3D Printer babble

[itsid]

Since we (as in mostly me) spoiled some other thread, with it
this threads starts a bit abruptly..
essentiall with my (obnoxiously long) reply to frosty's comment below

(if you click the arrow icon next to frosty's username below you'll see the original thread btw...)

I do 3D Printing as a hobby... one would need either PETG or ABS to print it and it be durable. ABS is obviously much more durable than PETG but PETG is more flexible and less prone to cracking. With the vibration a small engine puts out I would honestly not recommend it as I can see it cracking. I would recommend aluminium of some sort, like they come in the stage 1 kits you can get from anywhere.

The most popular plastic hobbyist use is PLA and that will last about two seconds on an engine. It is great for indoor use but heat, plus vibration plus sun won't be good for it.

--Daniel

---------- Post added at 08:48 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:44 AM ----------

For example here is a design on Thingiverse however I am still not sure I would trust it unless yo find someone who can print in ABS. My 3D printer does not have an enclosure so ABS is out of the question plus ABS smells pretty bad when being melted. I have printed with PLA (which is most of my indoor stuffs) and PETG which is what I use when I will use the printed thing in the car. For example I made a cell phone holder and printed in PETG, so far it has stood up to Texas heat.

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2569176

--Daniel

I print in ABS 99% of the time (we talked about it just the other day in the other thread )

No enclosure needed, no bad smells either!
PRINTING in ABS has nothing to do with BURNING ABS
(if done correctly that is)

ABS was the first (and for quite a while the ONLY printable material)
And close to zero of us had an enclosed reprap
And the ONLY reason for one would be it to act as a heating chamber
(control the cooldown time of the layers for improved fusion)
it prints hotter than PLA but nowhere near any fume temperatures

it can even be at least somewhat flexible if needed be...
(made several one piece tweezers and clamps and such)
BUT: for all I know it's not fuel proof by any means.

Also: nearly impossible to send it overseas for a reasonable fee..
just doesn't make any sense really.
But everyone with a spool of ABS filament and a cheap 200 dollar 3d printer can print you a part.

The point is: what are you expecting price wise?
It is cheap for yourself..
but it takes a looong time to print,
maybe a bit of preparation if you've been printing PLA not ABS originally..
some observation throughout the several hour long print
(in case it fails you do not want to waste more filament)

So frankly, I think a chinese made aluminium cast is a cheaper option really, at least if you are willing to pay the man with the printer for his work even a bit.


So.. maybe I just ask you to make a bold decision:
"buy a cheap printer yourself!"
(really 200 bucks is enough to get a decent FDM printer based on the prusa 3 design)
50bucks for a small spool of ABS
and off you go.

for comparision.. ABS material cost for such adaptor is roughly 3-4 bucks; print time (high res) roughly 8h incl setup I'd say (w/o actually checking atm)..
So 25-30 bucks is not unfairly priced (only charging for setup and post processing if needed)

I bet the chinese can mass produce that cheaper in aluminium

but only ten ideas alike
and you could justify to buy such printer yourself

'sid

 

[Tpdingo]

I print in ABS 99% of the time (we talked about it just the other day in the other thread )

No enclosure needed, no bad smells either!
PRINTING in ABS has nothing to do with BURNING ABS
(if done correctly that is)

ABS was the first (and for quite a while the ONLY printable material)
And close to zero of us had an enclosed reprap
And the ONLY reason for one would be it to act as a heating chamber
(control the cooldown time of the layers for improved fusion)
it prints hotter than PLA but nowhere near any fume temperatures

it can even be at least somewhat flexible if needed be...
(made several one piece tweezers and clamps and such)
BUT: for all I know it's not fuel proof by any means.

Also: nearly impossible to send it overseas for a reasonable fee..
just doesn't make any sense really.
But everyone with a spool of ABS filament and a cheap 200 dollar 3d printer can print you a part.

The point is: what are you expecting price wise?
It is cheap for yourself..
but it takes a looong time to print,
maybe a bit of preparation if you've been printing PLA not ABS originally..
some observation throughout the several hour long print
(in case it fails you do not want to waste more filament)

So frankly, I think a chinese made aluminium cast is a cheaper option really, at least if you are willing to pay the man with the printer for his work even a bit.


So.. maybe I just ask you to make a bold decision:
"buy a cheap printer yourself!"
(really 200 bucks is enough to get a decent FDM printer based on the prusa 3 design)
50bucks for a small spool of ABS
and off you go.

