Steel build plates - A rant!  

Re: Steel build plates - A rant!

A word of caution for anyone that purchases a buildtak spring steel plate... I purchased one with a couple sheets of buildtak, figured I'd try the buildtak and if I didn't like I could slap PEI on the spring steel and have a spare sheet. My buildtak sheet wasn't deburred and I had a sharp edge, very minor on the bottom side, my guess is it was stamped but who knows, anyhow I put the buildtak on the print side, the sheet is marked, and proceeded to try it out. Man stuff really sticks to the buildtak sheet, too well in my opinion, small parts either break when being removed, or I can't get a decently squished first layer. After a few test prints I noticed some copper showing on my heated bed and scratch marks from sliding the burred edge along the heated bed. I was sick when I saw it, a quickie once over with emery cloth took care of the sharp edges and the wife did a nice job putting a very light coat of fingernail polish on the heated bed... I wish they would have spent a little time polishing the edges of the build plate.

My advice to anyone that purchases a buildtak plate is that they smooth the edges of the steel plate before they do anything else... As for the buildtak sheet, I'll likely be replacing it with PEI when I wear it out.

I actually have the Flextak plate on my Hictop 3DP-12 (i3 clone) for over a year now. The first couple of times I ordered the BuildTak, it worked great. The last few times, I also experienced the issue of too much adhension (removing some of the buildtak when removing parts). I finally ended up ordering a PEI sheet from PRUSA and putting that over the BuildTak sheet. Haven't had an issue since.

I also never thought about just flipping the flextak plate over and using the other side (until I got the Mk3). Might of saved me some headaches early on if I would of thought of it.....

Re: Steel build plates - A rant!

Man, I know Josef didn't want to commit to another time table but an update would be awesome.

Re: Steel build plates - A rant!

After a few test prints I noticed some copper showing on my heated bed and scratch marks from sliding the burred edge along the heated bed. I was sick when I saw it

At least you can order a new heat bed...

Re: Steel build plates - A rant!

After a few test prints I noticed some copper showing on my heated bed and scratch marks from sliding the burred edge along the heated bed. I was sick when I saw it

At least you can order a new heat bed...

You're such an optimist!!! Actually, that was the first thing I thought... FWIW, the Buildtak spring steel sheet is as nice as the Prusa but I can't stand the buildtak print surface. Someone linked a US source of PEI, https://catalog.cshyde.com/viewitems/3d-printing-materials/ultem-pei that was reasonable I'll likely put that on the buildtak sheet when I destroy the buildtak surface.

Re: Steel build plates - A rant!

there must be a spring steel shortage in CZ!

Re: Steel build plates - A rant!

there must be a spring steel shortage in CZ!

Not sure, but if I needed to purchase another spring steel sheet I'd have no problem getting another from Buildtak, however, I'd forgo the Buildtak print surface and this time around I'd make sure I polished the edges prior to applying the PEI and letting it touch my heat bed. There's also the Primesteeltube guy on page 2 though you may have a long lead on a build plate from them. That and I can't quite understand why a global tube and pipe mill would want to supply these... Most tube mills I deal with have a 2000 or 5000# minimum when ordering.

Re: Steel build plates - A rant!

I have an industrial Laser. I have the dimensions on file for the size of the sheet. I just need the thickness of the spring steel to buy material. I'll cut sheets for those that are interested...... I might even be able to have PEI powdercoating done by my local powdercoater ...... anybody interested? maybe I make these as aftermarket parts?

Re: Steel build plates - A rant!

I have an industrial Laser. I have the dimensions on file for the size of the sheet. I just need the thickness of the spring steel to buy material. I'll cut sheets for those that are interested...... I might even be able to have PEI powdercoating done by my local powdercoater ...... anybody interested? maybe I make these as aftermarket parts?

I would be interested depending on cost. The only othe powder coated, spring steel sheet was like $65 on AMZ

Re: Steel build plates - A rant!

I have an industrial Laser. I have the dimensions on file for the size of the sheet. I just need the thickness of the spring steel to buy material. I'll cut sheets for those that are interested...... I might even be able to have PEI powdercoating done by my local powdercoater ...... anybody interested? maybe I make these as aftermarket parts?

Re: Steel build plates - A rant!

I have an industrial Laser. I have the dimensions on file for the size of the sheet. I just need the thickness of the spring steel to buy material. I'll cut sheets for those that are interested...... I might even be able to have PEI powdercoating done by my local powdercoater ...... anybody interested? maybe I make these as aftermarket parts?

I would definitely be interested...depending on cost of course.

Re: Steel build plates - A rant!

I have an industrial Laser. I have the dimensions on file for the size of the sheet. I just need the thickness of the spring steel to buy material. I'll cut sheets for those that are interested...... I might even be able to have PEI powdercoating done by my local powdercoater ...... anybody interested? maybe I make these as aftermarket parts?

If the price was reasonable I'd be interested.

Re: Steel build plates - A rant!

See : https://www.ebay.com/itm/332649969907

Re: Steel build plates - A rant!

