Lesson learned… don’t try to quickly print off a Valentine’s thingy the night before Valentine’s!
Because I didn’t know what I was doing, I quickly wrecked whatever kind of tape was on my heated print bed when I first started printing. I read about blue painter’s tape, had none on hand, but had lots of green painter’s tape.
The green painter’s tape works very well for PLA, when by bed is heated around 40-50C. PLA adheres to the tape, and the tape adheres to the bed.
When I switch to ABS – bed temp 90-100C – the ABS sticks to the tape well but, after a few layers it starts to pull the tape off the bed.
I imagine that the higher temps are softening the tape’s adhesive.
I’m going to buy some blue painter’s tape and give it a try, just wondering if anyone else has had success with other types of (preferably affordable) tape. I’m not ready to move to a glass surface yet.
I’ve never had luck getting ABS to stick to painters tape, green or blue. I’ve always used kapton tape instead although locally sourcing that may be tough.
You can make 3M Blue painters tape work with ABS and stick to an aluminum bed. Wipe the bed down with Windex (polish till dry) before you apply your tape and it will stick really well to the bed even at 100C. Second help is to start with your bed at 95 to 100 and run your first few layers of ABS about 3-5C hotter than normal. This will stick it to the tape well if you are having trouble with that stage. At about .5mm in layer height (at least two or three layers) turn your bed heat down to 80 - 85 and drop the filament temp back down to normal. The trick is to bracket the glass temperature of the ABS and keep it below that point to help prevent warping as upper layers cool but still keep it warm enough that it does not detach from the bed.
Thanks guys! @Nathan_Walkner are you using the glue stick on the aluminum surface?
@Jeff_Parish I’ll follow your steps and give it thorough cleaning. Will report back on the results.
Also, I contacted the company that makes the green painter’s tape I can get locally, and have asked them what the temperature range is for it. I’ll pass that along as well.
Another solution is a PEI printbed, basically an aluminum sheet with PEI (branded as Ultem) bonded onto it. Just about everything will stick to that, and it can’t peel off like tape.
It’s also pricier than tape, though. But something worth considering for longer term upgrades.
ABS, .4mm nozzle, 255C nozzle temp, 100C bed temp, fresh adjustment of Z-axis, .05mm layers, first layer at .1mm.
@Nathan_Walkner I tried the glue, as well as hairspray, directly on the aluminum heat bed and the ABS only stuck in a couple of places and then was pulled off when the loose stuff was dragged around by the nozzle.
@Jeff_Parish I thoroughly cleaned the aluminum surface of the heated bed (with rubbing alcohol instead of Windex though), and applied the Scotch Blue interior painter’s tape (2090). (EDIT, added following sentence) I pressed down the tape well with my fingers and gave the tape surface a wipe with alcohol before printing (without the final alcohol wipe, nothing sticks). Great adhesion of ABS to the tape and tape to the heated bed. When I pulled the test piece off the tape lifted slightly, but the bed was at about 60C at the time. I’ll let it cool to room temperature next time and see what removal is like. if it’s still very tight, I’ll play around with lowering my bed temperature in small increments.
fwiw, I chose the narrower blue tape over the wider. That way, if I wreck a section of tape, the piece I replace is smaller/easier/cheaper.
Ahhh, a couple more tips for this but it sounds like you had some success or at least progress in the right direction. If you do not have Windex then use something with ammonia in it but alcohol should work well as you confirmed. Also, let the parts cool all the way down to below 30C for best removal results. I never pull parts off with the bed hotter than 40C if I can’t wait longer. When I do remove the parts I use a sharp 3/4" chisel bevel side down and gently pry up (not rocking back and forth sideways which damages the tape) at the edges till the part pops off the bed. Even with large flat parts 9" x 5" it only takes 4 - 5 prys. As for the tape width it is a toss up over wide or skinny. Skinny strips are easier to replace if damaged but leave more edges which if the tape does pull up it seems that is where it happens most. When applying the tape I will rub it down with a large flat putty knife to make sure I have good contact with the bed.
I have never wiped the tape surface itself down with anything before. Do you think that helps? You might want to try it both ways and see if it is easier to pop the part off with the tape dry.
@Jeff_Parish I have tried it both ways… by accident. I used the green tape all the time, up until the recent ABS problem above. If I ever put down fresh tape without wiping it afterwards, things barely stuck, mostly not all. With alcohol, things stuck so well the tape was always attached to the bottom of the print when I removed it from the bed. By wiping it and lowering the bed temp, I still got great adhesion, but easier to remove later without wrecking the tape.
When I tried the blue tape yesterday, I forgot to wipe it with alcohol. The ABS just slipped right off, including the half of the tape I added hairspray to as an experiment. After wiping with alcohol I got the great adhesion I mentioned above.
I’ve been assuming the tape surface has some coating that either helps the tape release from itself when coming off the roll, or to better seal out paint.
Maybe the different results for different printers are a result of ambient air temp, different fans/nozzles, inaccurate heating elements or thermistors, different filament makeup, etc.
Note: I’ve yet to try an ABS print with a large footprint using the above. Will try to remember to post results on this thread when I do.
This is great feedback on your results. I think you are well on your way to developing a very good procedure for sticking ABS. I think bed leveling and actual temperature might play a big factor in first layer sticking. I look forward to your results with larger flat pieces.
I used the green tape all the time, up until the recent ABS problem above. If I ever put down fresh tape without wiping it afterwards, things barely stuck, mostly not all. With alcohol, things stuck so well the tape was always attached to the bottom of the print when I removed it from the bed. By wiping it and lowering the bed temp, I still got great adhesion, but easier to remove later without wrecking the tape.