Several years ago I leapt enthusiastically into the realm of 3D printing by buying a massive, expensive delta-type printer. I had to put it together myself, which was fun, but after that I struggled to get it to print well. Even simply trying to get the prints to stick to the bed were difficult, leading me to add huge brims to all my parts which were a pain to cut off afterward. Eventually I gave up fiddling with it and it’s been gathering dust ever since.
I know that a lot of you treat the hobby as an opportunity for endless tinkering and optimization, which is great, but I think I’ve realized that what I’d prefer is something that just works out of the box with a minimum of adjustment.
Thanks for the advice. The model I got (SeeMeCNC RostockMax 3.2) has a stationary glass bed and this fancy system where it probes the bed and automatically makes a height map. I might end up trying to get a new bed surface like you suggested before springing for a whole new machine.
You could buy a large PEI sheet in sticker form and put it directly on your glass bed. Removal with a razor shouldn’t be difficult.
Is your bed heated? If yes, prints will stick well to the PEI when it’s hot and pop off when it’s cooled down. I have an ultrabase glass bed on my i3 clone and that’s exactly how it works there. I also gave a similar experience with my Voron with a PEI coated spring steel bed.
If your bed is unheated you might still be in hard mode.
As a final thought, go hot and slow for you first layer. I usually bump my first layer by 5-10 °C, depending on the material, and print it at 30-40 mm/sec. Even though I could probably go faster I’ll take consistently in my first layer.