See : https://www.ebay.com/itm/332649969907

Yeah same price as on Amazon. It's kind of out of the price range I would pay when I could just wait for PR to fix their process.

Re: Steel build plates - A rant!

What I don’t understand is their update says their powder coated sheets are yeilding 1/3 of what they should be.

Where are those third going? Because it seems like no customers are receiving them. Is it just for reviewers and their print farm?

Re: Steel build plates - A rant!

I have an industrial Laser. I have the dimensions on file for the size of the sheet. I just need the thickness of the spring steel to buy material. I'll cut sheets for those that are interested...... I might even be able to have PEI powdercoating done by my local powdercoater ...... anybody interested? maybe I make these as aftermarket parts?

As long as the price is right, I'll be in for 1 or 2 of them. 😀

Re: Steel build plates - A rant!

They are being shipped from Canada via Canada Post. I ordered one and it's currently at JFK Airport and I guess I'll have it in 2 or 3 days.

Looking forward to testing this thing. FWIW - it looks like they only had 5 or 6 pieces and they are down to 2 on the eBay link and 3 on the Amazon link.

Do I think this is overpriced? Of course, it is but my current steel plate needs to have both sides redone which I can't stand doing and Prusa won't sell me ANY type of spring steel plate. (Believe me, I have tried excessively!)

Re: Steel build plates - A rant!

Bestar Tube co.,Ltd is a Professional Manufacturer of Steel Product. Self-owned production line. Global Supply. Free quote [email protected]

Re: Steel build plates - A rant!

Out of stock... I'm looking forward to a couple of reviews...

Re: Steel build plates - A rant!

I have one of the aftermarket PEI powder coated sheets coming as well. I ordered it last Friday. Should be here within the next couple days. Maybe I will do a video on it on my small YouTube channel. I know it was pricey but I assume from a small sellers standpoint small batches cost a lot to make. If this is not to good to be true and works out well then Prusa and his team/vendors will look silly as they should be able to do this as reliably as a small seller can. It may just be a marketing hype on Prusa's part to keep the buzz going for the MK3 . Who knows. I as well have tried and tried to get a spare spring steel sheets and they will not budge. I even said just send me the spring steel without a coating and they still refuse. As many of the printers they sell and the design of the new removable build plate, they should have foreseen this as a persisting issue that PEI sticker spring steel sheets wouldn't last. They were probably relying on the powder coated sheets to be there saving grace but that fell short. Spring steel and ultem is not hard to acquire. So something else may be driving this possible shortage of not being able to get a simple steel PEI sticker sheet replacement.. It maybe as simple as Prusa refuses to shell out for extra production costs to produce the quantity's of plates that are being demanded. All because the durable first choice of plates failed miserably and we are all forced to use something that was never meant to be used as the full time build plate.. So my advice to Prusa is ramp up production of the sticker build sheets or go to your powder coater and fire his A**. They are costing you losses and not fixing this in a timely manner. Find someone who can get the job done.... Now if it comes down to the failures are because you want it fancy seeing through it with the Prusa logo or grid then that's on you and ditch it and go a solid color. No one would fault you for that. We just want to build on it, we don't care what it looks like.

Re: Steel build plates - A rant!

I have one of the aftermarket PEI powder coated sheets coming as well. I ordered it last Friday. Should be here within the next couple days. Maybe I will do a video on it on my small YouTube channel. I know it was pricey but I assume from a small sellers standpoint small batches cost a lot to make. If this is not to good to be true and works out well then Prusa and his team/vendors will look silly as they should be able to do this as reliably as a small seller can. It may just be a marketing hype on Prusa's part to keep the buzz going for the MK3 . Who knows. I as well have tried and tried to get a spare spring steel sheets and they will not budge. I even said just send me the spring steel without a coating and they still refuse. As many of the printers they sell and the design of the new removable build plate, they should have foreseen this as a persisting issue that PEI sticker spring steel sheets wouldn't last. They were probably relying on the powder coated sheets to be there saving grace but that fell short. Spring steel and ultem is not hard to acquire. So something else may be driving this possible shortage of not being able to get a simple steel PEI sticker sheet replacement.. It maybe as simple as Prusa refuses to shell out for extra production costs to produce the quantity's of plates that are being demanded. All because the durable first choice of plates failed miserably and we are all forced to use something that was never meant to be used as the full time build plate.. So my advice to Prusa is ramp up production of the sticker build sheets or go to your powder coater and fire his A**. They are costing you losses and not fixing this in a timely manner. Find someone who can get the job done.... Now if it comes down to the failures are because you want it fancy seeing through it with the Prusa logo or grid then that's on you and ditch it and go a solid color. No one would fault you for that. We just want to build on it, we don't care what it looks like.

I really hope it works out for you but being that I laid out $$ for the Build-Tak set up and am not overly enthused with their print surface, (I must admit it's growing on me after forcing myself to use it so my opinion is gradually becoming more positive) so am reluctant to try again. OTOH, after I polished the sharp edges the Build-Tak steel sheet it is every bit as nice as the Prusa one and can be domestically sourced so at $25 is likely cheaper than ordering from Prusa after shipping is taken into account.