Using FR4 (Single Sided Etchboard) as a build bed

I recently got a new roll of translucent red PLA (manufactured by a chinese company), and I've really struggled to get it to stick to my glass bed. I usually don't have much of a problem with PLA, and I've used similar translucent filaments in the past, but something in this filament was just different.

I mentioned this to a friend who also has a printer, and he suggested I try printing on FR4.

FR4 is essentially the fibreglass used for home etched circuit board. It's dead cheap, a 200mm X 200mm piece of Single Sided board cost me 1.89 Euro. I tried it, and it works like an absolute bomb!
The PLA sticks to it like a teenager to facebook, and it seems to conduct the heat from the bed very nicely as well, presumably because of the copper layer touching the heated bed.
It's also slightly flexible, so getting the print off was a matter of flexing it slightly, and it just clicked off.

The only important thing to note is that since you put it with the copper layer facing down, the copper could potentially touch the pins on the side of the bed, causing a short and damaging the electronics, so to avoid this I stuck some insulation tape over the pins. A better plan might be to cut away a part of the FR4, similar to how the aluminium bed is cut away.

Not sure if anyone else has tried this, I haven't seen it mentioned on the forum before?

FR$ especially this one made for PCB may be not straight but bend. That is a big problem. Some 3D printers used this before they used glass. It was a big disadvantage. However. I recently bought a straight plate for much money (at the picture it looked more like a mixture with carbon) but I do not get PLA to stick on it in any way.
You also say that you can slightly bend it so how you make sure that the plate is straight especially in the middle and not curved? I am making PCB and if I buy FR4 with 160x100 it is often curved.
Probably this is not mentioned here because it is not really practicable.

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Slicer: Simplify3D 4.0; sometimes CraftWare 1.14 or Cura 2.7
Delta with Duet-WiFi, FW: 1.20.1RC2; mini-sensor board by dc42 for auto-leveling
Ormerod common modifications: Mini-sensor board by dc42, aluminum X-arm, 0.4 mm nozzle E3D like, 2nd fan, Z stepper nut M5 x 15, Herringbone gears, Z-axis bearing at top, spring loaded extruder with pneumatic fitting, Y belt axis tensioner
Ormerod 2: FW: 1.19-dc42 on Duet-WiFi. own build, modifications: GT2-belts, silicone heat-bed, different motors and so on. Printed parts: bed support, (PSU holder) and Y-feet.
Ormerod 1: FW: 1.15c-dc42 on 1k Duet-Board. Modifications: Aluminium bed-support, (nearly) all parts reprinted in PLA/ ABS, and so on.

Hmm, I've just checked it using a carpenter's square, and at least to the naked eye it looks just as flat as the glass plate I normally use.
Around 6 months ago I changed my bed leveling setup to use spring loaded leveling screws, and using a machinist dial test indicator I level my bed so that the difference between the 4 corners is around 100 micron (0.1 mm) between the highest and lowest points, with most of the bed averaging around 80-110 micron (I can't get it any better than that - that seems to be the accuracy of the heated bed, standard aluminium spreader and standard X-arms and bed support that my Ormerod shipped with). I doubt the FR4 I have is any less straight than this. Since most people don't have/use a dial test indicator, and use the "sheet of paper" method to level their beds, I'd be very surprised if most of the Ormerods beds out in the world are so level that a reasonably flat piece of FR4 will be that much worse. Nonetheless, I will test it with my dial test indicator later today or in the week the verify.

I've just finished the second print on it, so far it seems to be working beautifully for me, but will do some more prints to continue testing.

Copper-clad FR4 will warp depending on temperature, because the copper and epoxy glass expand at different rates. I see this very clearly when reflow-soldering printed circuit boards. You won't be subjecting your board to such high temperatures, nevertheless I would be surprised if you don't see significant warping at typical bed temperatures for printing PLA and ABS.

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Large delta printer [miscsolutions.wordpress.com], E3D tool changer, Robotdigg SCARA printer, Crane Quad and Ormerod

Disclosure: I design Duet electronics and work on RepRapFirmware, [duet3d.com].

I'll check the warping with my DTI sometime in the week.

If I find it severe, I'll probably remove the copper with etching with ferric chloride, see if that makes a difference.

I read somewhere 18 months ago that FR$ is the worst surface for a bed level. I never had a self soldered PCB that was really straight.

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Slicer: Simplify3D 4.0; sometimes CraftWare 1.14 or Cura 2.7
Delta with Duet-WiFi, FW: 1.20.1RC2; mini-sensor board by dc42 for auto-leveling
Ormerod common modifications: Mini-sensor board by dc42, aluminum X-arm, 0.4 mm nozzle E3D like, 2nd fan, Z stepper nut M5 x 15, Herringbone gears, Z-axis bearing at top, spring loaded extruder with pneumatic fitting, Y belt axis tensioner
Ormerod 2: FW: 1.19-dc42 on Duet-WiFi. own build, modifications: GT2-belts, silicone heat-bed, different motors and so on. Printed parts: bed support, (PSU holder) and Y-feet.
Ormerod 1: FW: 1.15c-dc42 on 1k Duet-Board. Modifications: Aluminium bed-support, (nearly) all parts reprinted in PLA/ ABS, and so on.

You can pick up FR4 sheet without any copper cladding on eBay. But I'm with Treito, I doubt it will be flat enough. There is a reason why most repraps use glass beds.

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Large delta printer [miscsolutions.wordpress.com], E3D tool changer, Robotdigg SCARA printer, Crane Quad and Ormerod

Disclosure: I design Duet electronics and work on RepRapFirmware, [duet3d.com].

Quote
dc42
You can pick up FR4 sheet without any copper cladding on eBay. But I'm with Treito, I doubt it will be flat enough. There is a reason why most repraps use glass beds.

As I said before I bought one for too much money as the photo was totally different and at the customs I got big brown eyes as I saw that this was an
normal FR4 plate only without any copper. (dc42 may know form where I bought it). I was astonished how flat it is but it does not really stick and its too wobbly and it is also slightly twisted. you can only flatten this tile using clamps and what about the center? I could not get any filament sticking well on it. For small parts it works but for large parts like my xarm or my bed support it fails. (Am I allowed to say it s*cks?)

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Slicer: Simplify3D 4.0; sometimes CraftWare 1.14 or Cura 2.7
Delta with Duet-WiFi, FW: 1.20.1RC2; mini-sensor board by dc42 for auto-leveling
Ormerod common modifications: Mini-sensor board by dc42, aluminum X-arm, 0.4 mm nozzle E3D like, 2nd fan, Z stepper nut M5 x 15, Herringbone gears, Z-axis bearing at top, spring loaded extruder with pneumatic fitting, Y belt axis tensioner
Ormerod 2: FW: 1.19-dc42 on Duet-WiFi. own build, modifications: GT2-belts, silicone heat-bed, different motors and so on. Printed parts: bed support, (PSU holder) and Y-feet.
Ormerod 1: FW: 1.15c-dc42 on 1k Duet-Board. Modifications: Aluminium bed-support, (nearly) all parts reprinted in PLA/ ABS, and so on.