More than just painting: Blue tape
Tape for sad people
Blue painter’s tape is a lot more useful than it first appears. 1 When you think about tape, it’s tempting to assume something like duct tape is the most useful kind – because it is super sticky and super strong. However, these aren’t always desirable characteristics. Suppose you need tape that will stand out against a drab background? Or that will come off cleanly? Or won’t be too sticky?
Or you’ve got a 3D printer. Blue tape is a great surface for printing with PLA and can be very useful when printing on an automated build platform with ABS. It is cheap, easily replaced, and has a slight texture that lets hot sticky plastic grip well. If you’re having problems getting a raft or print to stick, definitely give it a shot!
- Photo courtesy of photonburst [↩]
| Tagged with | 3d printer, blue, blue tape, painter, painters, painters tape, printer, printers, tape | 4 comments |
4 Comments so far
Martin
Is it ok to use it at 100C on an HBP?
Anderson
Yeah, you can use it at that temp. I use it up to 120C for my HBP and ABP. No mention of fat kapton? As a new converter to the medium, I say it is better than blue painters tape.
Dave Durant
I tried this for the first time ~a week ago, after tearing up a chunk of my HBP kapton by mistake.
Biggest problem I had with it was getting the parts OFF – they kept pulling up the tape. Any tips on that? I’ve got it set to 110C and thought I had the tape down really well on the kapton..
What kind of belt are you using? - MakerBot Industries
[...] found that blue painter’s tape works great with PLA. I haven’t tried wrapping it around my entire conveyor belt, just the [...]