1: ABS while printable without an enclosure still has warping and layer adhesion problems.

2: Those problems will be amplified with a cheap 200$ printer.

3: WHERE ARE YOU BUYING YOUR FILAMENT?!? I go to my local shop and get a nice 1kg roll for 15$.

 

[itsid]

1: ABS while printable without an enclosure still has warping and layer adhesion problems.

2: Those problems will be amplified with a cheap 200$ printer.

3: WHERE ARE YOU BUYING YOUR FILAMENT?!? I go to my local shop and get a nice 1kg roll for 15$.

1) yes with recycled filament you can get layer adhesion issues
to prevent that you can buy quality filament it even is more consistent width wise..
but it's ONLY a matter of dialing in the printing specs more closely to adjust to it.
Warping is an issue with large portions of the print sticking to the heat bed..
again that can be dialed in to reduce (and get rid off warping entirely)
turn of the heat bed sooner yadda yadda...
Or use a stickier printing surface (bluetape works well, but I'm all for gluesticks these days)

2) sure if you do not know what you are doing, most certainly
BUT I ran a Darwin, two Mendels and a Prusa Mendel (and several in between printers)
And since I got asked what cheap printer to buy I did buy the second cheapest printer I could find (a geeetech i3 pro for 198 bucks incl shipping)
one linear bearing was shot and needed to be replaced,
the Z-Axis wobble can be removed by printing the wobble fixes off thingiverse.
The heatbed had to be backed with heat reflective insulation material else it could take more than an hour to heat up to 110°C (my ABS printbed temperature for the first 1.25mm of printheight [~5-10 layers]) now takes ~20mins
Other than that it's working quite well OOTB
And it prints nicely..yes it had a hiccup or two in the past years since I own it.. and it produces the occasional failed print (most my fault tbh)
but frankly..it's the printer I use the most.
I'd call it good, great for the low price even.


'sid

PS I have 2.3-2.5kg spools mostly (5lbs depending on the mfg)
frankly I can't tell who made the last one... it's not too great anyways (filament diameter sometimes as little as 1.68mm)
[that's compensated with a 103% -104% print setting ]
but I'm not too happy about that since it's not constant and can mess up the finish.

 

[txluke]

I have a hard time just changing the ink in my regular printer!

 

[Tpdingo]

I have a hard time just changing the ink in my regular printer!

I actually find changing 3D printer filament to be easier than dealing with regular printer ink. Just heat up, unload, stick the new stuff in and in 30 seconds you are done. 99% of 3D printers don't take proprietary carts or filament, just make sure you buy the correct size(there are only two sizes) and they don't check anything. If the plastic can be melted by jamming it into the hole, it will (try) to print with it. Heck, most printers don't even care if you print with any filament loaded....but it doesn't do anything and it isn't good for the hotend.

 

[itsid]

No temp adjustment? no filament size compensation? no nothing??
you just wedge in the filament and see if it melts??
and you actually think your filament is indeed 1.75mm?
Wow that is the most knucklehead way of 3d printing I've ever heard of.

different filament cannot (well should not) be printed at the same temperature without confirmation ..
that's why manufacturers print the temperature on the box!
to give you a value to starting value (mine says 247°C)
I print it @ 253°C since it gives me better results and I can even print at slightly higher speeds
without any adverse effects.
hotend type active or passively cooled long or short etc..
do make a huge difference between set and exit temperature so does nozzle size and print speed

Dialing in a 3D printer to the ideal values for the specific filament is an artform,
one I haven't entirely mastered after ~10 years of 3d printing
I know some are rather quick dialing in for new filament.. I'm not!

you CANNOT just feed in new filament and call it a day, not even if you stick with one flavour of filament..
And yes that's also true for PLA, hence slicers can take a near infinite amount of presets for different filament with dozens of settings to be tweakable.

