I absolutely love this machine, but I’m having some issues with print adhesion after a couple weeks of printing. I read that this is normal, so I started experimenting with not a lot of success. Scraping while hot, soap and water, isopropyl alcohol, gluestick smoothed out with isopropyl…
Anyone else have ideas how to bring it back to that out-of-the-box quality? And the gluestick thing isn’t stupid right? I saw Maker’sMuse doing it on YT and he seems to know what he’s doing…
Using the A350, all stock parts. PLA. Hotbed set to 70C and nozzle to 205. Model in images is that benchmark engine thing. https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4575774
(in the photos attached, there’s also X-axis shift, somehow something got knocked hard enough to scoot the magnetic surface back, assuming it was a loose part of the model here getting between the rest of the print and the nozzle.)
I am also super new to 3d printing and too have an a350.
I recently started using this stuff called Magigoo which helps with adhesion and part release as well. It cleans off with cold water real easily and i am impressed with it overall.
I was using rafts a lot for adhesion but i am printing some stuff now without them because of it,
Initial layers should be real thin, wide and slow. Perhaps hotter too. Depends on your specific filament.
If you havent tried using Cura you might want to check it out, there are infinitely more settings than Luban, although you still need luban to send the gcode.
If your settings are right you shouldn’t need anything on the print bed with PLA.
Using something, whether it’s blue tape or gluestick or something else can give you more room for error. (Don’t let people shame you that it’s a crutch. What matters is being successful)
I prefer using gluestick (I like the Elmers big stick that’s purple when wet) when I’m printing PETG and will occasionally use it with PLA when it’s something delicate or thin that I don’t really want to have to bend much to get off.
Using IPA with glue doesn’t make sense to me. Water does the trick if I feel like I need to smooth it out.
When I’m using glue stick I give it a quick coat and it’s good for 5-10 prints easily. You kind of get a feel for when it’s time to redo.
I then either wash the bed under the sink or just use a wet paper towel. The nice thing about the Elmer’s is it turns purple again when wet so easy to tell if it’s all off.
After rinsing then I just use IPA to wipe down the bed.
IPA is the only thing you should need to use on your bed. Soap & water is fine but make sure that there’s nothing in the soap like moisturizers: use dishwashing soap, not hand soap.
key to getting prints to stick is proper Z height, initial layer print speed, and a flat level bed. but if you cant get all those just right, i prefer blue painters tape. it removes easily, no washing required. and like the glue, its good for multiple prints. though if you use tape and your Z offset is too low it will fuse the tape to the print.
I have used PVA glue sticks with success in the past. I haven’t had the need yet with the A350. On my Lulzbot I would occasionally use ABS slurry but that is definitely a big NO NO on the A350. I have heard that some people have luck with kapton tape but blur painter’s tape is more common I think.
First step is to do like @Atom suggests and double check your Z height and initial layer print speed.
