Hi,

I know that most reprapers use 3M Blue tape to make PLA sticking to their printer bed but this reference is hard to find in Europe. I tried others kind like the Tesa blue tape but it required some acetone to fit which I think as a potential health hazard.
Last week I found a new tape reference from Storch, N°4933 which is a purple tape for special application. It's really thin and stick to glass bed only enough (it doesn't leave any traces when removed). My PLA (from reprapworld) sticks on it like if it was glued but the parts detach well when finished by putting some flexion torque on it.

I don't know if it is widely available since it is mostly distributed in specialized shop. I can't find any reference on the internet but on the maker website (link is in french but the maker is german) : http://fr.storch.de/pdf/Katalog_F.pdf

Anyone heard of it before ?

I have had great luck with Tesa's blue tape, and without acetone. My current run I got from amazon (though it appears no longer available):

[www.amazon.de]

Oddly enough I can't find any four digit number on it specifying which tape it is.

The UPC is 4-042448-856487, roll is 25mx30mm (though I would buy a fatter roll next time). The front also has a number 05259-00001, perhaps it is 5259??

If I recall correctly, it is available in most Baumarkten, but Tesa also has a light blue outdoor tape, which feels much much smoother -- I can imagine having difficulty getting prints to stick to it because it is so smooth. My tape has a papery texture to the top.

I think the one I bought is the light blue for exterior painting and indeed, it has a smooth surface with some oily finish to it which I need to remove with acetone to get to the papery surface.
Maybe I will give a try to your reference, if I find it.

Thanks for the input.

EDIT :

On Tesa's website, I found those references :

- 56731 : a dark blue tape for precise masking (für Lacke) which seems to be similar to my purple tape ?
- 56251 : the light blue tape I tried without succes

They do also have a series of professionnal reference called "Blue Masking Tape" (4308, 4309,...) oriented toward car painting like 3M reference.

It would be interresting to complete the Wiki page with all working tape with all the parameters (kind of PLA, average temperature of extrusion with reference hot end, size of first layer, ...) in order to get something reproductible and help beginners.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/30/2013 03:00AM by bravach.