Solved Making the bed sticky - Thoughts?

Hi all. I'm curious about how everyone makes their print bed sticky. On my last little cheapy 3d printer, the bed was plastic and the printer put down a layer to stick to. On this one, the bed is heated glass. I tried using the glue stick and it stick a little bit but figured you needed to refresh it every time.

Next I tried the hairspray method. I put on 2 coats and let it sit for about 5 minutes in between. When I went to print, the print didn't stick after a few layers and I ended up with a glob on the hot end and a disconnected wire. The video that I watched on it said you wouldn't need to reapply very often, but when I felt the bed, it wasn't sticky at all.

What am I doing wrong? Fill a newbie in on how to make it work.

 

Ohhhh. I thought that might be the case but I wasn't 100% sure. I was a little PO'd by then at the pulled wire so I had just given up for the day. Thanks for that tip.

I was printing a flat round xmas ornament and the bed was preheated to 50c.

 

Sorry. Newish and sporting a sinus headache. :/

Printing PLA.

 

Ok. thanks. I'll try upping the bed temp a few degrees. I looked for Aquanet or white rain and couldn't find it yest at walgreens. Once I get my wire situation fixed, I'll try it again and then try those if the one I got doesn't work well enough.

I didn't realize that about the bed heater. That makes sense.

I'm using my initial PLA batch from my first printer. My first print with it on the Robo did well. If I keep having issues with it, I'll swap it out with some fresh PLA.

 

Welcome!

Let's see if we can figure out what's happening and make the frustration go away. On my R1+, I have moved to using hairspray as my default. I'm currently using Aquanet (Unscented), though several brands will work. Make sure you get unscented because especially after it gets hot, some brands will be...fragrant. As Waldo said, it won't actually be sticky to the touch once dried...it's the chemical interaction at temperature that works the magic. One reason I use hair spray instead of glue sticks or tape (which I used to use) is that its much easier to get off the bed once the print is done.

That said, it sounds like the actual problem may be the position of the print head for the initial layer. If Can you describe what happens when it starts the print? Does filament go on the bed but not stick? Does filament come out but not stick to the bed at all? you're finishing with a blob because nothing is sticking, you may need to adjust the Z-Axis closer to the bed to get proper adhesion.

 

Thanks WizarDru. I watched the initial circle and a few inner circles start and they were sticking. I went to do other stuff and when I came back, it was a big glob on the hot end. The pla was coming out fine and steady. Didn't notice any issues there.

When I had first used the R1+, I had a Z axis issue and support got me fixed. I had just finished setting it to the paper level(right term?) where I put a piece of paper under it until it barely moved. I did that on both sides and it looked level.

Here's what I was printing.
http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1929436

 

Nice ornament!

What slicer are you using? I would try using the M565 command to move the print head just a little closer to the bed by 0.10 or 0.20mm and see what happens. Without seeing a pic of the print in process, my guess would be that it's laying the material down, but it's a fraction too high to properly get good adhesion. I would try a 3MM box or calibration print to make sure things are working.

Other possibilities might be temperature issues, though if you've got the bed at 50 and you're printing PLA, that shouldn't be an issue, I'd think. What temperature do you have the hotend set at?

 

Something else to try; PLA actually doen't always need to have the bed heated.
I've done many very nice prints with no heat at all. Just something else to try.

As for hairspray, I just grab whatever the wife or daughters leave out. Some are smellier than others but all have so far worked for me.
I've never needed to try tape or glue. Hairspray has always done the job for me.

 

I am just using the factory defaults right now. It's set at 210. When you say slicer, are you talking about the print program? I'm using mattercontrol.

I printed out the circle that MC has for calibration and it printed ok.

 

Yes, slicer = MC in your case.
I print PLA at 190-195 most of the time.

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