PSA: I’ve been reading for some time to use the purple gluestick, but no real reason why. I’ve had a bunch of white gluesticks around the house, and have been using them thinking, “what’s the difference?”. They seem to work ok. Or so I thought:
Picked up some purple Elmer’s the other day, and man, what a difference. PLA sticks so much stronger, and the glue is so much less ‘gooey’ after it heats up. I just swipe it directly on my aluminum build plate, and the purple just vanishes once heated up.
If you’ve been using white glue-stick do yourself a favor an go get a purple one.
One key thing i discovered with the Elmer’s purple glue stick is to make sure you apply the glue to a cold bed. Applying the glue at temps above ~60°C would tend to interfere with the adhesion of anything I tried to print on top of it. The glue will go on easier, but it will stay purple on a heated bed and not solidify. if you put it on cold it works great. And use a very thin layer.
I have been using Pritt (original brand ) sticks, I chop a piece off and put it into a jar and then add hot water , give it a good shake and then add little IPA
(this kills the froth and makes it wet the build plate better( which is aluminium )).
I apply this cold from a jar with a brush in the lid, and have been very pleased with it, when the plate is cold the PLA just come off.( not tried ABS )
when its cold it does seem to gel, so I just pop it in the microwave for a few seconds and its liquid again
the white pva glue works far better than the glue sticks . just use it directly on the bed and apply a thin layer with a credit card. if your need a really strong bond apply 3-4 layers .
@Ryan_Branch Granted, but I don’t think PEI is for everyone. And what I used to try nylon in my machine? Glue stick on top of the PEI. It worked fantastically.
@Jason_D : Interesting: I’ve been applying mine to a 60deg bed, and it vanishes almost immediately in the heat, and provides a good stick. @ekaggrat_singh_kalsi : In the past I used white woodglue slurry applied directly to my plate. It worked well, but I’m finding the purple gluestick is working better for me that it.
Sorry but no way, pva, elmers and even PEI are a pain on the ass once you start using buildtak, now i have more problems to take it off the plate, that thing stick too damn well, PLA AND ABS!! (Will try later with nylon)
I don’t think we know for a fact that Elmer’s purple gluestick is PVA, in fact many gluesticks favored for 3D printing like UHU (old formulation) use PVP (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyvinylpyrrolidone) as the gluing agent instead.
@Ross_Bagley there was a misunderstanding
my comment was about not using any type of glue at all anymore, for me buildtak solved a lot of issues with PLA and ABS,
I agree with Ryan, I doubt that the purple glue stick is just plain PVA like regular white Elmers glue. They don’t divulge the substance in the material safety sheets on their web site. I use the purple glue stick on glass. When put on VERY thin and on a cold bed I have not found anything that has better adhesion. Granted I have not used every combination out there, but it sticks so well I haven’t had the need to try anything else. I have a 10" build plate and often print large flat objects with zero lifting. Glue stick on glass also gives a very nice smooth bottom surface. I and many others have actually had printed parts remove chunks of glass when removed. I don’t see how you get better adhesion then that. FYI, letting the part cool and pop off on its own greatly reduces the chance of it removing slivers of glass.
Buildtak is rumored by some to be a modified PEI, so I’m not surprised a lot of people swear by either one. Nylon will not stick to PEI or Buildtak alone though, and Buildtak and nylon manufactures like Taulman3d recommend a thin coat of glue if printing nylon on those surfaces.