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Great news! And now the anticipation starts! Hopefully the test prints can begin once it cures.

Yes, I am ready to give it a shot as soon as I get up. I already know the PEI is great to print on for PLA and ABS, now it's all about holding it down!

A little delay in the process. When I looked at the plate this morning I realized that the exposed edge of the PEI on the glass is vulnerable. So, I ran a bead of silicone around the edge of the glass to create a gasket to hold the edge better. This is much like grouting the edge of bath tile with silicone. I need to let this cure today.

Z-height in 0.91 is strange. Last week, for some reason, it ended up at 7. something - after Repetier pulled in the EEProm values. Needless to say I set it back but it was very strange - I don't think I made a typo...

Not sure who did the menuing on that one but there were some interesting choices made...

[img]http://mhackney.zenfolio.com/img/s5/v11 ... 4918-4.jpg[/img]

Success.

[img]http://mhackney.zenfolio.com/img/s10/v9 ... 4460-4.jpg[/img]

I allowed the silicone bead to cure overnight. This morning I trimmed the PEI about .5mm from the glass using my bandsaw. It was quick work and no problems at all - cuts easily and a coping saw would work fine if you don't have a band saw.

After cutting, I sanded and put a slight bevel on top to relieve the edge.

So a few comments:

The silicone seems to hold quite well. I probably squeegeed much to thin, leave a little to get a good bond. When you weigh / press it down to the glass, any surface irregularities will be flattened.

To "clamp" put the PEI side down then put weights on top of the glass. I put a 12" disk of plywood on the glass and then put about 100 pounds of weight on that. 50 probably would suffice! After clamping like this, run a thin bead of silicone around the glass edge to bond it to the PEI. Allow to cure overnight.

Cut the PEI about .5mm from the glass and sand lightly to relieve and smooth the edge.

Be careful with silicone! If you get it on the PEI it will be a bear to remove completely and will affect parts sticking. It is easy to remove from the glass with a single edge razor blade.

Install with binder clamps like normal. The nice thing about this is, if I wanted to use the glass side with hairspray for instance, I can just flip it over.

I have successfully printed 1 set of parts for the tenkara line holders. I'll report back once I've printed a FEW parts.

cheers,
Michael

A very good job! They even look good on the aluminum - gives a nice golden touch.
We already know the stuff works with PLA and ABS.
My thin self adhesive PEI is supposed to be here Monday, I will let you know how that works out.
Again, a very good job!

So far I am very pleased with it. Even before I came up with a permanent attachment, I printed with it clipped and it holds and releases very nicely and leaves a great surface finish.

mhackney wrote:So far I am very pleased with it. Even before I came up with a permanent attachment, I printed with it clipped and it holds and releases very nicely and leaves a great surface finish.

What is the release procedure?

I wait 30 seconds after the bed heater turns off and they pop right off. I then immediately turn on the bed in prep for the next print. I'll try to take a video, it is actually a pretty cool, crisp "pop" sound when parts come off!

mhackney wrote:I wait 30 seconds after the bed heater turns off and they pop right off. I then immediately turn on the bed in prep for the next print. I'll try to take a video, it is actually a pretty cool, crisp "pop" sound when parts come off!

You still using a 60c bed?

Eagle yes, I print PLA at 60°C bed temp.

Here is a short video showing how the parts pop off the plate. You can just here the Rostock homing when the video starts, the print had just completed. You can hear how the parts peel off the PEI, a nice crisp sound.

This part is a bit challenging to print / stick to the bed for several reasons. It does not have a solid bottom surface, that is a 25% rounded fill. Those little round squiggly fill lines cause all sorts of havoc if the part does not stick well. One of the parts looks like a flower petal, that one is also very difficult to print because these petals must remain dead flat (i.e. stuck to the print bed).

As you can see from the vide, mission accomplished!

cheers,
Michael

I have been using the PEI too and it does work well. I also used Silicone - just regular silicone. I used the .03 thickness. T-glase sticks well at 55C, great shiny surface. My PCT fitting failed so I haven't tried ABS yet. On a different note does anyone know where you can get 4mm Quick Connect PTC Fitting in Canada? Would get them from the good folks at SeeMe but it takes 1 1/2 weeks shipping time from the US. My poor Orion is just itching to get back to printing!


