Powder Coated Craziness  

RE: Powder Coated Craziness

I'm always amazed to see stuff selling on eBay for higher prices than they can be found locally. The Prusa sheet is hard to get, but you can certainly find alternatives for less than those bids. The surface is nice, but not essential. Mine sits by my printer unused most of the time.

RE: Powder Coated Craziness

I also print on the smooth PEI sheet a lot more than on the powder coated. 

RE: Powder Coated Craziness

wow people are high......im fine with the pei sheet myself. I can wait

RE: Powder Coated Craziness

Yup, even vojtech-p6 can find better prices shipped to Chech than that price.  I can get almost 3 TheKKIINNGGs for that and definitely 3 Chinese made sheets.  

RE: Powder Coated Craziness

I bought this one from AliExpress - seems to work well and arrived quickly.

RE: Powder Coated Craziness

Posted by: holmes4

I bought this one from AliExpress - seems to work well and arrived quickly.

Better price but crap for quality.  Mine is not level.  

RE: Powder Coated Craziness

Here is another: https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/e11021.m43.l3160/7?euid=2f9bfe7160c249d2b254337052359297&bu=43963019755&ut=RU&loc=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F264306900675&exe=21942&ext=57033&es=0&nqc=CQhAAQBAAAEABAAAABAAAAIQAACAICAAAAACAAAAAAIAgAgAAAAAAAABAAAAAAAAAAAQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAEAAAAAAgAAABAAAAABAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAI*&nqt=CQhAAQBAAAEABAAAABAAAAIQAACAICAAAAACAAAAAAIAgAgAAAAAAAABAAAAAAAAAAAQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAEAAAAAggAQABAAAAQBAAASAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAI*&ec=1&sojTags=es=es,nqc=nqc,nqt=nqt,ec=ec,exe=exe,ext=ext,bu=bu,ut=ut

RE: Powder Coated Craziness

I finally got my powder coated sheet a few weeks ago, and I really like the results.

But now I'm wondering if I'll ever be able to buy a replacement when it wears out. Prusa still has them listed in the store but not available for purchase. It looks like the Chinese manufacturers are having the same quality control problems as Prusa, but they're not rejecting the defective ones.

RE: Powder Coated Craziness

Posted by: charles.h13

Posted by: holmes4

I bought this one from AliExpress - seems to work well and arrived quickly.

Better price but crap for quality.  Mine is not level.  

How much deviation in thickness is there? I know that TheKkiinngg  documentation says that 7x7 leveling is a must. I assume that's also because the sheet not being all that much level.

RE: Powder Coated Craziness

is this like the fluffy metal surface thats better for grip? i been wanting one of these but prusa never seems to be able to sell them cos they're hard to make or something. i'd be okay with one missing patches & stuff on the edges or what not.

my flat one is even starting to rust :/ cos i used water to wash the glue.

RE: Powder Coated Craziness

I've had no issues with flatness on the sheet I got. I use 7x7 leveling, and have used the "Nyloc" method to level the bed within .05. Very happy with the results.

RE: Powder Coated Craziness

Posted by: holmes4

I've had no issues with flatness on the sheet I got. I use 7x7 leveling, and have used the "Nyloc" method to level the bed within .05. Very happy with the results.

It is odd.  One side appears to be flat and the other is not.  

RE: Powder Coated Craziness

Another was posted to ebay for  200

RE: Powder Coated Craziness

Posted by: charles.h13

Another was posted to ebay for  200

I suspect people will keep posting them as long as there are dummies willing to pay that premium. I expect to see "vintage, new in box" descriptions. The texture is neat, but seriously? People go bonkers over odd things.

RE: Powder Coated Craziness

I made a counter offer and they declined it.  I am just not will to pay 8 times the Prusa price even if the sheets are not currently available.  

RE: Powder Coated Craziness

Posted by: charles.h13

I made a counter offer and they declined it.  I am just not will to pay 8 times the Prusa price even if the sheets are not currently available.  

You've already got a Prusa sheet as well as several alternatives, don't you? At this point, I'm waiting to see what the next big thing is. There's obviously some demand for textured 1st layers, but the current methods of manufacturing seem overly-complicated. I'm curious to see if and how the problem gets simplified. Texture itself doesn't seem to be a big deal, but getting PEI or some other suitable bed material atop it seems to be a challenge.

RE: Powder Coated Craziness

Posted by: bobstro

Posted by: charles.h13

I made a counter offer and they declined it.  I am just not will to pay 8 times the Prusa price even if the sheets are not currently available.  

You've already got a Prusa sheet as well as several alternatives, don't you? At this point, I'm waiting to see what the next big thing is. There's obviously some demand for textured 1st layers, but the current methods of manufacturing seem overly-complicated. I'm curious to see if and how the problem gets simplified. Texture itself doesn't seem to be a big deal, but getting PEI or some other suitable bed material atop it seems to be a challenge.

Based on snippets of info here and there in PR posts on the subject (regarding that machinery to grind ultem does not last long), the texture is actually PEI as well; They could do it one of two ways:

1. grind ultem into small pieces and mix them with the final coating. Without those bits it would be a smooth coat. They're either a slightly different formulation to resist melting when the rest of the coat is baked on, or the baking trip is timed such that it's just enough to melt the finer coating material and leave the chunks mostly intact.

2. Get a coat on the sheet, and them imprint the texture later with a hot roller or something. 

The second is of course a simpler process, and probably the one they're using. Challenges arise from getting those coats even in both scenarios though...

RE: Powder Coated Craziness

I'm rather convinced it's the first process, the texture seems to be random and differs from sheet to sheet. It's even possible they don't mix different powder grades and that their grinding process simply does produce a somewhat non-uniform powder.

And while I have a (3rd party) textured sheet, and also the original Prusa smooth one, the texture is a little bit too rough for smaller parts. I found it great for printing printer parts and electronics boxes, but that's it. The fact the textured sheet is powder coated and doesn't have the problem with bubbles in the 3M glue layer is very nice, though. In the end I'd prefer a smooth, powder-coated sheet instead. Or at least one with a much finer texture.

RE: Powder Coated Craziness

Posted by: charles.h13

I made a counter offer and they declined it.  I am just not will to pay 8 times the Prusa price even if the sheets are not currently available.  

I was buying the sheet to test for my thread.  It was the new design, not the initial design.  I just want to see if they would bite and they did not.