Warpage Curl free 3D printing? Is it possible in the low cost 3D printing machines? To be honest I do not know if it can be achieved for all designs, warping depends on lots of stuff! but below I list some tips I find helpful… Good luck with you prints!
1. PVA-glue slathered build platform
To avoid warpage I use the trick to add PVA-glue (in Swedish: Trälim ;o) to the surface to get a good “stickiness” (the video below shows my experiment with Rubber filament, see this link for more info: https://palmiga.com/design-2/design/makerbot-replicator-rubber-fdm-mod/) http://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyvinylacetat. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PVA_glue
2. ABS slurry-slathered build platform
As above you can “paint” the surface with plastic, in this case left over ABS filament solved in acetone. This is NOT very good for your health, be careful and ventilate!
3. Design your parts to minimize warpage…
This the most important aspect, design for 3D-printing! The above tips will not help if the part is designed so the global shrinkage is big, see below pictures and movies. Also thicker build layers will help… (The tank toy below is a quick thingie for my son to make use of my 3D-printed rubber tank tread, see this page: https://palmiga.com/design-2/design/makerbot-replicator-rubber-fdm-mod/)
4. Surrounding Heat shield
It will help if the part is surrounded by a “heat Shield”: http://fabmetheus.crsndoo.com/wiki/index.php/Skeinforge_Skirt http://hydraraptor.blogspot.se/2010/09/some-corners-like-it-hot.html http://technocraticanarchist.blogspot.se/2009/12/printing-big-bits-of-mendel.html
5. Use PLA
The PLA plastic has much less shrinkage and will thus not warp as much
Links
http://www.makerbot.com/blog/2011/06/23/12-ways-to-fight-warping-and-curling/
