I think I’ve finally mastered printing on blue tape. 22cm wide and no heated bed. As flat as can be.
That’s impressive. What settings?
What material?
I have tried Blue Tape and gave it up for AquaNet Extra Hold Hair Spray - it works perfectly
ABS?
PLA 210c no brim or raft. 50% infill and .3mm layer height. I’m using Duck brand Clean Release blue painters tape on an aluminum bed that I scuffed a little before putting on the tape. Was perfectly flat and very tough to pull off
I’ve had excellent luck with 3M blue tape. Sometimes I’ll rub it down with isopropyl alcohol if I want to be absolutely sure the print won’t be going anywhere.
@Tom_Nardi I did the same thing. Really makes a difference.
@Griffin_Paquette where did you acquire the plate from? Looks great! Are you adding the heat plate to start printing with ABS?
@Diego_Pablos thanks! It was a scrap sheet that we had at school. It had a couple scratches on one side but the other was pretty smooth. I just threw it in the plasma cutter and cut it to size. I think I still might add the small heated bed for ABS, but I don’t want to go alway from blue tape, so if I can’t print it on blue tape I might just hold off. There is really no need for me to have one when I’m just printing PLA though.
Ooo… Plasma cutter, I’ve always thought about using that. Do you need to use a cutter with an inert gas supply in order to cut aluminum? Do you have any tips for how to minimize slag?
@James_Kao I haven’t used it too much but I have usually gone slightly under the recommended power ratings for aluminum. This cut had zero significant slag. I want to say that we are just running air with no gas but I will ask tomorrow to double check.
Do you ever have problems with the print pulling the tape off the bed? That’s where most of my curl comes from, not from prints separating from the tape. Mine’s going down over an acrylic bed, though, not aluminum.
LoL blue tape is like the beginner’s stepping stone. So if you mastered it then good job most people do that within their first print? Next is to upgrade to glass and glue! Much better results!
@Tim_Visible it depends on the tape brand you use. I’ve tried some cheap brands and that is exactly what happened but if they have a good adhesive that is strong you should be good. If you have acrylic definitely rough up the surface a bit. I wouldn’t even mess around with it trying to stick to a pretty glossy surface. This tape has not lost connection to the metal yet.
@Scottie_D369 don’t know if I agree with you there. I started printing with glass and glue stick a year and a half ago and have switched back and forth between the two a couple times. I have had much better results with the blue tape and it’s less work as you don’t have to coat before every print. If it’s not broke don’t fix it I guess. I don’t want to add a heated bed if I don’t need it which is why I’m testing all the options.
i just got a sheet of PEI last week, its been working great