Best bed surface?

I am a chemist and tried hairspray and glue stick with disappointing results. I then dissolved some of the same PLA that I use for printing in "Weld-On 4" acrylic cement, and applied this solution to the clean glass plate. This creates a very thin layer of the exact same material that you are printing.
http://www.amazon.com/Weld-On-Acrylic-Adhesive-Applicator-Bottle/dp/B0096TWKCW/
Weld-on 4 is 70% dichloromethane, 24% trichloroethylene, and 1% methylmethacrylate monomer. I dissolve about 50 cm filament (1'6") in 30ml (1oz) of Weldon-on 4 creating about a 3% solution of PLA. I then apply it to the glass plate with a small camel-hair paint brush (no synthetic, it dissolves). It forms a smooth opaque surface to which the molten PLA attaches perfectly. Once the print is cooled, the object detaches easily, and the bottom surface is shiny as glass.

 

Thanks, something new to try. Is this equivalent? It's cheaper and has free amazon prime shipping.
http://www.amazon.com/SCIGRIP-10799-Acrylic-Solvent-Water-thin/dp/B00466V8F0

How do you clean it from the bed? More Weld-on? Does the Weld-on leave any residue besides the PLA? I'm thinking of the methylmethacrylate. How often do you need to reapply? I'm no chemist but should this be used in a well ventilated room?

What were your disappointing results with hairspray? It's main drawbacks are difficulty of part removal if you put on a thick layer. The nice thing is that water helps it release and cleans it up nicely. If you have Aquanet available or a formulation with Acrylates Copolymer it works pretty well and can make a glass smooth bottom surface. See: http://forums.robo3dprinter.com/index.php?threads/hairspray-survey.1532/. Spray on a cold bed, heat to 60C for a moment to dry, print at 50 or PLA, 110C for ABS. If the print does not pop off when cold dribble some water around the edges to dissolve it.

 

Yes, SCIGRIP 3 as the same product, also made by Weld-On. The film of dissolved PLA comes completely off with the printed model. I clean the surface with Weld-On 3 which dissolves the residual PLA film and leaves no traces if you wipe it with a tissue, the methylmetacrylate does not have time to polymerize. You need to re-apply the solution before every print. Yes, a well ventilated room is necessary and skin contact with the solvents has to be avoided. But in general, they are not very toxic. DCM is in broad use in metal degreasing, and trichloroethylene is the dry cleaning fluid.

The problem with the hairspray is that it bonds unevenly with the PLA, sometimes it comes off with it, and sometimes it does not, leaving a less than perfect surface. Also, I would be concerned about the spraying mist to interfere with the long term mechanical integrity of the robot.

 

Funny that it is the same product with two names different prices and one with free shipping. In the semiconductor industry our marketing guys used to do that with microprocessors all the time. I thought the container graphics looks suspiciously similar.

To prevent overspray I use one half a shirt box with a rectangle cut out in the shape of the bed. The 2 1/2" sides of the box catch the overspray. You can even tape on an extra piece of cardboard near the X carriage side for good measure. I have been using the same shirt box since last November and I don't see any residue higher than 1/4" (edit - probably close to 1/2") up the sides of the box.

 

MEK does not dissolve PLA, DCM and TCE and chloroform do. All ingredients of Weld-On 4 evaporate rapidly within a minute on a glass plate, what remains is a thin film of PLA. Their boiling points are: DCM 40 C (103 F), TCE 87 C (189 F), methyl methacrylate 102 C (214 F).

 

Thanks!

 

I use hairspray.


Using the hairspray in a heated bed, after a while reapplying hairspray for extra stickiness, it builds a extra layered film that I think affects the print possibly creating artifacts. Cleaning the hairspray off is easy with water and a paper cloth. Applying the first layer of hairspray it's so thin, you can't see it and the bottom of the print comes out really shiny like yours does using the weld.

I am concerned I guess with the word weld. Is it permanent if I get lazy and not take it off the bed for a while?

I had a problem with my bed no longer hearing and I found that by leaving a thicker later of hairspray on the bed, I've avoided warping issues. The thin layer was not enough to avoid warping. I now just reapply extra spray when needed. I eventually clean it and start again. I can't wait for my replacement parts to come in so that I canto ur with a heated bed.

This is why I ask if the weld left in over a long time can it be permanent? After all it's called weld!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk in Canada

 

They call it weld-on because it's a chemical bond between the plastic. It won't weld to anything non-plastic, so for cleaning it off class you'd just use a razor blade like removing abs slurry.

I've been curious if weld-on will dissolve PLA. Time to try some PLA slurry!


@tesseract I don't believe Weld-on 4 vapor will vapor polish well. @Soupaboy tried it and it just made his parts surface crack apart.

I typically apply it with a brush, but a cold vapor might work better than a hot vapor.