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Printing on acrylic sheets

Discussion in 'Mods and Upgrades' started by Malek, May 19, 2017.

  1. Malek

    Malek Member

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    I'm quite curious... why aren't more people printing on acrylic? In fact, why aren't all people printing on acrylic sheets? A couple weeks ago I gave it a try (after I tried poly-carbonate sheets for a few days), and I gotta say, I never looked back! I haven't had a single warp, even on a cold bed. Of course I sanded the sheets first, because the first time I printed on acrylic on a smooth surface, the printed part and acrylic sheet became one, and I had to throw them both out. Are there drawbacks that I'm not aware of? Any particular reason someone may have tried them and went back to their old ways? I've tried BuildTak, and acrylic sheets are way better in my opinion.
     
  2. Kilrah

    Kilrah Well-Known Member

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    That's something I wanted to try. I need to order some acrylic for a project soon and I'll have some leftover so I'll probably CNC a bed out of it to try on my M3D Micro.
     
  3. Malek

    Malek Member

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    Go for it. The most important factors for me were to ensure it is well sanded (I used 80 grit but next time I'm going to try 60), and ensure the bed is no less than 0.2" thick to fight bed warpage. Also, I don't flatten the first layer on the bed like I normally do on other beds. The filament barely has to touch the plate and it sticks so well.
     
    #3 Malek, May 20, 2017
    Last edited: May 20, 2017
  4. KTMDirtFace

    KTMDirtFace Well-Known Member

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    Been printing latley on Lexan from home depot sanded with 100 grit. works great.

    Dunno about acrilic or what the differences are... seems I read a post somewhere here where acrilic didn't work that great or had some negative downfall .. But I dont know and cant remember now lol
     
  5. Malek

    Malek Member

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    Yeah, I started printing on Lexan Polycarbonate sheets, but it's significantly more expensive than acrylic (at least here in Canada). So I thought I'd try a small sheet of acrylic. It was identical to Lexan, so I made the switch only because it was way cheaper.
     
  6. KTMDirtFace

    KTMDirtFace Well-Known Member

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    I think it was like $10 US for a 24x11 or something sheet of lexan at home depot for me. Then I cut it down.

    That cool that acrilic works too
     
  7. Malek

    Malek Member

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    I paid $46.28 CAD (+ 13% tax) for 18x24 ($38 USD) at Home Depot. I checked online (within Canada) and it was no better. But hey, still way cheaper than those ridiculously overpriced solutions like BuildTak and that other one whose name I can't remember.
    And this price was for 0.093", which is too thin for me. I found that I had to keep recalibrating the mesh bed leveling because it kept warping and changing shape. So I glued 2 pieces together to double the thickness and it works like a charm! Next time I'll just buy the thicker acrylic of course.
     
  8. KTMDirtFace

    KTMDirtFace Well-Known Member

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    Im using Jims IR sensor thingy now on my lexan.. working great.

    Waldo and Geof are going to grill me for not using Mesh Still.
     
  9. WheresWaldo

    WheresWaldo Volunteer ( ͠° ͟ʖ ͡°)
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    Yep, sure enough
    fuuka___finger_wag_vector___click_on_by_dmn666-d4p6gfk[1].gif
     
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  10. Geof

    Geof Volunteer Moderator
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    Sorry buddy....you can stop this. Just saying...you can stop the hate :D
    lol
     
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