MakerGear Forum

I'm very much a newbie - so apologies if I'm stating the obvious here, but I just thought I'd report that I'm getting superb results with PLA printing onto an unheated bed using green FrogTape (Multi-Surface Masking Tape) http://goo.gl/Ie0ox8 - I guess this is just another brand of the "painters tape" mentioned in these forums - but I find it is by far the best solution.

I've only had my machine for a few days and initially was printing straight onto the heated glass (using the S3D default settings for PLA). However, although this worked well initially when the glass was spotless, it started to get increasingly difficult to remove finished objects without lots of force / tapping / frustration ... I actually managed to break some of the more fragile objects I made trying to remove them.

I then tried the recommended glue stick / hairspray route but this just seemed to involve a lot of messing about / scraping & cleaning the glass each time and I didn't get great results.

I finally tried switching to an unheated bed (set easily in S3D) covered in FrogTape - its brilliantly easy! I also reset my bed levelling to take account of the extra thickness of the tape on the glass (I just stuck a bit of tape onto some paper & used that as my feeler gauge). I now consistently get good adhesion every time - and have managed to reuse the same tape on the bed over & over again & with very little effort - things just simply "ping" off at the end.

For anything that is slightly difficult to remove, I just use one of these http://goo.gl/20m6GQ under the edge to lift it off - and "ping" it is straight off again, leaving the tape surface clean and reusable.

I've only tried PLA so far - so can't really comment on other filament types ...

Hair spray doesn't need to be cleaned after every build.
I get about 15 runs before cleaning.

If your frog tape is working stick with it.
There's no right or wrong way is what I learned thus far
and appreciate your willingness to share.

Heated build beds are necessary when you move to ABS, PET+, etc.
Hair spray works for me with PLA, PET, and ABS.

Best thing about hair spray for me? It gives me a finished smooth bottom
in the 3 filaments I mentioned. And no messing around resetting z height
to print in other types of filament.
This pic was shot thru the bottom of the glass build plate printing in ABS.
Only .001" shrink up from the plate, making a flat finished bottom.
You'll also notice a shadows of a former prints in the hair spray foot print.

If anyone is having issues getting PLA or PET to remove the print?
Just let the glass cool fully, or if I'm in a hurry, a quick trip to the freezer
and in couple of minutes the print pops free and the glass shrinks and cools.

Thanks Capt. John - that's really useful info ... I'm sticking to PLA at present as it seems far easier & things just work - but I do want to try out other materials as I get to understand more about the technical details of what I'm actually doing.