Buildtak

[j-rod]

Has anyone used Buildtak? It's a thin sheet of material you can put on the bed which supposedly has much better adherence. They were at Makerfair today and had an M2 printing PLA without any heat on the bed at all. It is heat resistant though and can withstand typical bed temperatures.

I think I'm going to order a sheet and try it out.

[jimc]

try it out and let us know. pla doesnt need heat to print. many pla only printers dont even come with a heated bed. i have never heard of the stuff.

[Toby]

I wonder what they mean by, "With optimal care can last for many hours of use." Hopefully they mean that any given spot on a sheet can withstand being printed over many times, but it's a funny way to say it given that a single print could be "many hours."

At a cost of $13 for a single 8x10 sheet, I think I'm going to wait to hear what you have to say about it!

[j-rod]

yeah the heat is to get it to stick to glass. not having to heat up the bed saves time and electricity though. i placed an order and will let you all know how it turns out.

[Capt. John]

Going a long ways around the bush to do a simple job.

Zero issues since I went to using unscented Aquanet hair spray in both PLA and ABS.

Try it, you'll like it.

[j-rod]

Got the Buildtak on the glass and I did a test print. Test print being yet another tiny set of antlers the girlfriend wanted printed.

the bottom layer adhered perfectly to the material at room temperature. There's a section at the lower right of the picture below where the bed was still too close to the nozzle. i ticked it down one notch but that seemed just past where it should be, though it still adhered just fine. i had adjusted the bed height a bit after i put the Buildtak on but obviously it wasn't quite right. there's also a bit chipped off one edge where i pried it off the bed. i wasn't being careful at all, and the outer walls of the first layer were super thin anyway due to the incorrect bed height.

so far it works as advertised with PLA. the real test will be many prints over the same area to see how the adhesion holds up. also, once my all-metal hot-end mount arrives i'll get the e3d installed and test ABS on the material as well.

20140529_201007.jpg

(492.92 KiB) Downloaded 824 times

[jimc]

there is a fairly large thread on the makerbot google group on the buildtak. some people seem to think its ok and others think its a waste and sux. on another note did you get the e3dv5 or v6? i have been waiting for the makergear v4 to be released for a long time and it hasnt happened so i finally broke down and ordered the e3dv5 then 2 days later they released the v6 haha. i just cant win. if your looking to mount your e3d i designed this up and have been using it. it works great.

http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:344950

[j-rod]

oh sweet. thanks! it is a v5. suppose that means i got the short end of that stick as well.

as for buildtak, im happy with the purchase. not having to perform bed prep or wait for the bed to heat up / cool off (for PLA anyway, and that's all ive been printing) is worth it.