Bed Adhesion - tricks and tips?

[The Hat]

@Redbrickman, Question: - is Pritt stick not the same as Elmer’s purple glue stick...

 

[Redbrickman]

Dunno. May well be. Elmer's seems to go on well on the glass and you can get a really fine film of glue.

 

[The Hat]

So, it’s not the same, Pritt goes on in lumps and must be levelled off with a pallet knife, I wonder would this stuff work any better...

 

[Redbrickman]

The one I got is the same type of tube as Pritt. Looks purple and when applied turns clear. When you wet it it goes purple again, good for little kids to wash their hands as they can see where the glue is

Unlike Pritt this stuff goes on in a nice fine film.

 

[Nifty]

PLA with the bed at room temperature (20c) nd the popular Elmer's Purple glue stick.

PLA on a room-temp bed using purple glue? Ugh, you may have me convinced to give this one last try.

I got some glue sticks at the Dollar Store expected them all to be pretty much the same thing, but they didn't work. Maybe not all glue sticks are created equal? I guess to definitively say one way or another, I need to use the actual elmers purple glue.

 

[Redbrickman]

Elmers glue can be spread gently with a very thin film and does not bunch up unless you are pushing it down hard onto the glass.

I printed a long test piece tonight - Spitfire wing root switched filament in the middle of it when the white run out and the CR-10S resume function worked - 224 mm long and the Elmers glue did the trick Was printed with the white face on the bed, diagonall placed on the bed, the inside has no infill in the test piece.

I can't say I would trust it yet on a 14 hr print, which is what the actual complete wing part is (180 mm high with internal structure) but I have not had one failure yet in parts up to about 100mm wide.

 

[stratman]

is Pritt stick not the same as Elmer’s purple glue stick...

You can find (some of) the ingredients for Pritt Stick, supposedly, but not for Elmer's purple glue.

Water, potato starch, and sugar: what reads like an ingredients list for baked-goods are actually the main ingredients in Pritt glue sticks.

Up to 90 percent (including water) of a Pritt glue stick is composed of natural ingredients. The original Pritt glue sticks and all-purpose adhesives are solvent and PVC-free

http://www.henkel-adhesives.com/adhesives/2015-48336-naturally-pritt-48660.htm


Elmer's used to use Casein, a mammalian milk protein, but has switched to synthetics, and Elmer's swears there are no animal products in their glue. This may or may not apply to the purple Elmer's glue, but it appears to be a closely held proprietary secret.

My gestalt is the two glues are not alike.

 

[FryingSaucer]

No need even to remove the glass afterwards to clean it, I just use a damp microfibre cloth to rub off the surplus glue and if the surface left is no too rough I just recoat the same area without cleaning it off.

So, do you normally reuse the glue surface for subsequent prints. How many times can you do this?

Were you using the IKEA mirror mentioned in the video?

 

[Redbrickman]

I have reused it for small parts, but for anything big I think I'd wipe it clean and redo. have not tried it on the mirror yet, been using the standard glass with Elmers so far.

 

[The Hat]

I have had a chance to use Elmer purple stick for my prints, the first ones didn’t stick and let go 1 hour into the project, but on instructions, I set my bed temperature to 23 c and from then on, I had no trouble at all, Elmer was a great success.

But wait there’s more, while trying an overnight print, I came back in the morning to find some of the edges had lifted slightly, just enough to balls up the print and render it useless. (Sh** happens)

Again, on seeking advice, we both agreed that my problem was probably cause by temperature variations in my shed, the bed was dry to touch during the day time, but next morning the adhesive had reverted to active again, like I had just applied it.

I gave the printer the rest of the day off for new year celebrations, and next morning (Day 3) the adhesive was still active and very sticky, the temperature difference was only 4 degrees, but enough to cause the problem.

During the day Elmer works perfect, but overnight, that’s a different story, a higher bed temperature may well cure the problem, but I reckon it’s better to refrain from overnight use for now. (Above 12 Degrees)

I want to say a word of appreciation to @Redbrickman for sending me this stick of Elmer purple glue at considerable cost to him, and nothing to me, so a big thank you to him for his generously and for allowing me to test and use Elmer myself.

I can’t source the sticks here, only the small bottles, but I’ll keep on looking, Elmer glue is Ohio based and exported out of China, and I reckon we here, are not a big enough market for it...