Printing on acrylic

Has anyone tried printing PLA directly on an acrylic surface? I've been doing so for the past few weeks and I gotta say, I'm hooked. The parts can be a bit harder to get off compared to blue tape, but the surface finish and lack of any warp rival what a heated platform can get you. No pictures now, but I can post some later today.

Please do post some pictures. How much more difficult is it to remove than blue painters tape? I find that I not infrequently tear the tape lifting my parts off the bed. Do you need to use a spatula or would a pocketknife still work?

The parts are a bit more difficult to remove than it is from tape, and a metal spatula or paint scraper is often needed. Once you have a bit of leverage under a corner, the whole part will often pop off just like with tape though. And IMHO the rewards are evident:





That's with no heated bed and no consumable tape.

Here's a shot of a MendelMax starting a plate of other MendelMax parts on an acrylic surface:

I have tried printing on blue tape on acrylic and everywhere the head sat it warped the acrylic. Are you having any issues?

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I have an acrylic bed, but it has never been good enough to print directly on. Once I got it level, I discovered that it dipped in the middle. I have subsequently switched to using a sheet of glass, which works well cold with tape.

The few times that I have managed to stick pla to the acrylic, it has become almost impossible to remove, and generally the acrylic has been distorted as well. What settings are you using to make it stick?

Sublime Wrote:
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> I have tried printing on blue tape on acrylic and
> everywhere the head sat it warped the acrylic. Are
> you having any issues?


The hot nozzle will easily melt a hole in the acrylic if you let it sit there forever, so what I did was drill a hole in the plate where the nozzle homes to. This also lets me extrude a bit and instantly start printing since the strand falls through the hole. I haven't found the plate itself to meaningfully warp, and mine is very flat.

I've accidentally printed on my acrlyic and had a horrible time with it. Part of the print actually melted fast to the board and I was forced to sand it back to smooth. Melted my own hole at the home position. Stuck a few other pieces if I was lazy when putting on the blue tape. All around miserable accidental experience. Didnt even think it was possible to print directly to acrylic.

Anxious to see and hear more results!

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Josh

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By acrylic i assume you guys mean plexiglass right? Acrylic is sort of a generic term for lots of different products. I think ill pick up a piece tomorrow and see how it goes.

Quote
Pointedstick
The parts are a bit more difficult to remove than it is from tape, and a metal spatula or paint scraper is often needed. Once you have a bit of leverage under a corner, the whole part will often pop off just like with tape though. And IMHO the rewards are evident:

6873821754_59a0b121ec_z.jpg

6873821898_754407ef37_z.jpg

That's with no heated bed and no consumable tape.

Here's a shot of a MendelMax starting a plate of other MendelMax parts on an acrylic surface:

6873833830_680fae1138_z.jpg

how thick is your sheet? I'm about to get one for a large printer myself, 500mm x 500mm, and I think I go with 3mm thick and attach it to a glass to keep it flat