Cold Bed & PLA: Kapton or Blue Tape

I'm building the mprime one [mprime.io] and for the short term, will not have a heat bed. So I'm curious, for now, on a cold bed, PLA only, what works better for adhesion, blue tape, kapton, or something else like buildtak.

Assume that the machine is perfectly calibrated and the surface is 100% flat.

Thank you and apologies if this has already been asked.

I've used Buildtak on cold beds and it does work and works well. It stopped any sort of warp on the parts, was a little difficult to get off but worked well for holding the part. However, it doesn't last long and is consumable and has to be replaced over time. I know other people have had good luck with blue tape on a cold bed, I've heard others use blue tape and glue or blue tape and hairspray. Not sure if PEI will work cold or not and I don't remember how well kapton tape worked or if I even tried that on a cold bed.

I'm new to 3D printing, but following the advice here and in other forums I'm using blue tape with the bed heater off and PLA is sticking just fine. With the bed heater on, it adheres so well it's actually difficult to remove parts without damaging the tape - not a big problem since blue tape is cheap and easy to replace. I bought Kapton, but I'll only use that if I decide to try my hand at ABS. Again, according to what I've read, PLA doesn't stick at all without additional prep such as glue stick or PVA and water solution..

Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 01/10/2017 09:21AM by Smok1n.

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PDBeal
Not sure if PEI will work cold or not

Thx for the details! I've tried this in the past on another printer. PEI needs the heat to work

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Smok1n
Again, according to what I've read, PLA doesn't stick at all without additional prep such as glue stick or PVA and water solution..

Just so I understand, PLA doesn't stick to Kaptop without a PVA solution on top of the kapton? The problem here is that the PVA solution needs some heat to melt a bit. I've tried glue and hairspray on a cold bed on another printer and it was useless.

Thanks for the replies!

I have used prit stick or similar direct on the aluminium bed in the past, worked very well.

elmers stick glue on glass I never use my bed heater with pla,petg or tpu blue tape will lift or bubble in spots causing warps in print and sticks to bottom of prints

PVA glue stick works great, just started using it.

I also use Elmers glue stick on glass. The room the printer is in, at this time of year, is 9-12 C. I've had no problem with print sticking.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/15/2017 08:28PM by jmrobert48.

Thanks for the suggestions! I'm using an inductive probe and already have sensing distance issues with the alu and blue tape, so as much as I'd prefer it, I don't think the glass is an option at this time. so far in testing, blue tape + hairspray seems to be holding very well. I'm quite surprised. I'm finding the blue tape only bubbles up in cold temps, ie 3c that it is in my extra room that's uninsulated. But inside where it's 24c, the blue tape is very flat with no bubbles.

I'll get glass on soon as I can and give these suggestions a try. thanks everyone!

I am printing on blue tape, with 80 degree C to 75 C, I wipe the tape with isopropyl alchohol (med stuff, alchohol swab). i used to have problems getting stuff to stick on, now im having probs getting them off lmfao. im so happy i can print without worries now. idk how it will work at 20 C, but i think it will work. I heated the bed first and wiped, if it makes a difference.
Printing with pla