Hello,
is it possible to print ABS with the Vertex without a heated bed?
The specs say it`s possible, but in the forum are negative examples of printing with ABS.
There are no instructions from Vellemann how to print with ABS. I don’t want to destroy my Printer with wrong settings.
Who has printed sucecessfully with ABS and which are the settings for the vertex?
I’m printing mostly with ABS. The Vertex settings are ok to get the print sticking to the bed (I add a 3 to 5 mm brim to small objects). On the contrary it tends to stick like hell. I cut large chunks of my Buildtak trying to remove prints with a cutter blade. Its better to use a fine spatula.
Only change I made to the original setting is lowering the flow to 75-80% (too much filament extruded with the standard setting).
I find a flat part tends to warp in ABS… the new layer shrinks on top of the older one, causing all to curve inward, causing the material to come loose from the bed. Also with large brims.
… I am also searching for a solution. Geometry must make a big difference. A standing plate shouldn’t warp so much for example.
Come to think of it… this is why heated beds are used?
Could you print on an ABS sheet? Or use less solid setting of 20 %?
I’ve also drastically reduced the fan speed (With my K8200 I’m printing without any fan but in the vertex, the fan is necessaru to coll the plastic part or the head so i’ve kept about 30% fan speed.
Warping is common with large pieces in ABS. On my K8200 I’m coating the bed with PVC glue and the pieces stick well. With the Buildtak, well when it was new it sticked perfectly. now after having printed several pieces at the same spot it doesn’t stick so well. I clean the sheet with acetone and it gets better.
Here is a smaller part (30 mm) that went nicely in ABS:
BuildTak
driver boards: 0,905 V
35% solid
1,75 filament
windows closed, door closed, next room ventilated.
all settings standard (start ABS at 245; dropping to 225 while printing i saw)
Abs sticking very tightly to the bed.
I read here/find ABS shrinks of the bed, I think the failure occurs in two steps:
1 - linear shrinkage of a large surface breaks the bed connection
2 - layer stacking and shrinking on the older layers then warps the ‘corners up’
-> Thats why i have drawn this larger part (55mm) with fragmented smaller supports to limit the in-face shrinking and movement.
Then if the part itself shrinks, the pilars flex in X and Y, and only block and prevent Z-movement. Thats the one messing up the print.
…it seems to work, but my printer decided to layer shift…
so I can’t show the light switch yet… I started out with a hundred very small pilars, but that was too hard for my vertex to bounce over (layer shifting), conventional support warped loose.
So now I use this:
One and only good thing my first and previous printer, CEL Robox, had was its heated bed. It has a heated aluminium bed with detachable PEI (polyetherimide, aka “ULTEM”) sheet on top.
PEI sheet worked very nicely for ABS! When hot ABS stuck like rapid glue on fingers and when it cooled down it detached miraculously by itself!! No any kind of force was required.
Also the surface printed against PEI sheet was stunningly neat and shiny!
Sadly the PEI sheet was not flat and thus caused several other problems such as warping. 
One day I might want to give a try for polyetherimide as material again!
If one could have access to a professional 3d printer capable of printing ULTEM, it might be possible to print “flat enough” sheet with decent stiffening features on the bottom surface and contact areas for heater elements.
That might be an ultimate solution for a printing bed
Sounds cool, but would you need to print PEI ?
Maybe you can buy a sheet of it , and glue it on the stiff plate, or this printed construction.
There is talk of this foil on fora and they found it …
