PEI is amazing!

[joe]

I still haven't jumped on the PEI bandwagon, yet! I was about to last year but I came across BuildTak. It works, but it sticks too well. You end up spending a lot of time waiting for it to cool and scraping it off. Recently, all the scraping caused the center to bubble and lift. Now, it's ripped and I need to remove and replace. Guess I'll try PEI.

You will wish you had last year. I am on my original piece for 2 years ago.

[ramai]

Yeah, I came from buildtak as well. So far this thick price of PEI has been a champ! I would recommend getting the thick stuff.

[Xenocrates]

Yeah, I came from buildtak as well. So far this thick price of PEI has been a champ! I would recommend getting the thick stuff.

I agree completely. I've been working with some of the lulzbot sheets, and they seem to not perform as well as the thicker stuff. the thinner sheet seems to need higher temperatures, doesn't stick as well to start with, and doesn't release the same way the thicker stuff does when it cools down. I need to pry parts off the Taz even at 15C, while the Max with 30C or so it pops right off, and at 50C it's an easy release.

[ramai]

I was having a problem getting PLA to stick to my shiny new thick sheet of PEI. I ordered some 00 steel wool and gave the surface a good rub down. That did the trick. The thick sheet has excellent removal, even now with the extra grip. Hope that helps someone else who runs into the same problem!

[Alinnas]

I still haven't jumped on the PEI bandwagon, yet! I was about to last year but I came across BuildTak. It works, but it sticks too well. You end up spending a lot of time waiting for it to cool and scraping it off. Recently, all the scraping caused the center to bubble and lift. Now, it's ripped and I need to remove and replace. Guess I'll try PEI.

Have you tried magigoo yet? Works with heated beds, as efficient as buildtak, but has super easy release. Also easy to clean.

[mhackney]

In addition to ALL of the other advantages PEI has, the one thing that puts it over the top for me is that it is not textured. The first layer on my fly reel parts is the most visible so it is imperative that the first layer look perfect. With PEI, I can print a glossy layer (keep the original gloss or polish an older sheet) or create a beautiful matte finish. All of the other print surfaces I've tried (and that's most all of them except Gecko) are textured.

[Xenocrates]

I still haven't jumped on the PEI bandwagon, yet! I was about to last year but I came across BuildTak. It works, but it sticks too well. You end up spending a lot of time waiting for it to cool and scraping it off. Recently, all the scraping caused the center to bubble and lift. Now, it's ripped and I need to remove and replace. Guess I'll try PEI.

Have you tried magigoo yet? Works with heated beds, as efficient as buildtak, but has super easy release. Also easy to clean.

Here's my issue with Magigoo, from a quick look. It's a gluestick like consumable. That makes an even application without blank spots or bare spots annoying. It's also consumable over so many prints (I'm not sure as to single job, single digit, or dozens, perhaps you can enlighten us all), while PEI is not consumed over anything like a normal time frame. of course, the website says 100+ prints. But is that per application, or per tube (I'm going with per tube). If I buy a tube at 15 eurp's. I can buy the PEI for 2 beds for the same price. If I got two hundred prints out of a single tube (which is unlikely for whole bed prints), that's equivalent to 100 per bed, and as Mike and several others would be happy to tell you, that's just getting started on a piece of PEI. I find myself going a dozen prints between wipes with isopropyl, and that doesn't harm the surface at all to do. 50 or more between a short wipe with fine sandpaper (mirror grade in hardware store parlance). with how little is taken away versus the thickness, I could probably manage to get 1000+ prints out of a single bed.

Also, I am curious, do you work for Thought3D? If so, can you elaborate about the difference in composition between Magigoo and say, UHU stick, and it's performance with nylon and ninjaflex (Both are materials where PEI falls down, with Ninjaflex sticking too well, and nylon not sticking well enough). I have only one issue if you do work there, and that is that you didn't say so (If you're a satisfied user of it who wandered by, I can accept that, but still want to know how well it handles nylon and ninjaflex)

[dajay23D]

i haven't tried Magigoo, but looks interesting. I already bought the PEI, so I'll use that on my Rostock. I do have another cheap acrylic Prusa that I can try Magigoo on. I like trying new things!
Oddly, the ONLY thing that's worked for me thus far is hairspray, Aquanet. I just have to reapply after awhile. If the first layer doesn't stick, i just stop it, spray and layer it and go. As mentioned, BuildTak also worked, but the release process is a B**. I've tried tape, glue, abs slurry(i'm sure my mixture is questionable) but none of this works. The abs slurry is nasty, too. Props to whoever got that mess to work..lol. Hopefully, PEI is what you guys/gals say it is!