The hotend doesn't give a flying shirt about what you print
as long as you stick with pure plastics and print it at the correct temperatures and speeds
for the nozzle installed.
(infused plastics are different, very fine nozzles can clogg with some infused stuff, especially metal infused filament is a real PITA for nozzles .3 or below)

True, it's tedious and boring, but it makes the difference between an okay result and an awesome result.
And most of all it makes the difference between one or two failed prints per spool or five to ten

'sid

 

[Tpdingo]

No temp adjustment? no filament size compensation? no nothing??
you just wedge in the filament and see if it melts??
and you actually think your filament is indeed 1.75mm?
Wow that is the most knucklehead way of 3d printing I've ever heard of.

different filament cannot (well should not) be printed at the same temperature without confirmation ..
that's why manufacturers print the temperature on the box!
to give you a value to starting value (mine says 247°C)
I print it @ 253°C since it gives me better results and I can even print at slightly higher speeds
without any adverse effects.
hotend type active or passively cooled long or short etc..
do make a huge difference between set and exit temperature so does nozzle size and print speed

Dialing in a 3D printer to the ideal values for the specific filament is an artform,
one I haven't entirely mastered after ~10 years of 3d printing
I know some are rather quick dialing in for new filament.. I'm not!

you CANNOT just feed in new filament and call it a day, not even if you stick with one flavour of filament..
And yes that's also true for PLA, hence slicers can take a near infinite amount of presets for different filament with dozens of settings to be tweakable.

The hotend doesn't give a flying shirt about what you print
as long as you stick with pure plastics and print it at the correct temperatures and speeds
for the nozzle installed.
(infused plastics are different, very fine nozzles can clogg with some infused stuff, especially metal infused filament is a real PITA for nozzles .3 or below)

True, it's tedious and boring, but it makes the difference between an okay result and an awesome result.
And most of all it makes the difference between one or two failed prints per spool or five to ten

'sid

Yes, I know about fine tuning and I do it, I have tweaked the crap out of my slicer over 3 years of 3D printing. But I use almost exclusively one brand and their stuff is very consistent and cheap! Good quality filament, haven't had a problem with their stuff in 3 years and past that, it really is just jam it in and call it a day. Ive never measured my filament or what not. 215C on the nozzle, and load in PLA. Ive used PETG and TPU but not very often. My failed print count is about 1 in 10, so about 1-3 per spool.

But hey, even all that is so much easier than dealing with EPSONs stupid printer.

 

[itsid]

LOL.. try an HP printer..
I have a perfectly good one (I was asked to repair) since it's owner bought a 'modchipped' ink cartridge and now it doesn't even recognizes originals any longer...

I'm soo glad I have Canon non chip printers (sometimes older is better )

Anywhoo, I never was lucky enough to buy two identical spools
or say identical enough to not need to tweak the settings
mostly because the diameter .. one was in fact so terrible that it had a +2mm glob at one point that wouldn't even feed into the heating chamber ..
great half way through a 12hr print
but usually I get relatively consistent stuff (since I'm not exactly looking for the cheapest sources any longer) but still 0.05mm of variation isn't uncommon
So I measure the filament before every long print or every other short one just to be sure.
Never got around finishing the automated filament sensor.. although I always wanted to ...
One day

1-3 per kg spool means 2-8 for my spools (2.5kg)
Not counting testprints (which are meant to fail eventually when swapping spools)
I think I had ~5 fails in the last two spools
plus two massive brainfarts on my behalf
one not prepping the heatbed properly and the print broke loose,
the other one jamming the X Axis since the cables caught on the edge of the bed
(removed the cable clips to reroute and forget to put them back on)
but that's neither the printer's nor the filament's fault is it

OH.. the first spool on that cheap printer was in fact much worse..
the belt clamp rattled loose every other day (harmonic resonance on infill patterns)
so I eventually added some loctite to the threads,
and that crap spool I mentioned earlier was constantly
causing problems (I ended up cutting the last ~0.5kg into snippets for the 3d pen)
say every other large print had some sort of issue at least cosmetical
(layer adhesion was -let's say- variable )

Not taking those two into account I think my success rate is slightly better;
but by far not as much as I was expecting tbh.
So yeah

'sid

 

[Tpdingo]

LOL.. try an HP printer..
I have a perfectly good one (I was asked to repair) since it's owner bought a 'modchipped' ink cartridge and now it doesn't even recognizes originals any longer...

I'm soo glad I have Canon non chip printers (sometimes older is better )

I use EPSON because I use a CISS system for ink instead of cartridges. I haven't gotten a nochip CISS system yet but once I do the song and a dance it takes to get EPSON's error to go away, everything prints just great.

