I tested this idea today and the results seemed to be ideal. I would be interested to know if anyone else had experienced this.
I printed an ABS part, +50 layers, 85C bed, and no lifting on the corners - and it was clean.
After print, it was easy to remove and the bottom of the print was completely clean.
How ? Simple. I found some plastic sheet left over after covering the kids school books.
It’s like vinyl - just thinner and is marked as Removable Self Adhesive Book Cover. Cost was around $2 for a 5m roll.
I cleaned the print bed with Acetone, then laid a piece of the adhesive plastic just larger than the print area I was to print.
I then wiped the plastic with clear plain acetone with the intention to make sure it was clean from finger print oils, etc. The surface of the plastic turned very tacky.
The first layer of the print went down so well, and consistent - far better than I had ever achieved on ABS slurry on the aluminium bed.
After the print, the plastic lifted easily from the print bed - reminded me of those large thin very stretchy wide area plasters used in hospitals when you have an IV inserted. It peeled off the bottom of the print with minimal effort.
Here’s a pic of my first layer print in progress : http://i.imgur.com/e5KVRw9.jpg
Update : googled the plastic book cover, and it’s PVC.
And PVC glues well to ABS using acetone, so explains why it turns tacky and accepts the first layer so well.
Update 2 :
as good as this sounds, it has been pointed out that the C in PVC is Chloride and when heated gives off Chloride Gas which is EXTREMELY BAD. I do not recommend using this method.
I will, however, keep looking for alternatives that work as well as this.
