Printing Bed

I am thinking of buying a Robo 3D printer, but a have a few questions regarding the printing bed. Does it require kapton tape on the bed or can i just print directly onto the bed?

 

the reason why people were using kapton tape was because they were printing directly onto the heated pad, so they put the kapton tape there to help protect the heat pad and double as a build surface.

if your using a glass build surface or aluminum plate on top of the heat bed then kapton isn't needed. If your printing directly onto the heat pad, which i dont recommend, then you'll need that kapton at the least.

robo does not come with anything to place on top of the heat bed, so its really up to you how you decide to do this. boro glass, or aluminum would be my choice.

kapton tape didn't do anything for me, i found that using abs mix with acetone was the best solution for getting prints to stick to the bed.

 

Noob question. I'm assuming that even if the heat plate is 8x8 I can put down a 10x10 piece of glass and still print 10x10 with the Robo3d. Is this correct? (assuming I give it enough time for the glass to heat up evenly).

 

Glass isn't that great of a conductor of heat, so I don't think the edges will get that warm, specially 2'' from the edge of the heat bed. The RoBo ABS version comes with a 10x10 heat bed though.

 

Perfect. For some reason I thought the heat bed was 8x8.

Thanks!

 

The store says it's 8.4x8.4, but I think that's old information as they where getting custom boards made and they should be 10x10 now. Judging by the picture they posted before of everything in the kit laid out and the heater board being the same width of the build platform which is 10x15 I'd say it is 10x10 now.

 

seshan is right glass is more of an insulator than conductor, but i've had good results printing with boro glass. Even better with 1/8" aluminum plate underneath the boro to even out the temperatures. This combo makes for a great build surface, so long as the aluminum is flat.

 

i order my glass from mcmaster carr, you can also get the aluminum there too or go to onlinemetals.com for the aluminum.

 

i posted a link in the other thread about boro glass, you don't really need the aluminum it just helps even out the print bed temperature. mcmaster carr part number 8476K21 for the boro,
i bought a 10x10 piece from them hopefully it fits the robo.

 

You wouldn't be heating the bed that high, about 70c to about 120c depending on what plastic you are printing

 

harry, your confusing hotend temps for heat bed temps. seshan is right.

 

just use binder clips, i just print with abs juice directly on the glass