The short answer is: It will definitely work.
The long answer is that you don’t necessarily have to go through the effort of creating a shim plate to test this theory. Simply try these two experiments that I have tested myself:
- I used sparkle Gaffers tape, the kind you find in arts and crafts stores. The goal was to see if the sparkles and pattern would transfer to the underside of the model. It worked perfectly.
- I printed a single layer of an SVG image in one color, then printed a model over that single layer to see if the contrasting color would blend into the model. Again, it worked perfectly. The entire model lifted off the plate with two colors. Of course, you’ll want to experiment with thickness to play it safe, but it’s a cheap way to gain confidence that your technique will work.
Where I got this idea was from times I failed to pick off the purge strip and noticed multiple colors in the same area. I conducted these experiments while working with my non-AMS P1P to see if I could produce different patterns and colors. These are the experiments I ran just to see if the concept would work.
Special Note: I would not use this so much as a shim but rather as a plate overlay. Ensure the shim covers the entire plate surface. This will reduce the risk of the nozzle tip catching on the differential thickness between the shim and the plate.
Another thing you could try, in the spirit of “faking out” the bed-leveling algorithm, is to place a shim on the strategic areas of the build plate used for bed leveling. Then, pause the print manually before it starts and place the etched plate on top of the build plate, securing it with tape. I recommend using Kapton/Polyimide Tape. Allow the plate to reach the desired temperature and restart the print.
This is an exciting use of combining two unrelated technologies. I am looking forward to seeing your results!
Here are some examples of what I mean and the file for you to try out if you like.
Example of a 0.5mm first layer in red PLA with black PLA on top.
Example of “glitter craft tape” on a specular PEA build plate. I used this example to contrast a mirror image with what the sparkle impression would leave behind. The tape was less than 2mil thick, the same thickness as painter’s tape.
Click on these images for full resolution.
As the model sat(disc primitive) after print.
The model pulled off the bed and rotated to show what the tape and the underside looks like.
And of course a side by side comparison of the two techniques. Note that the logo was printed on textured PEI build plate.
The file I quickly cooked up if you want to try for yourself. The SVG was harvested from Google images.
logo slicing test 2A.3mf (124.1 KB)
