There has not been temperature related problems with the d-c-fix. It is cheap. 1€ per build surface max.
[quote=“Volguus”]Thinking the glass had been warped by its tenure clipped to the metal holder, I FLIPPED OVER the glass onto new foam tape squares. Instead of the problem being inverse (the glass “dome” is now a “bowl”), the extruder scraped the same area in the same way as before.
In my case, I’ve just learned to adjust the extruder height to a happy medium and squirt a thick first layer to help adhesion of large prints, but I just wanted to say the problem definitely exists.[/quote]Yes, the problem definitely exists, it’s definitely down to poor design of the print bed clips. Velleman have not admitted it or come out with a solution which is a little disappointing, but like you say you can live with it. The only time it grates a little (pun intended!) is when I’m doing large prints and I have to use lily pads to ensure the corners stick over several hours.
But on a positive note, I’m looking forward to trying d-c-fix velour as a print bed!
I’ve started to use the PRINTinZ flexible print plate since a few days now and initially the smaller objects were not easily removed from the plate. The larger objects come off just fine.
After a bit of testing and fine tuning, especially the nozzle distance and the bed leveling, all objects are printed fine and can be removed like a charm.
My printer settings are still set to the defaults and I’m not using a heated print bed! The plate is very durable and at the same time a bit flexible and can be used on both sides.
I’m happy with this purchase and my days of using BuildTak or any other type of tape or sprays are definitely over as I can now fully concentrate on designing objects and printing them. I’ve already printed on this plate for over 30 hours and I’ve never been able to do that with a single BuildTak sheet without damaging it.
I believe that if this solution would have been standard delivered with the printer this topic in this forum would not even have existed.
I’m fully satisfied with my purchase and the reviews of others in this forum actually made me decide to buy one and see for myself!
Hi czvt7w,
sound cool, can’t wait to get mine.
Can you remove the small objects easyly?
What distance do you recommend?
I’m using the default settings (out-of-the-box) from Velleman. An A4 sheet of paper folded twice!
My recommendation for printing small objects would be to print them in the middle of the plate from back to front as that would make it easy to remove them from the plate. You might need a cutter knife but the board is more durable compared to tape or BuildTak and chances for damaging the board is much less. My small objects I printed so far are about 20mm long x 20mm wide x 1.8 mm thick. I can remove them without too much effort!.
Does this help?
Vertex-user:
thanks for the tip of using d-c-fix velours.
Made some prints on it and indeed it works great!
No warping at all when full bed prints are being made ( 18*16cm) and smooth printing results.
Managed to buy it for less than Eur 1,- per build sheet in local shop.
No more Builtak for me.
Thanks for the golden tip.
You are welcome. d-c-fix really shows that the “official” build surfaces on the market are way too expensive and not working as well as d-c-fix. I think the key is the flexibility of the build surface to avoid the tension between surface and the printed object.
It’s nice to see that you have a solution that works for you. It would be interesting for those who want to try this to know how often it needs to be replaced. How many hours/kilos per sheet can be printed. I’m using the PRINTinZ build plate and have not had any issues either and I’ve only printed on one side. Printed already a few kilos of PLA and not a single print failed, very small, small nor large. In the past this would have cost me 3 BuildTak sheets. I also dropped the glass plate and it broke! Since I started using my PRINTinZ plate I did not even change any settings nor performed any Z calibration. The plate can even be dropped on the floor without the slightest damage. The objects stick very well, sometimes too well, and are hard to remove unless you ply the plate just a little bit. Works like a charm and will last for a very long time so it seems. It’s very much worth its $50 if doing a lot of printing so the decision to select a build plate depends on usage. No BuildTak nor any kind of tape/glue/sticking material for me!
Not exactly an alternative surface but after seeing someone mentioning glue stick I tried UHU glue stick on my faltering buildtak surface and for PLA it works great and gives me very good adhesion so far. I does cause some discoloration of the bottom surfaces. I have yet to try it with ABS or the rubber filament I have and has given me some grief.
In the same spirit that ABS users make a “slurry” of ABS and acetone to coat their building surface, I made a PLA “slurry” from some old glue sticks that had become too hard to use as intended. I sliced them thinly into a glass jar, added some 90% alcohol, and let it dissolve overnight. Painted on the old Buildtak with a brush, it coats evenly and works great. I only had to stop when I gouged my Buildtak too many times with the blade I use to (obviously sometimes hurriedly) pry off large prints.
I still think that the main trick is the flexibility of the surface not the chemical or mechanical bond. This is why D-C-FIX works so well. It lets the object kind of “floats” over the surface and there is no tension between the object and surface = no bending of object.