Anywhoo, I never was lucky enough to buy two identical spools
or say identical enough to not need to tweak the settings
mostly because the diameter .. one was in fact so terrible that it had a +2mm glob at one point that wouldn't even feed into the heating chamber ..
great half way through a 12hr print
but usually I get relatively consistent stuff (since I'm not exactly looking for the cheapest sources any longer) but still 0.05mm of variation isn't uncommon
So I measure the filament before every long print or every other short one just to be sure.
Never got around finishing the automated filament sensor.. although I always wanted to ...
One day

1-3 per kg spool means 2-8 for my spools (2.5kg)
Not counting testprints (which are meant to fail eventually when swapping spools)
I think I had ~5 fails in the last two spools
plus two massive brainfarts on my behalf
one not prepping the heatbed properly and the print broke loose,
the other one jamming the X Axis since the cables caught on the edge of the bed
(removed the cable clips to reroute and forget to put them back on)
but that's neither the printer's nor the filament's fault is it

OH.. the first spool on that cheap printer was in fact much worse..
the belt clamp rattled loose every other day (harmonic resonance on infill patterns)
so I eventually added some loctite to the threads,
and that crap spool I mentioned earlier was constantly
causing problems (I ended up cutting the last ~0.5kg into snippets for the 3d pen)
say every other large print had some sort of issue at least cosmetical
(layer adhesion was -let's say- variable )

Not taking those two into account I think my success rate is slightly better;
but by far not as much as I was expecting tbh.
So yeah

'sid

Not sure what printer that is but my Prusa i3 MK2 has been (for the most part) set and go printer. I do many overnight prints and the number of prints that have failed overnight I could probably count on my two hands. I also am a bit more cautious about overnight prints so I'll put rafts down and what not to get it to stick for good, and I make sure I'm awake for the first ~30 min of the print to ensure good a good first layer.

 

[itsid]

...
Not sure what printer that is but my Prusa i3 MK2 has been (for the most part) set and go printer.

the one I was talking about? the Prusa i3 clone (geetech) I was mentioning earlier
an original prusa is one of the best things you can spend money on..
Josef makes exceptional printers
(My Mendel was converted to Josef's design on day four [after his design release] and improved by a lot by that and the Wade extruder.. and it's still working great [apart from the failed PSU atm])

Are you running Josef's Slic3r variant?

'sid

 

[Tpdingo]

the one I was talking about? the Prusa i3 clone (geetech) I was mentioning earlier
an original prusa is one of the best things you can spend money on..
Josef makes exceptional printers
(My Mendel was converted to Josef's design on day four [after his design release] and improved by a lot by that and the Wade extruder.. and it's still working great [apart from the failed PSU atm])

Are you running Josef's Slic3r variant?

'sid

Depending on the exact file requirements...I either use his version of Slic3r, PrusaControl(still Slic3r on the backend, but a simple, clean GUI on the frontend), or Simplify3D. Rarely I'll pull out Cura if both for some reason don't work the way I want. I had a 150$(techically 400$ but early bird kickstarter) MOD-t printer but it died after 3mo and the print quality was anywhere from ok-atrocious. It was only good for models since its mechanical accuracy was so poor. Also took forever to print and was stupid big while having a small print area. Was ****ed off from it(before that I had a Cube 3....used it twice and never again)....I decided to take 4 months a research my next printer. Had my heart set on a some other machine and it broke during maker faire...went over the Prusa booth...saw their machine...and bought it a few weeks later. 2.5 years later and a 1.5K hours and it still chugging along. Don't regret a single penny !

The only thing I'm slightly salty about is when the MK3 came out. I had a list of everything I wanted improved on the printer and they nailed almost every point. That spring steel bed....oh I want that thing so bad!! Just think of how much less time I'd spend with the spudger!

 

[txluke]

To much technological talk for me so I just read the last two sentences. Out of context, they raise some eyebrows.

 

[Tpdingo]

To much technological talk for me so I just read the last two sentences. Out of context, they raise some eyebrows.

Hahahaa....but it really is that much better

 

[txluke]

IDK what a spudger is and I am too afraid to google it.

 

[itsid]

LOOOL..
what if I told you I broke mine just last week

Depending on the exact file requirements...I either use his version of Slic3r, PrusaControl(still Slic3r on the backend, but a simple, clean GUI on the frontend), or Simplify3D. Rarely I'll pull out Cura
...That spring steel bed....oh I want that thing so bad!! Just think of how much less time I'd spend with the spudger!

I'm amazed that you like Simplify3d.. I tested it for not even a day
(I think it took me three hours to know that I really don't like it)
Luckily it's been a friend's license he allowed me to test (on his rig)
but uhhh how I hated the settings being tabbed away in those nasty bottom panel..

