Best posts made by nbGU

Hello,

I want to share my experience with a Polypropylene build surface, because when I was looking into buying one I couldn't find much information in the form of reviews.

The build plate is a 235mm x 235mm x 3mm sheet designed for an Ender 3, installed on my DIY machine.

Performance with different materials:

• PLA - the hardest to get good adhesion but possible if you have a flat bed/good compensation, 55 Celcius bed, <20mm/s first layer

• PETG - outstanding performance with a range of filaments including ColourFabb XT, 70 Celsius bed, <30mm/s first layer parts stick very well then pop off with ease once the temperature drops below 60.

• Polycarbonate (Polymaker Polymax PC) - Outstanding performance. At 100 Celsius bed I can print without rafts and brims for most parts, one or two awkward models have needed small brims.

• Polypropylene - testing soon but should be the ideal build surface.

• Nylon - testing soon and will update.

If like me, you want to move away from using PLA filament and don't want to faff around with tape, hairspray, glue or any other magic potions, PP buildplates are a good option.

Performance with the Duet IR sensor is flawless.

Build plate can easily be scratched, but if you can wait a few minutes for it to cool, parts pop right off.

Wipe with IPA between prints.

Sorry to revive an old thread again but I have an additional theory on this.

Is it possible that these tiny waves on the surface of the extruded material are a result of the deformation of the filament due to the hobbed gear?

If the teeth of the extruder bite into the filament enough to deform it, then the volumetric flow of filament will pulse with the amplitude of the volume difference between a thin section and thick section.

I see this surface affect when using softer (more deformation) and glossier (more visible) filaments.

Might be nonsense but its just a thought.

Wanted to update this post because i have solved my issue.

I did design and print a new extruder bracket which brought the inductive probe and nozzle closer together, and brought everything closer to the X axis rails. It didn't make much difference.

I found that the probe points on my heatbed (Mk42 from Orballo printing) didn't actually seem to be dead centered in the marked positions on the PCB heatbed, and also suspected that my Amazon probe might not be all that good.

The solution?

• Buy the IR probe by DC42

• Design a neat bracket for the sensor that sits nicely alongside the heaterblock (tested positions until the heat no longer softened a PLA bracket, then printed it in XT-CF20)

• Remove my PEI print surface clamp on a polypropylene build surface.

• Quick and easy setup and calibration following the online guides

And the result is absolutely beautiful first layers across the entire print area!