Searching for the perfect bed surface.

I have great luck with hairspray and my AO-101. Since getting 2 TAZ3s I have been running Kapton/Pet tape.
I still get frustrated with Kapton / PET tape. Most of my frustration is chasing bubbles and having to re-apply ABS juice every print. One of my TAZ3s was in need of new tape. I decided to test an idea I have had for a while. I etched the borosilicate glass. Theory is this will help the harispray adhere to the glass and prevent pulling up with the part.

Ultimate goal would be to have a nice thin abs coating that will last many prints. I will post updates here if there is interest.

Etched glass with hairspray:
I tried a few prints. My theory was proven. The hairspray stick perfect to the glass. Unfortunately I am now having pullup/warping issues with my parts. This was not the case with my AO-101 only these new TAZ printers. Tried several temps and the one that worked best was start at 65c finish 55c.

Etched glass with ABS juice:
I washed off the hairspray and applied 2 coats of ABS juice right on the glass. First test pulled up after about 20 layers @85c. It is hard to tell where the ABS juice application is with the etched glass, so I added a couple more layers and tried again. It performed great. 100+ layers with the second test. Held tight and popped right off when cooled down to 40c. The bed was nice an perfect after removing the part. This may be the best of both worlds. Stick of Kapton and low/no application of hairspray. I added another re-wipe of ABS juice and will send another print.
More updates soon.

Nice experiment!!!

Have not printed much on this bed since the last update.
Today I made some more progress.

Printed the same part in the same location for 5 prints now. Haven’t touched the bed.

Rewind a bit, here is the etching process. 2 coats at 45 min. each. Wash off and let dry between coats.

What material are you printing with? What is the layer height and temp of the nozzle? What speed and layer height is the first layer? Sorry for all the questions but I like your idea and might try to replicate it.

  • ABS
  • depends on the products, ranges from .23 to .3
  • 230c
    .23 to .3 speed depends on design too. I run a slower outer perimeter. speed is between 120 to 40