Re: Steel build plates - A rant!
[Thanks John and Kevin,
It's helpful enough for me to hold off for now. I jumped on the Build-Tak sheets when they came out. I knew right away that when the print surface on it needs replaced it will not be another Build-Tak Sheet, I'll peel it and put PEI on it. I disliked it so much I put it on the shelf but pulled it out last week thinking if I destroy it so what and have since been waffling between tolerating and disliking it. My gripe is that parts stick too well to it and I'm afraid I'll destroy the print surface prying parts off of it. So far it seems okay but the print surface has a lot of outlines from previous prints that I can't wash off. My Prusa PEI sheet looks almost the same as it did the day I got it and I have hundreds of prints on it.
edit: my reasoning for looking for a different sheet is that I like the textured first layer..
Re: Steel build plates - A rant!
So far it seems okay but the print surface has a lot of outlines from previous prints that I can't wash off.
I took a peek at some of the prints I made on my old Wanhao. You'll likely start to see those outlines appear on printed parts. I'd forgotten about that little "feature" of BuildTak/FakeTak. This might just be a trait of the FakeTak that Wanhao uses, but eventually you may get to a point where it just stops holding parts altogether.
It's a shame, too. I like the texture that you get from a fresh BuildTak sheet.
Re: Steel build plates - A rant!
WARNING!!!!!!
I really wanted this thing to work.
On my 5th print using PETG, an approximately 15mm by 15mm patch of the PEI stuck to my print and now there is a big shinney spot and the plate is ruined.
It also concerned my original fear that the shiny specs were the steel surface.
I CANNOT recommend purchasing this plate for anything more than PLA. I'm willing to bet that TPU will destroy this thing.
I'm going to try and contact the seller tomorrow and see what they have to say but don't spend your money!
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1-IXeBkfsYcuf2UXFpr8vwWhX-3Yud1SJ
Re: Steel build plates - A rant!
WARNING!!!!!!
I really wanted this thing to work.
On my 5th print using PETG, an approximately 15mm by 15mm patch of the PEI stuck to my print and now there is a big shinney spot and the plate is ruined.
It also concerned my original fear that the shiny specs were the steel surface.
I CANNOT recommend purchasing this plate for anything more than PLA. I'm willing to bet that TPU will destroy this thing.
I'm going to try and contact the seller tomorrow and see what they have to say but don't spend your money!
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1-IXeBkfsYcuf2UXFpr8vwWhX-3Yud1SJ
Re: Steel build plates - A rant!
WARNING!!!!!!
I really wanted this thing to work.
On my 5th print using PETG, an approximately 15mm by 15mm patch of the PEI stuck to my print and now there is a big shinney spot and the plate is ruined.
It also concerned my original fear that the shiny specs were the steel surface.
I CANNOT recommend purchasing this plate for anything more than PLA. I'm willing to bet that TPU will destroy this thing.
I'm going to try and contact the seller tomorrow and see what they have to say but don't spend your money!
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1-IXeBkfsYcuf2UXFpr8vwWhX-3Yud1SJ
Wow I didn't see that in my PETG tests yet. I just put a video out before I got here. Maybe it was just a defective sheet in your case I don't know. Did you let it cool before you tried to break the adhesion? It sticks really well when hot. What was your bed temp? I have been using 80C with no issue yet.
Re: Steel build plates - A rant!
.....
Wow I didn't see that in my PETG tests yet. I just put a video out before I got here. Maybe it was just a defective sheet in your case I don't know. Did you let it cool before you tried to break the adhesion? It sticks really well when hot. What was your bed temp? I have been using 80C with no issue yet.
Have you printed any light colored filament to see if you're experiencing the spalling issue John.V11 is getting?
Re: Steel build plates - A rant!
.....
Wow I didn't see that in my PETG tests yet. I just put a video out before I got here. Maybe it was just a defective sheet in your case I don't know. Did you let it cool before you tried to break the adhesion? It sticks really well when hot. What was your bed temp? I have been using 80C with no issue yet.
