as the bed mesh routines seem pretty precise, doesnt adding glue stick to the bed after that bed level/bed mesh calibration throw that previous bed mesh/bed level off ?
if so does that mean that the bed should be re-calibrated each time glue stick is used ?
It can but it depends on your printing surface and Z axis sensor.
If you’re using a steel/PEI bed and an inductive sensor then glue stick does not result in any changes in the height/mesh.
If you are using glass and something like a BL Touch then the glue stick can cause problems with the Z height/mesh (as well as gum up the BL Touch). This is why there are products like 3D LAC, which spray on and do not affect the Z axis height sensing.
cool , thanks, looks like i snuck by as am using PEI bed
an allied question: it is pretty handy when removing finished prints from the bed to tilt/bend the bendable bed just enough to dislodge the print model from the bed as the bed cools;
sometimes i have comletely removed the bed;
doing any of that changes the precise bed location from that used in the bed meshing calibration doesnt it ?
does that invalidate the calibration ?
If you don’t have anything fall between the steel sheet and the magnetic bed you’re fine.
Just for an experiment, I’ve lifted the PEI sheet and did another mesh calibrate and they’re identical.
PEI will release clean when it is cooled. No problems. The best PEI materials I have never used glue stick on keep them clean and they work just fine. Not the best often need glue at that point it is really just flexible metal the PEI properties are void. Sprays are fine I don’t like the mess I personally dissolve a bit of glue stick in distilled water (like 1/4 in 1 oz) and just coat the bed with that on a clean lintless pad or cotton pad.
I second this,
I use almost exclusively PEI beds now, and I never use and sort of additional adhesive on them. Just make sure that you keep it clean, sometimes I will give the bed an extra 5-10 degrees as well to help the print stick.
Matthew
I switched to a PEI bed recently from the OEM bed on my Ender 3 S1 PLUS and haven’t had to use a glue stick since. Print comes off very easily when cooled.
Glue, when it heats up tends to level out over the surface. It doesn’t need to be put on very thick, just enough to cover the bed with a light layer.
P.S. it goes on better after the bed is at print temperature.
to add a bit of context:
generally i dont use glue stick, never have, never needed to;
But the image hereinbelow shows an aborted print on the left and a successful one on the right;
the one on the left was printed with a bed temp of 60, no glue, it fell over ,literally about layer 1827, it literally just vibrated off the bed and fell over;
was using brim bed adhesion;
so i upped the bed temp to 70 and retried;
no joy;
that is when i reached for the glue stick; the combo of the (bed at 70 + glue stick) did the job;
the model is slightly top-heavy, not as much as the camera angle suggests, and there was a great deal of vibration near the top; the 4 “stages” are all the same size;
as an aside i rather liked the “mistake print” and started printing to that exact layer with no top, the gyroid infill becoming part of the visible portion of the end result, the new top; as shown by the two gold versions in the image background;
@vernd, @mykepredko
Just to add a little anecdote here: I’ve had an Ender 3 V2 with BL Touch/glass plate for over 2 years now. I’ve printed many parts with and without glue stick but I’ve never had any issues with first layer calibration due to the glue. As long as the glue isn’t caked on super thick, there shouldn’t be any getting on the BL Touch’s probing tip. I usually wash the glue off after a few prints and re-apply if necessary!
One final note as well: Glue is not only used as an adhesion aid but also as a release agent for certain materials (Like PETG).
Try setting the bed to 70C for the first layer and then turn down to 50C-ish for the rest.
With a top heavy print like that I would add a custom support that goes to about half way up. Minimum 2 supports, that would prevent it from toppling. The latest update of CURA 5.4.0 has improved tree supports making them very easy to remove.
Yes supports adds time but much better than losing a print at 90% complete.
A custom support for that doesn’t have to be big and if you keep the infill down to 2% then it won’t add that much time.
thanks , good idea, in my novice experience i had pretty much discarded the whole idea of using supports wherever possible; so much so that i was choosing what models to print based on whether it looked like they would need supports;
my g-code generator of choice has been cura so i guess i could use their tree supports
or bite the bullet and try g-code generation from the most current prusa slicer ( i actually have that version installed but i found there to be some bug ( as i interpreted it ) so i use the features of the previous version , fix with netfabb, add-parts ,specific cutting and such )
Try the custom support as Blenky said. It will use a lot less filament and time. You only need to support it in a couple of places.
Paint on supports might work great. I don’t know if cura has them yet. Maybe I have not upgraded in a bit. I have been using lightning infill lately for non structural things. It works well and is faster to print with less infill. Almost no infill really.
Cura has something similar or basically the same.
I know the black build-tak plastic sheets are not that popular, but for tall prints, they work really well. They stick too well for small prints, or high surface prints, but low surface tall prints, they are the cats meow.
As long as your bed is correctly trammed, correct offset, you will have to pry it loose.
Angus @ makers muse cleans bed with IPA then uses glue stick then smooths with IPA across whole bed . I tried this method works well.