A week or so, I posted my intent to try printing on cork, which I have an abundance of.
My original idea was that it might make a great surface for printing PLA onto since PLA doesn’t necessarily require a heated bed. After a couple of experiments last night, I think that it may be possible print ABS onto cork without a heated bed.
Check out the album (there are comments with the pictures / videos)
Takaways: #1 - ABS seems to stick to semi-warm cork really well. #2 - The ABS print is easy to separate from the cork. #3 - There is no scarring or tearing of the cork, which makes it reusable. #4 - 1/8" thick is too thin. I’m going to try to glue several pieces together to prevent the warping that you see on the larger print.
@Anthony_White Responded to my last offer to send cork out to anyone that wanted to experiment, and he says he may have some time to try PLA and ABS on a non-heated bed this weekend.
I’m willing to send some pieces to a couple of other people for experimentation. Just PM me your plate measurements and mailing address. I’ll send something to the first 3 folks who respond (if you are willing to share your results with the community)
I’ve fiddled with it a bit this morning, and was quite surprised. I have had some of the cork stick to the bottom of the print, but that might be a z-offset issue. The cork also needs to be pulled quite tight with the binder clips so the print doesn’t warm while remaining stuck down. I’ll post some pictures this weekend.
I think I’ll glue some down to a sheet of garolie. I may also use my last scrap of nylon to see how well it adheres, as I didn’t have the most success with the garolite.
@Wylie_Hilliard Yeah, I have a few ideas on possible ways to make the cork firm (gluing several pieces, or gluing to cardboard or something). I’m also going to rig it so that my cork platform is raised from my heated platform so that it’s completely cold.
ABS stuck a bit, but I may have had my z-offset too low, and the cork is forgiving in that respect (compressible). Trying now with offset increase, adhering well as the first player prints, I’ll see in a couple hours how well it comes unstuck. I never use rafts…
@Anthony_White Gotcha. Making two mental notes: 1# After my next print I’m going to wait a little while before I remove the print. 2# Try a print without rafts (that would be a dream if I didn’t have to print with rafts)
yeah I hate peeling off rafts. And I think how quick you pull it off makes a difference - I let one print completely cool and it was dramatically harder to remove.
