ABS Mattress Adhesion Suggestions & Tips

Mattress adhesion is likely one of the most necessary parts for getting a great 3D print. (For extra details about printing with ABS, like ideas and methods for achievement, try our different article right here.)

A 3D printer with a heated mattress is required for efficiently printing with ABS filament as a result of ABS plastic shrinks when cooling. And not using a heated mattress, the underside of your print will cool at a distinct charge than the remainder of your ABS print, leading to dreaded ABS warp. The next information can assist you produce completely flat, warp-free ABS prints on nearly any 3D printer:

Tip 1:  ABS does not adhere effectively to reveal 3D printer heated mattress glass.

When you can typically get ABS to stick to reveal, heated borosilicate glass construct plates, the method is tough and you’ll greater than doubtless expertise warping/curling or failed prints because of the print breaking free from the glass mid-print.

Tip 2: ABS ought to NEVER be cooled with a layer fan.

You probably have a component that will get mushy/blobby due to an excessive amount of residual warmth, strive printing two of them at a time. This may permit the primary half to chill whereas the second half is printing and vice versa. The best answer is inside MatterControl (our unbelievable, community-driven, free 3D printing software program – yep, it’s very free). A couple of straightforward slice settings let you require layer instances to be not less than (X) quantity of seconds. If that is nonetheless not sufficient cooling time, you may specify the recent finish to maneuver off the print for a set period of time after every layer, after which resume printing the subsequent layer. These settings may be seen within the picture under:

Allow Extruder Carry and Set Print Speeds Right here

Simply bear in mind, cooling followers and ABS are usually not mates! 

And on that very same notice, be certain there may be not an Air Conditioner or some other pressured air disturbing the print space of your 3D printer atmosphere; this will have the identical warping or splitting impact as a layer cooling fan when 3D printing with ABS filament. 

Tip 3: Your 3D printer heated mattress ought to all the time be on.

Relying on the half and mattress adhesion technique you are utilizing, 85-90°C is often an satisfactory temperature vary on your 3D printer heated mattress when printing with ABS filament. You must by no means exceed 120°C.

A Few ABS Mattress Adhesion Options:

So as of finest (strongest adhesion) to worst (weakest adhesion).

A) PEI Sheets, PET sheets, or Kapton tape on the 3D printer heated mattress with ABS Juice. 

We made a easy, brief video on the way to apply PET tape to your 3D printer glass mattress.

ABS Juice (or ABS Glue) is dissolved ABS filament in acetone. Begin with 2-3oz of acetone and 6-7 inches of ABS 3D printing filament, then modify as wanted. Extra ABS plastic dissolved within the acetone equals larger mattress adhesion. The best consistency is thicker than water however thinner than milk. In case your combination is simply too thick – like paste or yogurt – simply add some extra acetone to dilute.

Apply the ABS Juice to the 3D construct plate utilizing a brush when the mattress is sizzling. You will note the acetone evaporate and the mattress floor turn into dry relatively rapidly. 

Professional Tip: Pure ABS filament is essentially the most handy for making ABS Juice as a result of it won’t depart any coloration in your prints. Keep in mind that if you’re printing in Purple ABS and use Black Juice, the underside of your print shall be black and pink because the plastic extrudes over the skinny layer of black. 

B) ABS Juice immediately on the 3D printer heated mattress’s glass. Similar as above, simply with out the PET or Kapton tape. Works very effectively and makes cleanup a bit simpler. 

C) Glue stick. Just about any PVA based mostly glue stick works (Elmer’s, Scotch, UHU, and so forth). Apply a skinny layer of glue to a cool 3D print mattress in one path, after which apply one other layer in the wrong way (consider a crosshatch sample). Then carry mattress as much as temp permit the glue to dry earlier than printing. PVA is water soluble so you may take away the skinny movie from the 3D printed half by rinsing with water. Use a moist paper towel to evenly redistribute the PVA glue stick movie on the mattress. 

D) Hairspray. We use Aquanet’s unscented, further tremendous maintain – it really works effectively, and it is fairly low cost. Spray a skinny coat on a cool 3D construct plate, let it dry, then spray one other skinny coat, let it dry, carry it as much as temp after which print. This the weakest maintain – however is the best to do and never a foul place to begin when starting with printing ABS filament on a 3D printer with a heated mattress. 

Professional Tip: Scented Hairsprays do work completely wonderful, however they are going to depart you with a really smelly 3D printing room – and doubtless not in a great way. 

Tip 4: The footprint of your half performs a HUGE position in mattress adhesion.  

The larger and thicker the footprint/base of your 3D printed half, the extra warping forces current. We use hairspray efficiently for lots of our ABS prints, however prints with very giant footprints – like a pyramid – typically require stronger adhesion to remain firmly in place. The nearer the prints are to the middle of the print mattress (the place it is sometimes hottest) the higher.

Footprint instance:

Pyramid = giant footprint and extra tendency to warp.
Inverted pyramid = small footprint and fewer tendency to warp.

Keep in mind, ABS Juice could be very simply the very best technique of mattress adhesion for ABS prints, however it’s also the largest ache for each clean-up and for print elimination. An excessive amount of ABS Juice (or too thick a focus) might result in you breaking your glass making an attempt to take away the half.

Tip 5: Infill performs an enormous position in 3D printed ABS components.

Too many stable layers on the underside adopted by mild infill (Use the least quantity of stable layers doable to keep away from warping. Typically, the extra infill you employ, the extra warping forces you introduce to your 3D half. To additional perceive slice settings we’ve got a 3 half sequence it’s possible you’ll wish to try as a information. 

We have 3D printed 1000’s of issues in ABS filament and located we might forestall warping each single time by following some or all of the following tips. 

Completely satisfied Warp-Free Printing!