I’ve printed quite a few things with my new sheet of PEI, large and small, works like a charm, don’t think I’ll ever go back to abs juice and PET or anything else…you must be doing something wrong, most likely your first layer height is off.
Aluminum tray and glass sounds like it would work, but an unnecessary project IMO.
Yay thread!
Apperently we’re “Aelph users”. I always thought we were Lulzbotians (lulzbotanists? )
In a completely unrelated note, the next top secret printer upgrade I am working on once I get the ROV project done is the filliament sensor suite, or as I like to call it: “Project Ultramongoose”
+1 on mhackney’s recommendation.
Initial Z-height makes a big difference when it comes to removing parts from PEI… quarter turn on the end-stop knob is significant. A good benchmark may be removing a 2cm cube by hand with little force. Start with the business card as a feeler… maybe a .5-8mm steel feeler would be good. I find manually tweaking the z-height with the end-stop knob is tedious and much easier granularity with the Z-offset in software (which doesn’t seem to be a common practice).
Here’s my methodology for removing the print: Let the “tool” do the work. Slide the tool edge under the part and gently work around until the part pops off. Try not to pry up with the tool, it could damage the PEI. Pliers with tape could be helpful in pulling the part off the bed as an alternative.
I haven’t leveled my bed in a two weeks, but everything seems ok even with all the effort to remove parts. Coming from a fixed bed printer, I just ignore / trust the springs in the corner. 
My Taz 5 level is not repeatable. It’s out after every print. A big part of it is wrestling with the previous print to get it off the bed. But it’s also the x-axis rods and bearings. They allow for large amounts of extruder head deviation. Also the bed leveling design is not great. I will turn the spring loaded hex screw with no discernible change in level, and them suddenly I’ve gone too far. It’s like the little springs are too weak to move the plate until the screw has gone too far. So you wrestle with each corner for 10 minutes and go over it and over it and over it and after about an hour you get something close enough to make a print.
I’ve recently replaced the x and y axis rods and bearings and that has tightened things up quite a bit. We’ll see if the nozzle can pick one place to be in from print to print now that the 1/4" of slop has been removed from the extruder.
As far as squishing too much or too little. Yes you are right, and the difference between success and failure is too slight given the non-repeatability of the hardware as shipped.
This is coming off as sour grapes and I apologize. All printers are like this. You have to upgrade them in a dozen different ways to get a usable product. Just the nature of 3D printing right now. They are all the same in this respect.
IMO you don’t need PEI if you have an enclosure, glass and good sticky hairspray. And you don’t have to have 1/2 a micron calibration on the first level either. Granted it’s wonderful to get your machine tuned to that level. But it has to be repeatable and that is not possible on the stock Taz 5. Not mine anyway.
Yep… i hear ya. Definitely a little tweaking on machines to get them to perform. The TAZ is a great foundation, upgrading the rods and enclosure are on my “to-do” list.
As for the bed, I found that pushing the corners down helped “unstick” them from the shipping. After I wrestle off a print, the bed seems to popup pretty readily now… more so than before. Using a dial gauge really helped quantify the bed leveling process. Haven’t gone back to check in a while… I guess I’ve adopted an “if all is well, don’t break it” / “ignorance is bliss” attitude with it
I am thinking about using a standoff to lock down the X0 Y0 corner, at the current height. Hoping that it will provide a reference to get accurate / reproducible nozzle to bed distance. I started using a metal feeler, but then realized that the bed could be deflecting because of the adjustment spring… The Z-axis coupler can expand also, but at least it would only be one versus two expanding parts.
Stick a set of Vernier Calipers between the bed glas and the bed frame at the corner, and start with it the same at all 4 corners, then adjust as needed. If your screws are that slippery, maybe put a small amount of blue loctite (or elmers white glue) on the threads to make them more difficult to move
On the bright side I received my new PEI bed from McMaster-Carr 12 x 12 x .0625.
I pulled the old one right off, and the tape remained undisturbed. So I just stuck the new PEI bed right on the old tape. Seems fine. No point in fighting to get the old tape off if it looks perfect right?
I’m printing on it right now and everything’s good. I like the quality of this PEI over the stock Taz. It’s much smoother. I had to trim the corners where it meets the mounting points, but leaving the rest overhanging the glass should be no problem. Stuff is tough to cut so I figure I should minimize the cutting.
You can reuse the tape in this way. I have removed and flipped PEI over to get a new fresh surface. It holds just as well.
