Kapton tape on the print bed: Sticky side up or down?

I spent a fair amount of time already searching for an answer to this question and have not found it, so I thought I'd ask here. They say kapton tape is one of the best build plate surfaces for a heated build plate because the plastic sticks well to it when it's hot. Is the sticky side supposed to be up? If so, how do you attach it to the build plate? This is not at all intuitive to me. Thanks for any help.

Sticky side down.

I'm not sure what material you're printing with, but I have been using a piece of glass with good results with PLA. I just taped the glass to my bed and have been off and running. It's a good thing the print bed has springs on it though or I would have shattered the glass on my second test run when the tip slammed into it.

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Germanicus

I also just print straight onto glass placed on my heated bed, I hold it in place with bulldog clips and have 2 pieces so I swap them at the end of each print as I need to let the glass cool to room temp before I can remove the printed objects

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Experimenting in 3D in New Zealand

I'm definitely interested in trying glass at some point, but since Kapton tape is what I have now, I will use that for now. I was using some double-sided tape from MakerGear, but I didn't like it too much. It was NOT fun to remove. Well it was a little bit fun because I got to use my new dremel How much do these sheets of glass cost you guys anyway?

Nothing, if you can find a dead fax, printer/scanner, etc. Check out garage sales, flea markets, etc.

I got 2 sheet of 4mm glass cut to size, for less than $10 a sheet locally. Since we only need a little piece, most shops probably have extra cut off. If you cut it yourself, I guess you might even get it for free.

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-Nudel
Blog with RepRap Comic

I just pulled the glass out of a small picture frame I wasn't using. You can get glass for picture frames at most craft stores for less than $10 (Michaels, Hobby Lobby, etc.)

I frame pictures so had some 3mm glass laying around I just cut it to size and use it, I clip the glass in place with bulldog clips then give it a wipe over with kitchen towel and Methylated spirits to remove finger prints and any other contaminants

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Experimenting in 3D in New Zealand

I will need to get some pre-cut, so I guess my options are the hardware store or craft stores. If I start with Kapton tape and decide to use glass later, can I keep the Kapton tape on my PCB heatbed, or will that block the heat or something?

unicoder Wrote:
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> I will need to get some pre-cut, so I guess my
> options are the hardware store or craft stores. If
> I start with Kapton tape and decide to use glass
> later, can I keep the Kapton tape on my PCB
> heatbed, or will that block the heat or something?

There should be no problem with Kapton tape blocking the heat. My only suggestion is that you don't buy Kapton Tape that is any wider than 2". I bought a 6" wide roll, and found that the adhesive they used on it makes it nearly impossible to remove it from the roll without wrecking the tape. At least with 2" tape the forces required would be more manageable.

Keep in mind that when you use Kapton tape, especially 3M brand, that the adhesive cures with heat and time. I have years of experience working with it and find that if I let it sit on an object for an extended period of time(weeks to months) the film will peel off when you try to remove it, leaving the adhesive stuck securely to the original surface (i.e. your heated bed). Also, Kapton is an insulator; although the tape is very thin it will still have some effect which may or may not be negligible in this application.

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Germanicus

I got a heated bed for my birthday in november. Just now finishing school and need to figure out a mounting solution. It seems there is not a standard way to do this, but I like the idea of clamping on the piece of glass. How would this sequence work?:

Top to Bottom

Glass rectangle cut to size clamped to . . .
Prusa Heated Bed PCB, followed by . . .
2-3 cut to size pieces of cardboard from Home Depot Moving Boxes

I print PLA onto a cold bed with blue painters tape. Someone else here mentioned using rubbing alcohol to wipe the surface before printing. I've been following this and never have any adhesion issues. At most 1/2 of the skirt may peel back. You can reuse the tape many times, so long as your not mashing the first layer into it too hard.

I had originally planned on doing a heated bed, but have since back burnered it due to it working fine as is.

Excuse me for digging up this thread, but I just wanted to attach my 50mm wide Kapton tape to my glass sheet. Unfortunately I have problems getting it flat. There are a lot of bubbles (even though I try my best to remove them). Do you have any tricks?

I don't know if it can be done with this type of tape because of the temperature, but I think it's worth to try as it gives very good results on the normal tape and on adhesive vinyl: get a very fine needle and perforate all the bubbles, for the air to came out. Then press again ... it should be flat now.


GoingForGold Wrote:
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> Excuse me for digging up this thread, but I just
> wanted to attach my 50mm wide Kapton tape to my
> glass sheet. Unfortunately I have problems getting
> it flat. There are a lot of bubbles (even though I
> try my best to remove them). Do you have any
> tricks?

GoingForGold Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Excuse me for digging up this thread, but I just
> wanted to attach my 50mm wide Kapton tape to my
> glass sheet. Unfortunately I have problems getting
> it flat. There are a lot of bubbles (even though I
> try my best to remove them). Do you have any
> tricks?


Spray the glass with Windex (window cleaner) before applying the Kapton tape. The tape will slide around easily and when you get it close to where you want it, start carefully squeegeeing the fluid out with the edge of a credit card. You can line up successive strips of tape next to each almost perfectly with this method with no gaps and no overlap. It's not difficult but takes just a little patience to get a perfectly covered glass bed.

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