Hello everybody, my name is Ivan. In this
video I will show you the build
surface I was using for the last year
that saved me a lot of frustration with
prints warping and failing. It is a
sheet of polycarbonate.
It costs less than 2 bucks
and it was great for printing ABS but
also all other type of filaments.
IMHO polycarbonate
outperforms many of the commercial
build surfaces you can buy.
Polycarbonate comes in sheets with different colors and thickness.
The color doesn't really matter but the thickness does. You need to buy 3 millimeters or 4
millimeters thick polycarbonate.
Then sand it a bit - it will help to take
out ABS prints easier.
If you don't sand it ABS will stick
too hard to it.
Next I will be showing you how different
filaments stick to the polycarbonate
build surface. You will see prints
with ABS (with different forms) PETG PLA
Wood, Flex - everything sticks great.
You've got the idea - all type of filaments
stick very well on polycarbonate.
But how easy is to take out the print 
once it's finished?
Although the adhesion is very good it's
quite easy to take out materials like
PLA, FLEX or PETG. The ABS though is a
whole different story
It sticks very hard. If your
polycarbonate surface was well sanded
it is relatively easy to take it out
like in this example. However if you
didn't sand the polycarbonate or in case
of wrong bed leveling you may have hard
time to take out the part - like me in
this case.
My experience with polycarbonate was
great. It was my preferred
building surface for the past year. I
think it's also energy efficient because
it allows me to switch off the heating of
the bed after let's say the first 10 layers.
The part will remain solidly sticked on
the polycarbonate. The only exception
is Flex - it will warp if you switch
off the heating. If you find this video
interesting or if I helped you in any way.
please subscribe. I post normally 3
to four videos per month with my main
discoveries, interesting projects or
tips in the area of 3d printing.
Thanks for watching.