Explained here a bit more…
A tip for danish users. The D-C Fix velour is avalible in your local Bauhaus store. 1m x 0,45m for 49kr. (Around 7EUR)
Thanks for the tip with the D-C-Fix will give a try to this.
Do you have tried to print HIPS or may ABS on the D-C-Fix? This would be very awesome if you could test this.
Because when this works and the material sticks, a heated bed is the most useless think for the printer.
Thanks
[quote=“crzdg”]@VERTEX-USER
Thanks for the tip with the D-C-Fix will give a try to this.
Do you have tried to print HIPS or may ABS on the D-C-Fix? This would be very awesome if you could test this.
Because when this works and the material sticks, a heated bed is the most useless think for the printer.
Thanks[/quote]
It is not perfect for ABS 
Corners do warp up.
I have also decided to stop using D-C-Fix, because of the residues on the print.
Printing PETG on D-C-Fix works ok so far.
Sometimes there is a little bit of warping and the bottom of the parts could be a little nicer.
DC Fix velour was, amazingly, available in Romania… although probably not at the cheapest prices. Still, I snapped up a roll and tried it out. I have the feeling I’ll have mixed feelings. On one hand, prints (PLA) seem to stick well enough On the other hand, abandon all hopes of a smooth shiny bottom surface because they do pick up some flocking from the velour, no matter how you adjust the printbed height to increase or decrease the bonding force of the first layer (although it’s nice to have some forgiving wiggle room in this area, which the soft amorphous surface of the velour affords). The bottoms of every print look dirty at best, and are actually fuzzy at worst.
This is what happened when I printed some Marvin robot keychains. At lower right was with the printbed height set “normally” (nozzle touching a folded sheet of paper). Marvin came out quite firmly embedded in the velour and as you can see, took much of it with him when removed. Further back and left was another Marvin after I had lowered the printbed wholesale with one full turn of the endstop adjustment screw on the Z-axis assembly. Better - still sufficient adhesion, but the first layer would print “sloppy”, as if the plastic were, to some extent, being extruded into the air before settling onto the print surface. The finished print came off with minor velour on the bottom, just giving it a dirty appearance.
What’s obvious is that the velour coming off on the prints will cumulatively cause the print surface to grow uneven. I’m staggering my print jobs around the bed so they’re not always in the same spot, but still. A possible experiment might be to shave or sand the looser velour flock off the bed, leaving a firmer and flatter print surface less prone to imprinting. Another thought I had was to use a lighter-colored velour to reduce the dirty-feet aspect of the prints. It’s early in the game for me so I’ll fool with it and report what I find.
I too am in the process of trying d-c-fix® Sticky Back Plastic (self adhesive vinyl film) Velours Black, and so far, I’m liking what I see!
OK, so I’m printing with black filament on black velour, but I love the soft textured surface it leaves. For example, here is the lid of a fishing tackle box I’m testing:
On Buildtak, unless it was new, this would result in lifted corners. Now I’m not saying that the d-c-fix velour won’t lift off if you apply enough force, it probably will. But I think this stuff has an application here. For example, for my lid, as we all know, although you can get quite a nice surface finish with the Vertex, frankly the texture of the Buildtak isn’t great, it’s often uneven or shows marks of previous prints. The velour texture of the d-c-fix hides this, and gives the lid a lovely soft velvet finish - far nicer IMO than what I could have achieved with BuildTak:
Obviously this isn’t for every application, but it comes in handy for many (vases that won’t scratch polished wood, for example). But the point here is that d-c-fix velour is dirt cheap - yes, it’s literally that cheap you could use on a single print and chuck it away afterwards. The piece I used has the monetary value of about two mouthfuls of beer!
So I’d give this a try. I use a single sheet of printer paper to get the distance from the bed. Match the velour colour with your filament colour, and enjoy a lovely soft underside to your print!
Finished box in draft 0.2mm:
A “long term update” if you will: overall I can’t complain about the D-C Fix velour, although I have been able to get parts to warp and raise their corners if you print a bit hot and slow. A brim easily takes care of that. No, the biggest issue is the tiny space under the extruder while in Home position. It eventually gets worn/melted entirely down to the glass surface underneath. What happens then is that the “glob” which the printer makes when starting every print detaches and comes along with the head when it moves away from home, lodging the “glob” in the print area. Doesn’t happen all the time, and if you’re quick you can catch it and pull it off once the head starts moving, but it does happen and I think it’s something that probably wouldn’t with a firm build surface. Just a heads up.