I'm a big Slic3r fan (although it sometimes crashes on me)
[Deep in my heart 3d printing should be as cheap as possible and that means free open source software.. reprapper.. what can you say Adrian Bowyer is one of my unsung heroes!]
Anyways since I startet with the reprap host and replicator G
and several other such partly nasty toolchains Slic3r is still an awesome improvement LOL..

I asked since I couldn't see any improvements with
Josef's Prusa Slic3r vs the original Slic3r
(a bit easier to setup but since I already was set up.... no difference for me)
And I was wondering if it's indeed making a difference on real prusa i3s vs my cheap chinese clone

Spring steel.. Great idea actually...
I print on glass and glue (still since I'm too fricking lazy to relevel the bed which I would need to once I install the aluminium printbed I have)
and really... if I prep everything 'to the book' I can't get the print off at times until it's fully cooled down. broke more than one sheet of glass and several printed spudgers...
So yeah I'd love to have a printbed that's somewhere halfway between
"you'll break your spudger" and "hey just go to bed.. so that I can pop the part off the printbed midprint"
Bluetape was not too much of a success for me, Kapton a straight failure after just two or three prints (and too expensive to be constantly replaced),
I hate rafts
maybe need to rethink there..
but a three layer raft on that old darwin once took alone 3.5 hours
it was like watching paint dry ...
and that print itself then still broke free midprint [darwin had an mdf printbed]
A layer of spring steel sounds very tempting to me right now...
I'm gonna find me some sheet; thanks for the tip.

'sid

 

[Tpdingo]

LOOOL..
what if I told you I broke mine just last week



I'm amazed that you like Simplify3d.. I tested it for not even a day
(I think it took me three hours to know that I really don't like it)
Luckily it's been a friend's license he allowed me to test (on his rig)
but uhhh how I hated the settings being tabbed away in those nasty bottom panel..

I'm a big Slic3r fan (although it sometimes crashes on me)
[Deep in my heart 3d printing should be as cheap as possible and that means free open source software.. reprapper.. what can you say Adrian Bowyer is one of my unsung heroes!]
Anyways since I startet with the reprap host and replicator G
and several other such partly nasty toolchains Slic3r is still an awesome improvement LOL..

I asked since I couldn't see any improvements with
Josef's Prusa Slic3r vs the original Slic3r
(a bit easier to setup but since I already was set up.... no difference for me)
And I was wondering if it's indeed making a difference on real prusa i3s vs my cheap chinese clone

Spring steel.. Great idea actually...
I print on glass and glue (still since I'm too fricking lazy to relevel the bed which I would need to once I install the aluminium printbed I have)
and really... if I prep everything 'to the book' I can't get the print off at times until it's fully cooled down. broke more than one sheet of glass and several printed spudgers...
So yeah I'd love to have a printbed that's somewhere halfway between
"you'll break your spudger" and "hey just go to bed.. so that I can pop the part off the printbed midprint"
Bluetape was not too much of a success for me, Kapton a straight failure after just two or three prints (and too expensive to be constantly replaced),
I hate rafts
maybe need to rethink there..
but a three layer raft on that old darwin once took alone 3.5 hours
it was like watching paint dry ...
and that print itself then still broke free midprint [darwin had an mdf printbed]
A layer of spring steel sounds very tempting to me right now...
I'm gonna find me some sheet; thanks for the tip.

'sid

Really? No success with blue tape or kapton tape? Do you have a heated bed because ive had great success with both. I used kapton tape to patch part of my build surface when the PEI got ripped up. 90% of the time PEI is fantastic....just make sure to make the part either have a place to get the spatula underneath the part or tall/thin enough to just be yanked off the plate. Never printed on glass though. Ive heard it's either it pops off like nobody's business or it sticks like ****.

 

[itsid]

printing on glass is either on or off indeed, mostly ON
..unless you have the slightest of a fingerprint on it,
then you could also try to print on a puddle of oil.
if you're not absolutely anal about the cleanliness of the glass it's really a hit or miss..
Hence the glue stick
The stickiest I've come across so far...
feels just like superglued as long as everything is still warm
when cold parts release with a nice snap.
it'd be nicer w/o consumables though

Never tested PEI... it looks close to Kaptonlike surface quality..
And since fellow reprappers said it should be wiped clean with isopropyl every single time
I'm unsure if that's what I really want *shrugs*
(maybe I should've tried that with Kapton ..wiping it with alcohol... *shrugs*)

The only blue tape I was able to find was no success no ...
it seperates at the seams and if you print small enough to stay within one strip of tape,
it more often than not rips.

