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BuildTak bed printing surface

Discussion in 'Mods and Upgrades' started by wthierry, May 18, 2015.

  1. wthierry

    wthierry Active Member

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    I went to the maker faire in San Francisco this weekend... I saw this company selling an adhesive surface called build tak.. They claim printing pla with no heat, and ABS with heat will work with hundreds of prints... Anyone tried it out? I am running a print now with ABS. I bought a sheet for about 12 bucks... Thought it would be worth a try.... wes
     
  2. wthierry

    wthierry Active Member

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    I am halfway through a large print that typically warps with ABS.... If I can get the print off the bed, I think we have a winner surface!
     
  3. Jacobvs

    Jacobvs New Member

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    I installed it on my printer a while back. It is a lifesaver on large prints with or without a heated bed. I don't have issues with sticking or warping, just with getting the print off the build surface :)
    Two things to make note of, one is to run your autolevel command in your gcode before you heat the extruder, so the hot nozzle doesn't wear down the surface. The other tip is when you first install it, set your z offset very high, and print calibration cubes, lowering the offset incrementally. DO NOT SQUISH YOU FIRST LAYER. You will never be able to get the print off the platform :) (a good problem to have). I ruined my first sheet by doing this. One of the things I like about BuildTak is the surface finish. It has like a matte, almost textured look that is a lot more classy and professional than kapton tape, blue tape, or any other surface.
    Overall I highly recommend BuildTak, as it works very well for almost any type of filament from flexible, to wood, to t-glase, to nylon, etc. It has a nice surface finish on prints, and is durable. You can buy sheets of it on Amazon, already pre-cut to size.
     
    Thehead and KTMDirtFace like this.
  4. Nick C.

    Nick C. Member

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    Hey how do I set the gcode to probe first then heat. Just had to throw out a brand new sheet of buildtak and you know it's not cheap


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
     
  5. WheresWaldo

    WheresWaldo Volunteer ( ͠° ͟ʖ ͡°)
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    Code:
    G28
    G29
    Before any code to heat bed or hotend.
     
  6. Jacobvs

    Jacobvs New Member

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    That is my starting gcode and it works well for me
     
  7. Phenom3030

    Phenom3030 Member

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    For ABS I have my bed temp set to 80*. With Buildtak do you keep the same temp you use or does it allow or recommend decreased bed temps?
     
  8. spankurmonkey

    spankurmonkey Member

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    I am very new to 3D printing and have used Build Tak on another printer of mine. I really like the texture it gives to the print and yes very hard to remove. Would someone be able to do a DIY Build Tak installation and set up video for the Robo 3D R1 Plus?
     
  9. Geof

    Geof Volunteer Moderator
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    its my understanding that you buy the build tac to the size of the bed...and stick it on :D.
     
  10. spankurmonkey

    spankurmonkey Member

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    Yeah, I've used it before but on a printer where you manually level the bed. On the Robo 3d I am not sure what needs to be done to use it with a self leveling bed... I would think there needs to be a height adjustment as mentioned by Jacobvs. I was just hoping someone has done this and can explain it more in detail or do a quick video... would think that would be helpful to alot of users of the Robo who want to use Build Tak.
     
  11. Geof

    Geof Volunteer Moderator
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    So bed is zero, so if you probe the bed with the buildtak then that is now zero. Yes you may need to adjust your z offset (m565 in your start up script) to get a perfect first layer for the buildtak as it wont need to be as squished or likely wont come off. The only other adjustment would be to run autolevel cold then preheat which is also in your start up script. If you want to try it we can give you a hand, but do not probe hot even once, it will melt that buildtak
     
    mark tomlinson likes this.

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