3D printing - Sticky bed for FDM printers

Introduction

FDM printers usually come with a bed that isn't optimal in term of stickiness. And sometimes even the material isn't optimal or really flat.
Good materials:
- ceramic glass: Flat, hard and a very low thermal expansion coefficient of 0,1·10⁻⁶ 1/K
- carbon sheets: Flat, hard and a very low, negative thermal expansion coefficient of -0,1·10⁻⁶ 1/K
- epoxy sheets: Flat and hard
- glass sheets: Flat and hard
- pertinax/FR2 sheets: Flat

All sheets but pertinax can be just placed on the heated bed, there's no need to glue them or clamp them against the heated bed. I have 0.5mm carbon for smaller parts and 2mm carbon for larger parts, that are much larger than the heated bed and are only connected to a holder at the z carriage. Easy to swap and remove.

Pertinax has the advantage of good adhesion of PLA and ABS, and most likely also other materials, but it has the big disadvantage that it really likes to wrap, roll and bend. It must be properly fixed to the bed.

Make the bed sticky

There are a few options, sorted from worst to best:
1. Hairspray
2. Kapton tape
3. Blue tape
4. Jelly solution
5. PEI
6. Hairspray

1. Hairspay: Most hairsprays don't help anything
2. Kapton tape: It's hard to apply (straight, no bubbles) and is is not very sticky
3. Blue tape: Easy to apply, can't stand higher temperatures. Use this if you don't have a heated bed.
4.  Jelly solution: Jelly (or Jell-O) provides good adhesion, but it's lengthy to mix and apply. It must be reapplied quite often, it's not very long lasting.
5. PEI: PEI (or Ultem, (polyetherimide)) provides very good adhesion, but there are a few drawbacks: PEI sheets are very bendable, even more the Pertinax, therefore it's impossible to just clamp them to the heated bed, and gluing without bubbles is virtually impossible. PEI coated build plates are good in theory, but it's possible to damage the coating (if the adhesion between the printed part and the PEI coating is higher than the adhesion between the PEI coating and the build plate), they are expensive and not available in every size.
6. Hairspray: Some hairsprays have certain polymers, and they work like magic. Look for one of the following ingredients, it should be mentioned at the 2nd or 3rd position, maybe 4th but not later:

•  acrylates/t-butylacrylamide copolymer
• Tested: Garnier Fructis Stype EXTREME HARD

• VA/Crotonates/Vinyl Neodecanoate Copolymer
• Tested: Rave 4X Mega
• Tested: Suave Extreme Hold

Hairspray selection

There a plenty of other hairsprays with these ingredients, no need to get exactly the ones mentioned above. Follow the links to get the lists:
http://www.cosmeticanalysis.com/cosmetic-ingredients/acrylates-t-butylacrylamide-copolymer.html 
http://www.cosmeticanalysis.com/cosmetic-ingredients/va-crotonates-vinyl-neodecanoate-copolymer.html

Hairspray application

The hairspray must be applied only once, and then the build plate shall be heated to bake the polymers onto the build plate. It'll be a slightly rough coating, and you'll have to scratch hard to remove it. You can print PLA, ABS, PETG, TPU/SoftPLA/igus/Nylon and most likely any other filaments on it. The printed parts pop off when the build plate cools down.
There's no need to reapply the hairspray (unless you damage the coating), and it can be cleaned even with soft cloth without destroying the coating.

If you don't have a suitable hairspray at home simply take your build plate to your hairdresser for a short extra treatment. Or just visit me.





Backup list (11.11.2017):
http://www.cosmeticanalysis.com/cosmetic-ingredients/acrylates-t-butylacrylamide-copolymer.html
Balea - Volume Effect Forming Water
Brigitte Lund - Volumen Trend Styler
Garnier - Fructis Style Gel-Spray Hard
Hair Haus - Haarspray Ultra Strong Hold
L'Oreal - Styling Spray
L'Oreal - Liquid Gel
L'Oreal Professionnel Paris  - Tecni Art - Air Fix 15 Haarspray
Loreal Paris - Studio Line Spurenlos Fx 8
Syoss - Haarspray Professional Performance
Today (Penny, REWE) - Haarspray Perfekter Halt
Trinity - Reload Finalizer Plus
Udo Walz - Volumen-Pflege
Wella - Wellaflex Sensitiv
Wella - Wellaflex Haarspray
Wella - Wellaflex Haarspray
Wella - Wellaflex Form & Finish Glanz-Haarlack
Wella - Wellaflex Glanz-Haarlack
Wellaflex - Farb-Brillanz Haarspray
Wellaflex - Wellaflex Form & Finish Glanz-Haarlack
Wellaflex Men - Mega Spray

http://www.cosmeticanalysis.com/cosmetic-ingredients/va-crotonates-vinyl-neodecanoate-copolymer.html
Alcina - Haarfestiger Extra Starker Halt
Aussie Volume Hairspray - Volume Hairspray
Aveda Be Curly Hairspray - Be Curly Hair Spray
Bigitte Lund - Ansatz Haarspray
Brigitte Lund - Volumen Haarspray
Dr. Baumann Cosmetic - Hair Spray
Dr. Baumann Cosmetic - Haarspray
Gard Professional Styling - Haarspray Normal
Gard Professional Styling - Haarspray Mit Bambusextrakt
Garnier - Haarspray Elastic Fixier-Power
Helen Of Troy Limited - Final Net
L'Oreal - Studio Fix & Style Fixier-Lack
L'Oreal Professionnel Paris - Infinium Lumiere
L'Oreal Studio Go Create - Fixation Ultra Forte
L'Oreal Studioline - Studio Fix & Style Fixier-Lack
Suave - Rave 4 X Mega Hairspray