PLA sticks as hell

[matthewbasaraba]

I cut 1/8 phenolic plates and clip them to the heat bed. Once the part I’d complete the phenolic plate is removed and since it is flexible it pops right off. I have found that all filament types easily stick to class 10 phenolic. I use hairspray for PLA and T-Glass and Elmer’s glue stick for ABS and Nylon.

[Nick_Winter]

I use the same “blue tape” that came with the flashforge. I LOVE it, but yes it is a pain sometimes to get a part off. I don’t have an issue with this anymore though. This is what I do. 1st) I print with S3D and start with 60C heated bed for first layer, then I drop it by ~5C each additional layer or two. I don’t know what slicer you use but I would give that a shot.2nd) i use a loose razor blade (so it can lay flat against the bed) to just get part of the blade under any part of the printed part. I then leave it there under the part and get a thin metal spatula and put it under the razor blade and move it around under the part till it pops. Hope this helps. My word of advice is don’t get rid of the “blue tape”/buildtak that comes with the printer it does work a lot better than glass. I switched out the blue tape (which again isn’t really tape http://www.flashforge-usa.com/shop/flashforge-pre-cut-blue-heat-plate-print-tape.html) for glass and found myself digging the blue tape out of the trash and re-applying it.

[PalmersPursuit]

Glass bed McMaster-Carr

1/4" z stop spacer

Purple can of Auqu Net hairspray (apply while hot)

Bed temp 80C

The part will hold nice and tight when the bed is hot. When the plate cools down, the part will pop off on its own.

Rumor has it, sugar water works well and holds up for multiple prints.

[JactPrinting]

I bought borosilicate glass, and don’t heat the bed when using PLA.

http://www.flashforge-usa.com/shop/parts-accessories/borosilicate-glass.html

[Wiktor]

Is PLA ok with such high bed temperature?

[Wiktor]

where can I buy phenolic plates in UK?

[Stevestorr]

I am using a mirrored tile (Ikea Sorli) heated to 80 deg C and cleaned with Isopropyl Alcohol. The PLA extrudes at 210 deg C. Sticks very well during printing with zero turn ups. Impossible to remove until the glass is at room temperature. The parts just snap off. No more blue tape, glue sticks, hairspray or sugar syrup for me…

[BeCreative]

if you use cura you can add a brim to your print, which is basicly a thin layer beneath your print. This makes it for me very easy to remove everything. I then cut off the brim or even just tear it off sometimes. Works like a charm!

[Artefact3D]

your bed level is maybe too low

preheat your bed to 70-80° after print help to remove it

[czucker]

As many others have said, get a piece of glass cut and ground. With a heated bed, you shouldn’t need to mess with the blue painter’s tape. I typically don’t need to apply anything to my glass bed when printing PLA.

For ABS, I use a slurry of ABS shavings and acetone and for nylon filaments (Taulman Bridge), I’ve had good luck with some white Elmer’s glue (or any PVA glue) diluted with water and lightly brushed on the glass.

[3dprintwiz]

I print PLA on my flashforge 3D printer, with heated bed and capton tape on my glass bed plate. I have not had any problems with PLA sticking like hell. I do wait for the bed temperature to go back down to room temp and wait for at least 20 minutes more before I remove my part. Although with ABS I have that problem, so I had to wait more than 40 minutes for heated bed to cool off and another 30 minutes for me to remove my part almost without any force needed. The tip here I think is to wait for the heated bed to cool off and part as well, before trying to remove it. Once I tried force removing the part and I ended up with a chip-off glass plate.

[3DPrintingBeast]

just replace the blue painters tape and take the print off and let is sit next to a cooling fan PLA does stick as hell, that is true but that is what i do

[krusher]

This. Don’t let a PLA print cool down completely (or reheat the bed to around 60-70 when you’re ready to take it off).

Crazy adhesion can also be a sign that your nozzle for the first layer is a bit too close and is really really sticking it down.

Also, when you say blue tape to you mean blue painters tape or the blue polycarbonate sheets that Flashforge provides?

[krusher]

Just to clarify, “blue tape” normally refers to painters tape, while the FF supplied build sheet is the same sort of thing as Buildtak.

[FFUZZ3D]

Hi FrontWolf,

I tried a lot of things to get PLA print in tip top condition with the greatest ease of use, and the best, easiest advice I can give is this…

1- Do not heat your print bed with PLA. Heating the bed will only keep your PLA soft and therefore cause it to deform.

2- Put a small fan blowing at your print, which will cool the PLA quickly after it extrudes. Watch the difference this makes.

I experimented with this and it honestly is a game changer, your print quality will skyrocket. No more bending and drooping, no more super-stuck parts. Try this out on a small print, one that you’ve printed before so you can see the difference.

Good luck out there!

FFUZZ3D

[ImShogun]

This is good advice, you’re right, you are taking the problem at the source, blowing air to the extrusion head is a game changer for PLA especially, try this first @rpelissier !

[JactPrinting]

I usually only put a fan on it when printing with large overhangs and such but you are completely correct. MAJOR difference.

When I got my printer, I was unable to print things like the makerbot T-Rex because the overhangs warped and curled soo badly. I have printed about 30 of them since adding a small fan

[krusher]

Glass is also a real pain to ship in some cases, but I’ve been trying PEI sheets (as an alternative to glass plates) with good success, it also works for nylon with a simple swipe of a gluestick on the sheet and you can wipe it off with a damp cloth when done.

[FrontWolf]

Awesome replies here! I think there are some really good ideas here. I ordered a special glass almost. Glass is at room temperature a bit colder than the normal heat bed. But I can try this first in 3 weeks, because of the delivery time.

I also switched to Kapton tape at the moment. The result is nearly the same.

What I will do now is to try FFUZZ3D hints. But it could be, that the first layer will not stick. But I think temperature is the point. Some hints with more than 60°C don’t seem to be very helpful in my case.

Thank you guys!

[FrontWolf]

Thank you! The FF Bluetape is really great and I think I will use this furthermore. I almost throw 2 of them in my trash, because some parts sticks so hard that I damaged and bend the Bluetape. Further prints failed because of bumps.

I will mix your hints with FFUZZ3D hints. This sounds like the best result!

I’ll keep you up to date!