MakerGear Forum

Happy Accident Happened!

I tripped over the perfect tool for prying up prints when I grabbed the wrong tool from the pile and got to work.

It's a plastic scoring tool by Hyde - very inexpensive, and it has a strong honed edge. I'll attach the link below.

Newbies, you use this at one tiny corner to gently pry up the very edge, just to break the seal, and then you insert a thin dull spatula underneath it to gently work the print up after you have broken the seal. It's got a sharp enough edge that you can get it underneath the print pretty easily, and it's not as fragile as a knife or razor blade, and won't bend.

But the plate surface needs to be fairly stable and firm, so PEI (the heavy kind, 0.03inch), MIC6, or glass if you are careful, would be good surfaces to try it on. (It's not gonna work on tape or films of any kind....you'll gouge it. And I wouldn't use it on a Zebra either.)

https://www.amazon.com/Hyde-Tools-45730 ... 000C027ZE/
Probably cheaper at the hardware store if you can remember to pick one up next trip.

I use a pallet knife that I picked up for a couple bucks at a local hobby shop.
Its not sharp at all, so I don't feel like it could scratch my PEI bed.
I'm too impatient and would probably scratch up the bed using that knife.

-Tom

I prefer using a simple razor blade. But then I like living on the bleeding edge. . . literally.

Tim wrote:I prefer using a simple razor blade. But then I like living on the bleeding edge. . . literally.

Yeah, (klutz that I be), that's the reason for the plastic cutting tool......it's marginally safer!

Good idea.

I use a regular paint scraper, but I sharpened the top surface only to make it a bit thinner. Works great and doesn't damage the build surface.

cheers,
c

I have some gloves similar to these that I use when wielding sharp tools around printed parts. Got tired of bleeding.
https://www.amazon.com/Apollo-Performan ... B00WF9UI4C

My go-to tool for removing parts from plates, whether kapton or PEI, is long wood chisel. Keep the flat face against the plate and tap the chisel with a wood mallet. The parts usually pop right off with no drama.

zemlin wrote:I have some gloves similar to these that I use when wielding sharp tools around printed parts. Got tired of bleeding.
https://www.amazon.com/Apollo-Performan ... B00WF9UI4C

My go-to tool for removing parts from plates, whether kapton or PEI, is long wood chisel. Keep the flat face against the plate and tap the chisel with a wood mallet. The parts usually pop right off with no drama.

This is truth. It's all I use anymore.

On flimsy parts I'll lift a corner with the chisel - then use the cake-icing knife to peel the rest of the part off the plate.

I have the "Michaels" Cake spatula. I mostly use it to clean blobs off the extruder and scrape remnants off the build plate.

I bought this from Amazon: ToyBuilder Labs - 3D Print Removal Tool

https://www.amazon.com/ToyBuilder-Labs- ... nter++tool

Did it on a whim, but I love it. It is NOT a kitchen tool in a package labeled for the 3D Printer crowd. The blade on this tool is at least half the thickness of the kitchen version. Most of the time, it will easily slide between the printed object and the bed plate. I am exclusively printing on a Zebra plate, so sometimes, the printed object is stuck so well to the plate it takes some effort to get my "Print Removal Tool" between it and the plate, but so far, the tool gets mangled, not the Zebra plate. I did nick it up once, so a pair of pliers straighted it out, and I took a couple swipes with it against a knife sharpening stone and works like before. Most importantly, its CHEAP.

http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:34481

As long as folks are just posting up removal tools they like, I have used this razor holder for several years. It works great on small stuff and for the tough stuff I use it to get under a corner, then a paint scraper can be shoved under the razor to finish the job. I have a glass bed, so this may not work for some with a more delicate print surface.