Bed Serface

I feel that I am going to end up using a heated bed, but want to see what you surface your bed with if you do not heat it.

I only have experience with PLA.

Without heat I had best luck with masking tape, or kapton tape heated with a heat gun.

Heated bed (40-50deg C) with glass on top works perfectly, and I really recommend it.

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-Nudel
Blog with RepRap Comic

I'm trying foam core board stuck to a glass top with double sided carpet tape. I cut the board to 60mm squares and peal the board off the tape when done. You can leave the print on the board for display. The PLA sticks well to the paper surface but tends to take paper with it if you peal it off. Home is off the board, but level to it, a few mm above the surface where you can run a test extrute, before print.

So far I haven't found the need for a heated bed - and sometimes I wonder if i'm missing out after reading about others needing it.

Anyhow, I find I get acceptable prints with a 5mm mdf board covered with this PET tape. It's awesome stuff - so far i've had it on the bed since I started (~2-3 months) without the need to replace it. So long as the nozzle is the correct distance from the bed the first layer sticks nicely. I'm using PLA at ~195°C-200°C

Cheers,
Gary

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garyhodgson.com/reprap | reprap.development-tracker.info | thingtracker.net

Yes it would seem that putting the tape onto an insulating surface allows it to stick at lower temperatures. I think the filament temporarily heats the tape as it is deposited, whereas when the tape is on a conductive surface its temperature is fixed.

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[www.hydraraptor.blogspot.com]

... yesterday i've received the same PET-tape and will try next days with it on an 1mm-Aluminium-sheet or 2mm-Dibond-sheet (some plastic with 0.3mm Aluminium on both sides) on a heated bed printing ABS.

As i have some meters PLA too, this could be a good idea trying PLA on PET with heated bed or without ...

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Viktor
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From other posts PLA seems to be much easier to use than ABS as it shrinks less, so there is room to use a cold bed.

I use only ABS filament for my parts.

I had no joy with printing on perspex as supplied with my Makerbot...absolutely useless.

I have had good success with kapton tape. I replace it regularly, but it can also be cleaned with acetone to prolong its life. This was OK on a cold bed for smaller items (about 30mm square), but I had slight warping problems with larger parts. I eventually made a heated bed with aluminium and some resistors similar to nopheads setup. I didn't originally use any closed loop control, just wired directly to my power supply, kept adding resistors till it ran at about 115 degrees C. Its a simple setup which is easy to do and works very well.

I would say that if you are going to use ABS filament, you will get very flustrated with part warping if you don't use a heated bed, so I would plan to get one at the earliest opportunity.