Anyone out there using PEI with nylon? I’m having a slight issue with it not totally sticking to the PEI. Seems weird because everything I’ve heard has been issues with prints sticking too well. I’ve tried with the bed temp set at 60°C and 90°C.
Also it seems like the adhesive is releasing from the PEI sheet as the color has changed from an orange to the more natural yellow of PEI.
I just repressed the PEI onto the adhesive.
I’m going to clean the surface and scuff it and try another print.
I forgot to mention that I zero the Z axis with a 0.001 feeler gauge and my first layer is 0.15mm with a 150% extrusion width, so I think that I’m squashing it down on the bed.
PEI is not suitable for Nylons. There is NO single surface that works for all filaments. PEI excels with ABS, PLA and PC and a few others.
Thanks, so then my next question would be to ask what surface does work well with nylons. I just put some PVA glue on the PEI sheet and I’m on my 3rd layer right now with no warping signs. I’ll post tomorrow when the print is done to let everyone here see what happened.
With any luck nylon can be added to the PEI arsenal with an added $2 glue stick
Garolite is the surface of choice for Taulman nylon. It works extremely well as does poplar wood.
Yeah I was looking around and saw Garolite as a preferred option but it seems like a fair amount of people say that it wears out quickly–relatively speaking.
mhackney you’re kind of the, shall I say granddad 
of 3D printing around here and know most of the other major forms. Have seen anything out there where someone was using PVA on a PEI sheet? Or am I on the open frontier with this one?
“Granddaddy”? 
I’m not that old yet!
I have not seen anyone print Nylon on PVA on PEI. New territory. It would be a great option to have if it works!
Haha sorry maybe just really wise on the subject then 
Here is a quick update before I leave work. It appears to be working, everything is sticking down 40 minutes and 20 layers–@0.1mm per layer–into the print . I only put a super thin coat on it so even if the parts don’t stay completely stuck down this time I could always try making the PVA layer a little thicker on the next run. But if everything is solid so far I would think this is going to work out just fine.
I’ve heard people use UHU glue stick on glass for Nylon as well. Perhaps you could put the glue stick on the PEI? I have no idea if this would work so don’t shoot me if this doesn’t work!
I printed Taulman nylon when it was fairly new (I needed a few parts that were more chemical resistant) and I printed it on the back side of a copper clad circuit board. I had some single sided boards for making circuits and I just tried it on the back of one that was new and it worked very good. So I am assuming it is just fiberglass.
So I am assuming it is just fiberglass.
Yup, FR-4 is the name of the substrate mix. I’m assuming that you didn’t have the bed heated then.
Perhaps you could put the glue stick on the PEI?
Yup yup, that’s exactly what I’m testing. UHU, Elmer’s glue, etc, it’s all polyvinyl acetate i.e. PVA.
I would say this is a go scenario. The trimmer line works pretty good. there is only a very slight amount of warpage on the bottoms of parts.
Taulman Bridge lays down smooth as a baby’s bottom–as they say. Same with Taulman T-Glase.
I’ll get some photos of the bottoms of printed parts against a straight edge as I print over the next week.
Oh, a bonus is that the PVA does not come off with the prints if you let the bed cool down before removing the print. I’ve done 3 prints in a row on the same section of the bed with no need to add any more PVA. So, I still don’t have to constantly mess around with glue, just every once in a while as it seems.
I have a couple of bucks for a roll, I’m thinking about buying the new Taulman 680 or 910 to make some hardware and some gas bulkheads. If anyone has a plastic that they would like me to try let me know and I’ll pick it up.
I just upgraded my Kittaz with the Hexagon hotend and PEI. I selected to use the .010 PEI and 3M sheet adhesive. My application of the sheet adhesive could have been a bit better, but despite a couple of bubbles, the PEI is down and I am content with the result. I do have another sheet of adhesive (and more PEI) if I do run into a problem.
Today, I printed a couple of items, one a 40 minute print, the other about 5 hours. I am using HIPS with a nozzle temp of 240, and a bed temp of 85 and no brim. The prints adhered perfectly, and were easily removed once the bed cooled to below 60. I’m also very happy with the Hexagon hotend, but I have notice the feed clicks when doing a fast retraction. I’ll double check all the set screws.
Scott
Sarmamos
My hexagon hotend (well extruder) clicked when I first got it as did my original setup when I bought my TAZ 4. For me the solution was to back off the nut on the large extruder gear just a tad (1/8 to 1/4 turn). I think it was just a tiny bit too tight.
