Why would you need hairspray to make your 3D prints stick?

A couple of months ago my 22-year-old cousin Jacob, who is a young and ambitious jewellery designer, persuaded me to accompany him to an exhibition to see a 3D printer in action. While we were printing out one of his necklaces on the printer, which was really amazing, an expert told us about an upcoming presentation that would include making things with self-adhesive tape.

Jacob and I were hooked and decided to take a 3D and tape class before going to the presentation. You know, what still sticks out to me is the motivation my cousin had to understand every sticky detail of making “3D jewellery stuff with tape” as he described it. A week later I was flipping through WhatsApped pictures of his creations on my smartphone. They were awesome.

However, he has had some problems with his 3D prints not fully sticking to his build platform. Making sure the first layer of a print sticks to the platform is key to producing a high-quality object, however small or large it is. If it doesn’t stick right your object might fall apart before it is even complete. Jacob thought he had found an unexpected, cheap but effective, solution to this problem by spraying extra super hold hairspray on the printed parts. But in the end, it did not work at all, and many edges came off.

So, there are a couple of high-quality tapes on the market you might want to try instead. There is a high quality blue tape. With this durable product you can easily cover the whole print bed area. Common 3D printer filaments will perfectly stick to this tape, but come off easily after the print is done, without leaving any adhesive residue. Polyamide tape was extensively used in the Apollo space missions, is heat-resistant and capable of withstanding extremely high temperatures. Its extremely thin surface is incredibly smooth and easily bonds to your build platform. This electrically insulating tape is well-suited for fastening heating elements and has a good print surface for printing ABS on a heated bed.

With that in mind, Jacob and I actually took the 3D and tape class and decided that there is still a lot to learn about the ideal bond between 3D printing and self-adhesive tape – which I know for a fact exists.

If you would like to learn more about 3D printing and tape, please contact one of our members or visit their websites.