Printing On Aluminum Build Plate

[iamloremipsum3d]

Hey Everyone!

I just recieved my Aluminum Build plate I purchased from ebay.  It's a thing of black hard anodized beauty.  However!  I'm having curling issues.  I'm using the glue stick approach, which worked amazing on the glass plate.  It's not working as great on the aluminum.  I'm wondering if its because the plate is so much colder than the glass or acrylic?  If anyone uses one, how do you deal with this?  Print at Higher temps?  I am trying to avoid using any tape.

Thanks,

Brian


http://www.ebay.com/itm/Makerbot-Replicator-2-MACHINED-BUILD-PLATE-UPGRADE-W-Notch-3D-Printer-glass-alt-/111328426612?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item19ebb0fa74

[Ryan Carlyle]

Most people put Kapton on aluminum, but cold Kapton may not work great with PLA. The seller of that plate recommends blue tape.

[CSC]

Aluminum also conducts cold much better than glass. Might be very sensitive to room temp issues.

HTH

C.

[Enginwiz]

Did you clean the new build plate with alcohol or window cleaner?

You could preheat the build plate externally in the kitchen oven before printing.

It is possible to transform hairspray into a glasslike hard surface by preheating to about 100 degrees Celsius.
PLA sticks to it very well. You would have to let the plate cool to about 60 degrees before starting to print PLA on it.

[Joe Soap]

If it is the thermal characteristics of the aluminium plate affecting filament sticking to the plate then the thought crosses my mind that it might be possible to de-tune the temperature sensitivity by placing a 2mm lexar (or possibly 2mm Tufnol/Whale) between aluminium plate and nozzles. Neither of those products would offer the same thermal transfer rate of aluminium, but at 2mm would allow the heat to transfer at a reasonable rate. Perhaps this would serve as a dampener?

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[Daniel Quaroni]

I got a couple good prints but wasn't able to get it to stick reliably.  These days I use a Ninja Plate on my aluminum plate.

https://learn.adafruit.com/3d-printing-on-ninjaplate-flexible-build-plate/overview

Though it is tempting to try to put a thick enough coating of hairspray on it and then bake it to see if that'd work.  Removing parts will still be way tougher than it is with the NP, though.

On Monday, April 28, 2014 10:41:31 AM UTC-4, iamloremipsum3d wrote:

[iamloremipsum3d]

Thanks everyone for the suggestions. I'm going to try them out.  The blue tape works great, but I want that glass like finish!

Enginwiz,

Stupid me, I actually didn't wipe it down.  I was overly excited.  Maybe that will help.  Ill also try warming the plate.

On Monday, April 28, 2014 10:41:31 AM UTC-4, iamloremipsum3d wrote:

[Jimc]

i am not on a MB but i do run an alum plate on my machine. it is heated though. i much prefer it to glass because the heat is much more even across the whole surface. my plate is 1/4" mic6 so it stays flat. i glass beaded mine on 1 side and use hairspray on it. the hairspray stays on the plate for a real long time so you can just keep printing and printing. it works fantastic with just about every plastic type. i got rid of my glass plate 6 mos ago and have been using this ever since.

[Enginwiz]

If you bake the hairspray onto the build plate you can print on it many times, even the same part on the same spot.

[Scott K]

Sorry, didn't notice you were not using glass at all.  It would suck having to clean hairspray off a build plate all the time.  Not to mention getting everything sticky in the case.

[Enginwiz]

Scott - this is a removable Aluminium plate with notches, that replaces the warptastic acrylic build plate in a Replicator 2.

I coat my build plates in the garage or outside the house with hairspray.

If you bake the hairspray onto the build plate at around 100 degrees Celsius for 20 minutes
the hairspray morphs into a hard glasslike coating. You can do that with a heated build plate or
in the kitchen oven if you don't have a HBP in your printer.

The heat treated hairspray is very durable. You can print many weeks on the same build plate.

[Stephen Garrett]

Hi, did you ever get your prints to stop curling on the aluminum plate?

The baked hairspray sounds interesting. I have never seen that solution. Do you need to reapply a thin coat each time you print? How hard is it to get parts off with this method?

[Enginwiz]

The baked hairspray is a semipermanent adhesion coating.
It lasts between 5 and 10 prints on the same spot.

Removing the parts is easy with a heated build plate.
After the print the build plate and the print cool down and
the different thermal contraction of plastic and glass / metal
lead to an automatic separation of the print. This is as
simple and elegant as it gets.

You can use thermal contraction separation even with an unheated
glass or metal build plate. Put your build plate with the print
into the fridge for one hour. The temperature difference between
room temperature and fridge is as high as between heated build
plate for PLA and room temperature.

The stock acrylic build plate has the same thermal contraction
as PLA and therefore the print doesn't pop off the build plate
in the fridge.

[Brian D]

Yes and no.  Using copious amounts of better glue (UHM glue stick), and letting it dry longer Seems to work better than Elmers.  Its by no means  a scientifically backed up conclusion.  I am curious about this new product: 

http://www.pioneerpomade.com

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[Stephen Garrett]

My prints have started coming out super flat using hairspray after I cooked it on like Enginwiz and Jetguy recommended. 

I was originally using too much hairspray, but once I started doing the lightly dusted layers and heating them with a hair dryer, I started getting a sticky build up of hairspray. Then before I print, I heat the plate up with a hair dryer, spray on another light mist of hairspray, put the plate in, and print. Stuff has been flat even since, and the best part about the aluminum is that 5 minutes in the freezer pops the piece off with zero prying. I am loving it.

Even rafts stick to it now, btw.