Bed sheet for PETG and ABS
Wanted to see what type of sheet you use for printing PETG and ABS. I haven't printed either but was wanting to. I see the Satin sheet is out of stock but am wondering if I should get the textured sheet or not? I prefer to not use a bonding agent but want to hear what you think. I have read too many posts and still do not have it clear in my head what I should use.
RE: Bed sheet for PETG and ABS
Hello @buzz-2:
I have no experience with ABS but have printed a good amount of PETG.
I built my MK3S+ from a kit this past July, 2021. I ordered the kit with just the textured sheet and was initially very frustrated that I couldn’t get the Prusa PLA that shipped with the printer to stick to the bed at all.
I ordered some Overture PETG from Amazon and began having some luck printing this material. The forums here were key to helping me understand more about bed adhesion and Z height, and I am eternally grateful to the kind and generous people who share their knowledge and experience on these boards.
So, long story to say I’ve printed a fair amount of PETG using the textured sheet without any release agent necessary. I wait for my prints to cool to room temperature and they typically release on their own or with a slight bend of the sheet. Trying to remove the prints while hot can be frustrating. Patience is key here.
Of course, a clean print surface is critical so I follow the forum advice to wash my print sheet in very hot water with Dawn dish detergent (Fairy in the UK) using a new, unused textured sponge, rinse thoroughly, dry with clean paper towels and then handle only by the edges. No alcohol prior to first use after cleaning.
I just received a new satin print sheet last week and am using that exclusively for PLA and it’s working beautifully! I did eventually get PLA to stick to the textured sheet but the adhesion isn’t nearly as good as with PETG so I felt it was time to expand my sheet collection to two. I should have done this a while ago but haven’t had the need to print much PLA until recently.
Anyway, good luck. Let us know what you decide!
R-
@buzz-2
I'll offer my experience, I have printed a great deal of ABS on my MK3's on all three of the different kind of sheets. When printing on the (Smooth PEI sheet) I use a separator, e.g. (Elmer's purple glue stick or Kores) ABS bonds very strongly to the Smooth PEI sheet and the separator is highly recommended.
(Textured Steel sheet) I don't normally use a separator on this sheet and print directly on the sheet with good result, the one caveat to this is, If have a model that is prone to peel/warp off the bed I'll use (Layerneer bed weld) to help hold it more strongly to the surface.
(Satin Sheet)(my personal favorite type) is exactly the same usage as the Textured Steel sheet, (Layerneer bed weld) to help hold a model if warping is a problem.
You can print ABS on all the types If using the Smooth PEI be sure to use a separator. <---just reiterating
Another word of advice, before Printing to much ABS, print yourself a couple of extra fan shrouds and heatbed cable cover's out of ABS. As they are exposed to higher temps they will warp and you will want to replace them from time to time, once your good printing ABS you might move on to PC blend to print the fan shroud and heatbed cable cover and then you won't have the wrapping issues with those parts when printing ABS and other hot materials.
ABS is one of my favorite materials.
Good Luck
Swiss_Cheese
The Filament Whisperer
RE: Bed sheet for PETG and ABS
Thanks to Randy M9 and Swiss_Cheese for the comments. I will probably go with the satin sheet, if I can find it. thanks again.
RE: Bed sheet for PETG and ABS
With 3 kind of sheets and lots of different printing materials, this page is worth a bookmark:
https://help.prusa3d.com/en/materials
RE: Bed sheet for PETG and ABS
thanks ejberg. definitely worth a bookmark.