Borosilicate glass vs normal mirror glass

Hi,

I was just discussing different glass beds when the question came up if there is actually a difference in adhesion between borosilicate glass compared to normal mirror glass.

I never got my simple mirror to stick well to pla without hairspray, but Ive seen other people use clean borosilicate without anything on it, so Im wondering if the different glass actually makes the difference in adhesion?

Cheers

I print PLA directly on to clean ordinary float glass. Wiping the surface with vinegar before each print helps.

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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 tried printing PLA directly to glass from a cheesecake pan. Didn't stick at all, but I wasn't using a heated bed. Using Elmers Purple glue stick and a proper (?) bed height, everything sticks great.

I think the big difference between the mirror and the borosilacite plate glass is the heat distribution of the glass. The mirror has a better chance of cracking during the heat-up and cooldown of a heated bed, depending on the design of the bed.

Yes I have tried all household things incl kapton and spray glue. I had abandoned heated glass early on and only now question that decision.

Besides the cracking chance, I wonder if the investment in pyrex or borosilicate is worth it if the adhesion performance is the same.

I use the glass from an 8 x 10 picture frame with a little glue stick and or ABS jucie PLA sticks amazing. The glass is only like 3mm so I have to be careful removing my prints but this glass is the best print surface I have used to date. I have not ventured to print ABS on it as I do not image it would handle the 100+ degree heat very well.

No more wasting money on tapes. Best part is I got 2 for $2.99 at the local thrift shop.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 04/08/2016 01:09PM by jnsbanman.

I use borosilicate glass I got from Amazon for $10. I use hairspray and in 6 months, I've never had a print come loose. I never use brims either. I think the borosilicate glass is also tempered, which means IF you break it, it will break into little pieces like side window glass in cars and it won't cut you.

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Folger Tech 2020 i3 and FT-5 as well as modified JGAurora A5 with direct drive E3D/Titan. All running the BLTOUCH.
Great kits. Having fun and running the heck out of them.
Running Marlin 1.1.0 RC8 on the i3 and FT5. Custom firmware on A5.
Folger Tech Wiki board >[folgertech.wikia.com]

i printed most prints now on a mirror which worked surpringly well. however if I think about all post that I read about bed adhesion the variance it really high. have you experience with normal glass for a comparison?

Quote
sungod3k
i printed most prints now on a mirror which worked surpringly well. however if I think about all post that I read about bed adhesion the variance it really high. have you experience with normal glass for a comparison?

No, I read every post in this thread and made up my mind to go straight to the boro and haven't regretted it. It works so why change?

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Folger Tech 2020 i3 and FT-5 as well as modified JGAurora A5 with direct drive E3D/Titan. All running the BLTOUCH.
Great kits. Having fun and running the heck out of them.
Running Marlin 1.1.0 RC8 on the i3 and FT5. Custom firmware on A5.
Folger Tech Wiki board >[folgertech.wikia.com]

Here another person that is printing on boro and I like it a lot. A use always 3Dlac ( kind of hair spray but the special for 3D printing )
It sticks extremely well. For ABS, first layer I set the bed to 110c and then 105, when the bed cools down, lower then 25, almost always the object pops of.
I tried sometimes to remove it early with no success.

There is a big drawback with every glass and that is that it is an isolator, so when you heater is 110c , the top of the glass still can be 70 or 80 degrees.
I wait now 5 min before I start printing. I don't like that, so I am installing an IR temperature sensor on my X carrier so that I can measure the top temperature.
It makes the starting temperature much more accurate.

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P3steel DXL, with Due/RADDS/Raps128 dual Wade's extruder