MakerGear Forum

Hi all,

Any tips for ABS print settings? I'm simply unable to get the material to stick at the start, and it's all downhill from there. Right now, I have "Koptan" (sub'd for Kapton) tape stuck on the glass. A few small bubbles but I don't think that is the issue.

It's a cupholder that I want to print for my car (which has no cupholder at all...I've looked everywhere and there isn't one!).

Thanks,
Dilip

ABS at 230C, bed at 100C, wipe down with ABS slurry before heating, and make sure you have a slight amount of squish on the plastic as it comes out.

I found brand-new kapton didn't hold anything very well, and suspect its too smooth initially, but after a couple of prints the smoothness is gone and it holds better. Though it always held enough for the print to make progress, just sometimes I had problems with warping and the piece pulling away from the kapton mid-print

If it won't even get the first layer down, then its probably the first layer hight. Try re-adjusting the z-stop to move the nozzle slightly closer. If you are using S3D, decrease the 'first layer height' percentage too (that extrudes more plastic for the first layer)

I've ordered some PEI, along with 3M transfer tape. Will come back here to post results, along with settings and details.

interested to hear your results with the pei.

i never had good luck with abs and just plain kapton. it always needed slurry added to it first. be sure your first layer is going down right. it needs a tiny bit of squish onto the bed to be sure you have 100% contact.

Printed out over 2000 parts in ABS in several colors for many manufacturers.
Some ABS is junk and hard to print with. Filamex blue glow and Makergear black ABS is the best so far.

Bed temp? seen no difference between 100 and 110.

Extruder temp 240 to 245 for the v3b.

1st layer speed at 50% to 60%
1st layer thickness at 140 to 150%

Infill at 20 to 25%, more than that and shrink issues distort the model/print.

Make sure the skirt, or brim get 2 layers to get the flow going good.
Above pic shows almost perfect glass-like adhesion

Adhesion agent? Aquanet Unscented in the spray can over glass. Deal with this is, put some on, then
put some more on. I'll get 20 to 30 builds before cleaning the glass. I just dust the surface after
each print and lightly knock the high spots of with a 3" razor scraper.

Room must be warm, free from drafts, or build an enclosure out of cardboard boxes.

Bed must be absolutely level, seen a .003 low hurt adhesion, This gets more important
the larger the size, or how much of the build bed you're using. I use close to 10" printing
out 2 rings at a time. If you're just using the center, a bed slightly not leveled perfectly
doesn't seem to bother the prints from sticking.

ABS is a good reasonably priced filament to print with, but it does present challenges if
compared to PLA or PET+.

I've had the best luck using glue stick on bare glass. I can not get the parts off until the glass cools when doing this, no matter how hard I pull on them. I clean the glue off after every print using a glass scraper and then wipe of remaining film with water on a paper towel. Clean up is easier than hair spray and the parts also stick better than with hair spray. You have to let the platform cool to the point where you can touch it before applying the glue though, otherwise it will evaporate too quickly and not spread thinly enough when applying it.

I've used kapton tape one time and didn't like the hassle. Applying it is a pain and you can't scrape it clean so I really don't see the advantage to using tape of any kind over just working on the bare glass.

I tried BuildTak sheets but it is very difficult to get the Z-stop set exactly to the right height when using that. If the nozzle is too far away the parts won't stick, too close and you'll never get the part off the mat. The working height is very narrow and hard to dial in, and usually what happens is you can't get the part off. If they would just dial back the texture on those sheets it might work better. Seems like a good concept, just needs more work.

I use bed temp 90 and extruder 245 for ABS.