Easy Removal of PLA from printer bed (UPDATED!)

thingiverse

A thin silicone mat on the print bed adds some give to allow easy removal of PLA parts from print bed. I added an alternative method that avoids the slight bowing of the bottom surface of the print. The part file is for anyone with a Bukito, but the idea should work for other printers. Instructions Silicone Pad Method Materials: Blue Painter's tape silicone pastry mat I used http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00HS3VHO0/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 It can take 250 C temperatures. Double sided tape (I used 3M 300LSE) http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=300lse%20double%20sided%20tape First put down a layer of Blue Painter's Tape. The 3M double sided tape is very aggressive and will be hard to ever remove from the print bed otherwise. Next put down a layer of the double sided tape covering the blue tape on the print bed. Cut a piece of the silicone mat to size and carefully lay it on the exposed double sided tape so it is smooth and uniform. The silicone mat won't stick well to this, so you can easily reposition it and it will keep it from slipping. Finally put down a top piece of blue tape. Again, it won't stick to the silicone mat, so make it wide enough so you can wrap it around the sides and bottom nice and tightly. (see the pictures.) Re-level the bed to compensate for the added thickness (about 1.2 mm or so). Print as usual. Now, when you use your spatula (I use this:) http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0000VLEU4/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 or whatever to remove the piece, the silicone mat will have some give, so you can easily get under a corner and slide your spatula under it. One downside I've noticed is that there is a slight bowing of the bottom (maybe 0.1 mm or so, so if you need absolute flatness this may not work for you). Removable plate method (NEW!) For this, you need a hard but slightly flexible surface. I used 2 mm thick acrylic laser cut to snugly fit on the print bed of my Bukito. (Holes cut to fit around the screw heads on the bed.) Put the usual piece of blue tape on the removable plate, put the plate on the print bed and hold it down with Bulldog clips (it works well without these, the fit of mine is very snug, but clamp it to be sure.) Ensure that there is no movement of the build platform or print head that will interfere with the clips. Re-level to accommodate the added thickness and print as usual. Remove the plate with the printed piece on it and flex the plate down slightly, the piece should pop right off. Since the print platform is rigid when clamped to the print bed there should be no added distortion on the print bottom surface. I'm still experimenting with this, but it seems to work well. If you give it a try or find a better modification, please add a comment.