Kapton works, but for two or three prints max, then it gets dull and/or seperates from the build platform creating nasty bubbles while peeling off the part and you have to renew the tape for either one of the two reasons.. since wide Kapton tape is utterly expensive around here I dismissed it after the first roll of tape (two weeks or so?)

Sometimes I add a ~two layer tab on one of the corners if I have the suspicion
it might get finicky to get off like large bottom layers and fairly low height parts
(essentially just a .3 mm high circle) that gives me a nice place to start peeling
and it can be cut off with a sharp knife quickly..

And sure; heated printbed..

Jeez.. BGK is right.. we've (mostly I I'm afraid) got carried aways..
we should move the technobabble to some other thread..
(I'll see how clean it can be moved out of here to an OT -thread ..)

[EDIT]

Aaaand moved!
'sid

 

[frostyflammable]

I am very much at just a hobby level with 3D printing, I enjoy reading all of this to learn as much as I can. I thought without an enclosure ABS was out of the question, now I know better. Although I only have a cheapo 3D printer (Creality Ender 3) but it still does most of the things I need.

--Daniel

 

[itsid]

the Ender is actually of 'better quality' than the Geeetech i3 I'm using most of the time.
at least judging by the reviews.

So I'm 100% sure it'll be fine!
I think I mentioned it before somewhere..
the testfiles you find on Thingiverse do help a LOT!
dialing in to ideal temperatures, to ideal layer heights etc.pp.
makes a lot of a difference

Spend a weekend or two on testprints tweak and turn some knobs

measure the filament's diameter (adjust for it)
and level the bed warm (60-80°C should do)

And I bet your prints will look much better and most importantly you won't
have the slightest doubt your Creality Ender 3 is capable of amazing prints!


'sid

PS Makermuse has (had?) also one I think.. they're everywhere really... for a reason

 

[Tpdingo]

printing on glass is either on or off indeed, mostly ON
..unless you have the slightest of a fingerprint on it,
then you could also try to print on a puddle of oil.
if you're not absolutely anal about the cleanliness of the glass it's really a hit or miss..
Hence the glue stick
The stickiest I've come across so far...
feels just like superglued as long as everything is still warm
when cold parts release with a nice snap.
it'd be nicer w/o consumables though

Never tested PEI... it looks close to Kaptonlike surface quality..
And since fellow reprappers said it should be wiped clean with isopropyl every single time
I'm unsure if that's what I really want *shrugs*
(maybe I should've tried that with Kapton ..wiping it with alcohol... *shrugs*)

The only blue tape I was able to find was no success no ...
it seperates at the seams and if you print small enough to stay within one strip of tape,
it more often than not rips.

Kapton works, but for two or three prints max, then it gets dull and/or seperates from the build platform creating nasty bubbles while peeling off the part and you have to renew the tape for either one of the two reasons.. since wide Kapton tape is utterly expensive around here I dismissed it after the first roll of tape (two weeks or so?)

Sometimes I add a ~two layer tab on one of the corners if I have the suspicion
it might get finicky to get off like large bottom layers and fairly low height parts
(essentially just a .3 mm high circle) that gives me a nice place to start peeling
and it can be cut off with a sharp knife quickly..

And sure; heated printbed..

Jeez.. BGK is right.. we've (mostly I I'm afraid) got carried aways..
we should move the technobabble to some other thread..
(I'll see how clean it can be moved out of here to an OT -thread ..)

[EDIT]

Aaaand moved!
'sid

Eh...they claim it is supposed to be wiped down....but in reality you don't need to. Maybe every ~10-15 prints when I do it. 55c, it all sticks, 25c and it pops off. Isn't as close to kapton as you'd initially think. And for modeling, I usually put in a small 75 degree angle cutout on the printing surface so I can put the spatula right into the little groove and pry up. Pops right off almost Everytime like that. Also use rafts if I suspect removing it will be an issue. Actually if you get to try it, they make this stuff called Blue tape Platinum. Specifically the "Platinum stuff", it's a really nice material. Tried it once or twice but because my build platform is warped I cant get it lined up exactly and it causes lines. It's not at all like normal blue tape, actually similar to PEI. Would pick up a roll and try it out. If you do try it, make sure to wipe down with alcohol first or your prints will have the Blue Tape Platinum logo on the back.