14
Print Bed Coating and Heating
Mass Portal printers are equipped with a heated glass print
bed. Although you can print directly to the glass surface, some
materials work better on a different coating. Work better means
they adhere firmly or “stick” to the print bed while printing, but still
come off easily.
Even surface
Glass is the most resonable choice for print surface, because it’s
straight and level, even when heated.
Heated or not?
You can print some materials on some surfaces and they will
ususally work just fine — like PLA on blue painters tape, but some
materials just will not stick to cold surfaces.
Kapton tape
Kapton tape is the recommended coating for Mass Portal printers.
It is quite durable, and allows printing of PLA, ABS, PET and other
materials with good results. It can be cleaned between prints.
Blue painters tape (masking paper tape)
Blue painters tape is the material of choice for printing PLA,
especially when printing without heated bed. Sometimes,
material may stick too well to it and the objects may be difficult to
remove.
Other coatings
Some materials can be used with different coatings. There’s a
Custom menu option for that.
Glue
Glue can be used to get difficult prints to stick — for example,
usual office glue stick. You should apply the glue before heating
up the printbed.
Automatic Calibration
Bed coating will be taken into account when calibrating the print
bed — as the different coatings have different thicknesses, the
correct coating must be selected. This can be done before or
after the calibration. You can change the bed coating setting as
often as needed. There’s no need to recalibrate after changing
the bed coating if the first layer prints correctly.
Printer operation & software
TIP
The print bed
must be kept clean.
If prints do not stick
after multiple prints
on the same coating,
try cleaning or
replacing the coating.
WARNING
The
correct bed coating
must be selected
on the printer, so
it “knows” how to
print the first layer,
because accounts for
the thickness of the
coating.
TIP
The print bed
is replaceable. The
glass surface can be
removed or installed,
by gently pressing
it down and turning
counterclockwise so
it can be lifted. You
do not need to undo
the thumbscrews
holding the glass in
place to remove or
install it.
WARNING
Do not
remove the printbed
while it’s hot. Let it
cool down.
MP Delta Manual ENG +.indd 14
15/04/15 17:03
