Improving Adhesion on the plane

There is a problem that everyone who is using 3D printers will have sooner or later: sticking the printed parts to the build platform.
Adhesion depends on the material used and other environmental factors.

There are different ways to prevent this problem:

  • Calibrating the bed
    A well calibration will create a constant thickness first layer, the material cools homogeneusly and the printing nozzle will not hit the printed part. With the FABtotum is very easy to calibrate the bed, using the bed calibration guided procedure.
  • Add the brim or the raft to the sliced model
    All the most used slicing softwares allow to add brim, that is a single layer area around the model, increasing the surface of the object attached to the building plate. Second one builts extra surface under all the object: a better option when thing is not flat.
  • Clean the glass
    The simpliest way is to clean the glass of the plane properly (when printer is off) with methylated spirits, removing dust, glues and fingerprint.
    To remove hairspray (see below) a little bit of water with a damp cloth will do. Of course, platform must be removed from the printer first. Pay attention and avoid any water to go on electronic parts.
  • Heat
    Heating the bed (between 40 for PLA and 60°C for ABS) the printer will be able to perfectly work. Very high temperatures may cause other overheating issues such as stringing or clogging of the nozzle.
    When environmental temperatures are above 25°C, slightly lower bed and nozzle temperatures.
  • Hair spray
    It’s one of the easiest and the cheapest solution for stick the 3d printed parts to the bed. It’s better to remove the bed from the printer, by removing the bed to his housing, for not damage smooth rods and other precision parts. For remove the spray, rub the surface with a paper napkin with a bit of water.
  • Blue tape
    This is another common method, there are severals types of paper tape, the most used is the Blue Tape you can find on our store.
  • ABS slurry
    For printing ABS: It is a slurry made with ABS molten in acetone. It’s made using ABS scraps and old wrong prints left in a acetone jar for few minutes, until the ABS is completely dissolved. It can be applied using cotton discs or a brush. Warning! Don’t smell the vapours after the application.

Other similar solutions:

  • Vinyl glue
  • Stick glue
  • Kapton tape