Thanks

Regular silicone should work just fine, it all has a higher temp rating than we need. I put the matte surface up on mine to get a really nice non-glossy finish. It is very consistent and looks great. I've printed about 50 parts in various PLAs today so far with no failures and perfect "stickage" and release is a snap (no pun intended).

All I can say is, now that I've printed PLA exclusively on PEI all weekend - 100s of parts, it totally rocks. No failed prints, parts come off with a snap and the surface finish is superb.

[img]http://mhackney.zenfolio.com/img/s5/v12 ... 0688-4.jpg[/img]

And there is minimal prep before starting a print - a swipe with isopropyl alcohol (3-5 drops) on a paper towel and you are good to go.

One thing about removing parts that is interesting and neat. All you need to do is start to lift a corner or edge and the part just "POPS" off. Very easy and no damage to the surface or part.

Good news! Finally something that works and is consistent. Your paper idea was great, but is now second best.

The paper worked very well but required more prep and a little more work. This PEI is basically print and go!

Wow, just found this thread... Awesome stuff! Now I know what my next upgrade is. As soon as I get PLA printing as well as mhackney does :/

McSlappy wrote:Wow, just found this thread... Awesome stuff! Now I know what my next upgrade is. As soon as I get PLA printing as well as mhackney does :/

Everyone on this forum would like to print PLA as well as MHackney does!

First print on the 0.003" PEI is in progress. Doing a set of 12 mag arm ends, which have been to-date uncooperative printing in black seemecnc ABS on hairspray or gluestick or window tint film - they come off about 5-7mm into the print.

Untreated PEI at 110C? Sticking like a champ with only a few layers to go.

One question though - I applied the film straight up (no soap/water) and got a few small bubbles that I had to slit/press out. Anyone know if that acrylic 3M adhesive they're using is compatible with soap/water application? I've got one more 0.003" piece to use when this one wears out or I muck it up.

Bdjohns: where did you get the pei, did it come with the 3m adhesive backing on the piece. Iwas going to ask how were you keeping it fromheat warping at 110c , are you running abs currently on the material
Ian

CS Hyde. I think the link is back on page 6 or so of the thread. It's got an acrylic adhesive on it that's similar to what's on Kapton tape, so it sticks under heat.

I just finished printing some of the magnetic rod ends on it in ABS. After the job, the pieces released pretty easily once the bed cooled down to 90C or so. The adhesive has some give to it at that temperature - don't pull too hard or you'll stretch the film.

I've got xnaron's effector printing now as a little bit tougher test, since that's big enough to warp possibly.

Edit: Here's the link to the material: http://catalog.cshyde.com/viewitems/fil ... h-adhesive

I got the 0.003" (cheapest one). In hindsight, thicker might be better.

bdjohns1 wrote:It's got an acrylic adhesive on it that's similar to what's on Kapton tape, so it sticks under heat.

I think Kapton tape actually uses a silicone adhesive, so it's a little bit different...should still work just fine though.

Glacian22 wrote:

bdjohns1 wrote:It's got an acrylic adhesive on it that's similar to what's on Kapton tape, so it sticks under heat.

I think Kapton tape actually uses a silicone adhesive, so it's a little bit different...should still work just fine though.

Close enough. They're both rated to high temperatures, although Kapton goes a little higher.

Interesting problem with printing an effector platform on PEI last night. It stuck TOO WELL. I couldn't get it to pop off last night with a plastic blade. PEI is supposed to be acetone resistant, so I'll see if I can get it to release that way tonight, or temperature cycle the bed.

I'm loving having a 24V supply on the bed now - 110C in a few minutes.

bdjohns1 wrote:First print on the 0.003" PEI is in progress. Doing a set of 12 mag arm ends, which have been to-date uncooperative printing in black seemecnc ABS on hairspray or gluestick or window tint film - they come off about 5-7mm into the print.

Untreated PEI at 110C? Sticking like a champ with only a few layers to go.

One question though - I applied the film straight up (no soap/water) and got a few small bubbles that I had to slit/press out. Anyone know if that acrylic 3M adhesive they're using is compatible with soap/water application? I've got one more 0.003" piece to use when this one wears out or I muck it up.

I tried the soap and water and it just made the film curl up with absolutely no stickiness to it. I had no success at all using that method.

From a quick google, 3M suggests a pressurized dry autoclave to drive out bubbles. Yeah, I've got one of those handy.