll most likely be kept in ;-)

Sticking to the printbite really well. Fizzing and popping like popping candy, so it's not goign to be the cleanest print you've ever seen - But have to say, it's working quite well.

After this print, I'll stick it in the dehydrator for a few hours or so and see if there's any difference.
And while that's happening I'll try the flexismart.

Also making sure that with the cooling duct off and the extruder at near max temp - the new pla cooling duct doesn't melt :-)
Hasn't yet, so that's good lol
I've switched to these: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:537918


In fact I think I'll do the same print again with the cooling fan turned on - which is against the taulman printing guidelines.

So for second bridge print I've upped the temp from 255 to 260 and switched the print cooling fan on.
Print speed for both is 30mm/s

Still sticking well, no signs of warpage. And it's definitely looking a little cleaner.

Hmm, there's a roll of taulman 618 around somewhere as well - might dig that out and try it, now I've read the taulamn printing guidelines ;-)
And found something it sticks really well to.

The outer layer of 'wet' filament seems to have been used up now and the fizzing and popping has more or less stopped.

[curious aardvark]

Right been using theis stuff long enough to have a good idea what it's good for and what it isn't good for.

I'll update this post when i try new materials out.

Printbite materials Pros and Cons.

Pros

Pla: all tested brands: - brilliant. Best print surface for pla I've ever used. Sticks great when hot, doesn't stick at all when cool. Damn near perfect.

Abs - works as well as kapton, but you'll still need an enclosed print area for excellent results

Polyflex - sticks great, and peels off fairly easily.

Sun-lu flexible pla - sticks a little too well, but as it's really strong filament should peel off cleanly.

Colorfabb xt - sticks well, can be a bit of a bugger on longer and larger prints. Put both printing temp and bed temp up by 10c and really smoosh the first layer onto the bed slowly and it works well.

Colorfabb Woodfill: sticks really well, small items need sharp tap to release, larger ones will need gentle prying with a scraper.

Pet-g: e-sun and technologyoutlet work pretty much as well as pla. I've used the lower end of the recommended printing temperatures and my standard 60c surface temp for the printbite.

Innofill pro 1: works exactly like pla, if not better, brilliant !

Conductive pla by proto pasta: have a loose calibration, if calibrated too tight it can stick a bit too much. Isn't particularly conductive though. You can't electroplate it

Cons

Flexismart - sticks like glue and tears when you peel it off leaving bits behind.

Mymat nylon - absolutely DO NOT print mymat nylon on printbite. welds itself to the material and cannot be removed without damaging the print and potentially the printbite

Polycarbonate - didn't stay stuck during printing. Could be down to my printhead not going high enough or bed temp not being hot enough - or both.

Abs - sticks, just not as well as pla.

[adchesney]

Does anyone want to buy 200mm x 200mm of Printbite for £15 including delivery to UK? I have two spare.

ANDREW

[curious aardvark]

well if that was for both peices - then probably, if just the one - then no :-)

My next piece will be the 300x300 - which will give me 2 complete full size pieces for £21.
And some bits to make into scrapers.
That way it won't easily scratch the surface.

[Talon 3D]

Edit: It is in stock for the size I need for the QIDI dual. Nice!!

I read through this whole thread and decided I wanted some for my QIDI printer. Aaaaannnd, it is out of stock. LOL
Thank you for the thorough review.

[jeffmorris]

Do I have to raise the temperature of the heated platform and/or extruder when using Printbite?

[Talon 3D]

It sounded like he was able to lower it a bit.
I've got mine ordered but I'm in the US so it will take a few days before I can give you any feedback.

Do I have to raise the temperature of the heated platform and/or extruder when using Printbite?