Hi,
I am having a relatively new problem. I am using Simplify3D. At the beginning of my print I print a skirt using the standard settings in Simplify3D. Lately the very initial 1-2 cm of the extruded plastic fails to stick to the bed. It instead gets dragged by the extruder whereas the remainder of the skirt does adhere. This causes the lose plastic to folder over and into the area where the print will begin after the skirt is completed. I don't think the issue is with the bed level or the gap between the bed and the extruder because the rest of the first layer does stick properly. It is only the first 1-2 cm of the skirt. But then again I did not have this problem until recently.
I am printing PLA at 210 C with the bed temperature at 70C. I am not using anything on the glass bed.
Very initial feed is not sticking
Re: Very initial feed is not sticking
Bare glass sticks well at first, but easily picks up contaminants that decrease its sticking power. Put down a layer of glue stick or hair spray and it will stick well no matter its cleanliness. If you don't want to bother with such flim flammery, you can clean the bed with dishwashing detergent until it is squeaky clean again, and handle it carefully by its edges. But I recommend trying glue stick.
Re: Very initial feed is not sticking
Thank you. Washing the glass plate with dishwashing detergent vastly improved the ability of the filament to stick to the plate again. I had been wiping down the glass using isopropyl alcohol but it appears that is not sufficient to really clean the surface?jsc wrote:Bare glass sticks well at first, but easily picks up contaminants that decrease its sticking power. Put down a layer of glue stick or hair spray and it will stick well no matter its cleanliness. If you don't want to bother with such flim flammery, you can clean the bed with dishwashing detergent until it is squeaky clean again, and handle it carefully by its edges. But I recommend trying glue stick.
I've read through the forums and seen the advice to use hairspray, glue, buildtak, pei sheets et cetera but I am trying very hard to learn how to use just the heated glass plate. I really like the smooth, shiny surface you get using the glass. I've also seen Makergear demo their printer at tech expos and I've never seen them using anything but the glass plate.... so I figure with enough practice I will figure it out
.I really appreciate this forum... Makergear has a great community around it. They sell an amazing printer but its the community here that makes it work.
Re: Very initial feed is not sticking
You're doing it the hard way.
The thing with using a bare glass plate.....you have to have the gap between the nozzle and the glass set perfectly. And the folks doing the demos are experts. It's actually harder to print on bare glass, and if you are just getting started, give yourself a break and use some hairspray or something. Once you figure out what you are doing, you can go back to bare glass if you like. (You can always just wash the plate off later.)
The oils on your hands will keep a print from sticking to the plate, so you need to use Dawn (or other de-greasing dishwashing detergent) after every print if you keep printing on bare glass. A little hairspray is much easier, it does not need to be washed off afterwards, and your print will be just as smooth on the bottom as printing on bare glass.
The thing with using a bare glass plate.....you have to have the gap between the nozzle and the glass set perfectly. And the folks doing the demos are experts. It's actually harder to print on bare glass, and if you are just getting started, give yourself a break and use some hairspray or something. Once you figure out what you are doing, you can go back to bare glass if you like. (You can always just wash the plate off later.)
The oils on your hands will keep a print from sticking to the plate, so you need to use Dawn (or other de-greasing dishwashing detergent) after every print if you keep printing on bare glass. A little hairspray is much easier, it does not need to be washed off afterwards, and your print will be just as smooth on the bottom as printing on bare glass.
Re: Very initial feed is not sticking
Generally I have gotten very good results with bare glass but - yes as you pointed out - I've had to learn how to really calibrate the gap (which I am still learning). I've also had to periodically clean the glass using alcohol or acetone to remove any traces of dust or oils from touching the plate. This time I discovered that sometimes I will have to go as far as using a de-greasing detergent every once and a while too.Jules wrote:You're doing it the hard way.
The thing with using a bare glass plate.....you have to have the gap between the nozzle and the glass set perfectly. And the folks doing the demos are experts. It's actually harder to print on bare glass, and if you are just getting started, give yourself a break and use some hairspray or something. Once you figure out what you are doing, you can go back to bare glass if you like. (You can always just wash the plate off later.)
The oils on your hands will keep a print from sticking to the plate, so you need to use Dawn (or other de-greasing dishwashing detergent) after every print if you keep printing on bare glass. A little hairspray is much easier, it does not need to be washed off afterwards, and your print will be just as smooth on the bottom as printing on bare glass.
That said I will try the hairspray. I was under the impression one had to spray a bunch on the plate which would make the bottom of the prints less smooth. I didn't realize that I just needed a bit. I've read that aquanet hairspray is highly recommended. Do you agree? Do I just spray a fast puff of the hairspray onto the glass and then put it back on the printer?
Re: Very initial feed is not sticking
if your using glass then a thin film of aquanet is fine. aquanet isnt a high building hairspray. its mostly solvents so it leaves very little behind. i wouldn't say a quick puff. you dont need to puddle it on. just do it like your doing a light coat of spray paint. a few semi quick passes. you wont lose the glossy bottom surface. sometimes the hairspray will stay on the print rather than the glass but if it does just wash your part off in water to remove it. in the end your going to need to learn adhesives.....unless you just plan to print pla the rest of your life. you will find that pla isnt useful for much of anything that has any kind of function so eventually you will move on to other materials and they will all require adhesives.
Re: Very initial feed is not sticking
Yeah that's a bit confusing - the only time you really have to puddle it on, is if you are experiencing print warp. (Meaning not enough hairspray.)
Hairspray melts when it gets hot and distributes itself somewhat across the plate. It's not going to affect the flatness of the bottom of the print. (At all.) When I was using (that sounds bad doesn't it?
), I used to really puddle it on, then smear it around with a light touch, to make sure it was all the way out to the edges. Everything came out flat as a pancake.
Anyway, just experiment a little. Like jim said....some of the filaments do require adhesive, so eventually, you'll have to use something.
Hairspray melts when it gets hot and distributes itself somewhat across the plate. It's not going to affect the flatness of the bottom of the print. (At all.) When I was using (that sounds bad doesn't it?
), I used to really puddle it on, then smear it around with a light touch, to make sure it was all the way out to the edges. Everything came out flat as a pancake.Anyway, just experiment a little. Like jim said....some of the filaments do require adhesive, so eventually, you'll have to use something.
Re: Very initial feed is not sticking
You guys know your stuff. I tried last night spraying Garnier Fructus hairspray all over the glass plate. I then printed a rather large rectangular box that was giving me warping issues (the corners would warp off the plate). The thing printed perfectly flat... not a single fraction of a millimeter off the plate. I was amazed -- and just like you said the bottom was nice and shiny. I then tried printing in petg and I also got excellent results. Thank you so much!
