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Great Blue Heron

Trans: Latin prefix implying “across” or “Beyond”, often used in gender nonconforming situations Scend: Archaic word describing a strong “surge” or “wave”, originating with 15th century english sailors Survival: 15th century english compound word describing an existence only worth transcending

Jess Sullivan

Glue You Can See in UV

· 1 min read · hardware
3d-printingbed-adhesionklipperchemistrydiy

3D-printer bed glue your printer can see.

docs: transscendsurvival.org/tinyland-goo

source: github.com/Jesssullivan/tinyland-goo

I loaded this experimental strontium-aluminate-infused glue with phosphor so a 365nm flash shows exactly where you laid it down, then wired up a little coverage sensor and a Klipper pre-print gate that refuses to print on a bare bed. Future work will ideally include a auto re-applicator head for the SnapMaker U1 and perhaps a Klicky-probe style dock for the sv06 if I get around to it.

Scale any batch by weight right here:

Glue batch scaler (by weight)

Glue batch scaler (by weight), ~4.0 oz, shown in grams
WeightIngredient
8.00 gPVP-K90 powder Primary film former — K90 (MW ~1.3M) is the strength upgrade over Frank’s K30
2.40 gPVA, 88% hydrolyzed (cold-water grade) Secondary film former / toughness — pins a minimum water fraction
2.00 gPEG-400 Tackifier / plasticizer — the highest-leverage bond-strength additive
1.70 g1% boric-acid stock solution Delivers a trace PVA crosslink (~0.7% of PVA) — dosed via stock so it’s weighable
4.00 gCoated SrAl₂O₄:Eu,Dy phosphor, 35–50 µm UV-reactive coverage indicator — MUST be waterproof/encapsulated grade
53.00 gEthanol (≥95%, denatured ok) Co-solvent for PVP/PEG; flashes off on the heated bed
41.72 gDistilled water (free water) Dissolves the PVA; carrier lands at ~55:45 ethanol:water
112.82 gFinished glue (~4.0 oz)

Solids are ~14.6% by weight (PVP:PVA ≈ 77:23). 1× is the smallest worthwhile batch; 2× (~4 oz) is the recommended minimum. A 0.01 g scale is assumed — the boric acid is dosed as a 1% stock because the neat mass (≈8 mg) is below that resolution.

Showing ~4.0 oz in grams.

Note, bare strontium aluminate hydrolyzes in water and stops glowing. You need a silica/fluoride-coated/encapsulated (“waterproof”) grade. And don’t go anhydrous- the PVA needs water. There’s also an “in a pinch” PVP-40 derivation on the page for less mission-critical printers, built from common stock only (no K90, no boric acid, no coated phosphor). But this is less cool, and doesn’t give the same PEO street cred:

In-a-pinch batch scaler (on-hand chemicals)

In-a-pinch batch scaler (on-hand chemicals), ~1.0 oz, shown in grams
WeightIngredient
2.80 gPVP-40 powder (K-30 class, MW ~40k) Film former — same PVP grade as Frank’s; the backbone
1.10 gPVA lab powder Toughness (PVP:PVA ≈ 72:28, echoes Frank’s 70:30)
0.50 gPEG/PEO powder (heavy MW) Tackifier — the strength edge over Frank’s; potent & stringy, start low
1.00 gStrontium aluminate (plain, uncoated) UV coverage indicator — uncoated, so mix small & use fresh
16.00 g91% isopropyl alcohol Carrier; flashes off. Kept IPA-heavy to slow phosphor hydrolysis
6.95 gDistilled water Just enough to dissolve the PVA (carrier ≈ 63:37 IPA:water)
28.35 gFinished glue (~1.0 oz)

Adhesive solids ~15.5% (PVP+PVA+PEO), a touch above Frank’s — the PEG/PEO is the tack lever. Uncoated phosphor hydrolyzes in water over time, so mix mini batches and use fresh; shake before each use. Heavy PEO strings — if your applicator clogs or cobwebs, cut the PEO. A 0.01 g scale is assumed.

Showing ~1.0 oz in grams.

Seeing coverage

SrAl₂O₄:Eu,Dy excites at ~365nm and emits green ~520nm. Flood the bed with 365nm UV; glued area glows green, bare bed stays dark. The AS7341 F4 (515nm) / F5 (555nm) channels straddle the peak and its filters reject 365nm, so a single-point read often needs no separate filter- baseline the bare bed once, and coverage is the green rise above it. Feed that into a Klipper PRINT_START gate and the printer simply won’t start on a bare bed.

I’ll maybe add a video or two later, though most of my weekend printer larks do not make it past the first few weekends of entertainment, lol.

-Jess

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