Have you printed any light colored filament to see if you're experiencing the spalling issue John.V11 is getting?
The only semi light color I printed so far was my Hatchbox blue. I didn't notice anything. I will have to keep an eye out for it though.
Re: Steel build plates - A rant!
Thanks for the updates on the amazon textured sheets. I'll be sticking to Buildtak for now. Ideally eventually a textured PEI sheet will appear that works and is durable which is the most important requirement.
The smooth Prusa PEI sheet I can't get PLA to stick to even with gluestick. Buildtak it sticks like a limpet.
Do any Buildtak users do explicit Z height calibration? I just do the default Z calibration and it seems to work.
Re: Steel build plates - A rant!
Thanks for the updates on the amazon textured sheets. I'll be sticking to Buildtak for now. Ideally eventually a textured PEI sheet will appear that works and is durable which is the most important requirement.
The smooth Prusa PEI sheet I can't get PLA to stick to even with gluestick. Buildtak it sticks like a limpet.
Do any Buildtak users do explicit Z height calibration? I just do the default Z calibration and it seems to work.
Tim, the best thing I found to get PLA to stick well to the stock PEI sheet is washing the sheet with dish soap and a blue scotch brite dish sponge. I scrub it pretty good with the abrasive side of the sponge but recommend going lightly until you get a feel for how hard to push. Then dry the plate with a dish towel. For me it works better than alcohol or acetone and is my primary method of cleaning the sheet.
For my Build-Tak I use a slightly higher setting, less negative, than I do for Prusa's PEI sheet and like you prints stick very wel (too well for my comfort)l, everytime I pop a print off I think I'm going to take a section of the print surface with it. I did a first layer calibration one time on the Build-Tak sheet and still have a score from needing to use a razor to get under the end piece that took me a solid half hour to get off...
Re: Steel build plates - A rant!
Tim, the best thing I found to get PLA to stick well to the stock PEI sheet is washing the sheet with dish soap and a blue scotch brite dish sponge.
I'm probably due for that treatment on mine. Quick question (since I can't seem to find an answer to this (and it's sort of on-topic (and you brought it up :)))): are scented dish soaps okay or do unscented soaps work better? Any particular brands to use/avoid that you know of?
Thanks!
Re: Steel build plates - A rant!
Tim, the best thing I found to get PLA to stick well to the stock PEI sheet is washing the sheet with dish soap and a blue scotch brite dish sponge.
I'm probably due for that treatment on mine. Quick question (since I can't seem to find an answer to this (and it's sort of on-topic (and you brought it up :)))): are scented dish soaps okay or do unscented soaps work better? Any particular brands to use/avoid that you know of?
Thanks!
Not sure, the wife buys Dawn so that's what I use... Sorry I don't have a better answer for you. I'd try whatever you have on hand, I'm pretty sure it wouldn't harm anything and worst case is that it won't work and you'll have to re-clean with something else...
Re: Steel build plates - A rant!
Not sure, the wife buys Dawn so that's what I use... Sorry I don't have a better answer for you. I'd try whatever you have on hand, I'm pretty sure it wouldn't harm anything and worst case is that it won't work and you'll have to re-clean with something else...
Thanks for the response!
No worries! I have Dawn at home, too, so an endorsement for them is more than enough for me. 🙂
Re: Steel build plates - A rant!
i would recommend the buildtak flex plate, i have been using mine for over a week now
https://www.buildtak.com/product/flexplate/ it doesn't come with the printing surface so make sure you buy that as well if you plan on buying it.
I second this...mainly because the steal plate bed has just be a huge POS for me...I would end up having perfect calibrations only for prints to either not stick right away or warp later....even had glue and painters tape get pulled away from the bed during long prints, never had a bed work this badly right out of the box.
Once i got the build tak sheets and stuck it to my current plate, everything prints and sticks perfectly.
Re: Steel build plates - A rant!
Now that the Prusa store has PEI sheets for sale, does anyone know of a good steel build plate that matches the original one (size/notches)? I know there are the buildtak ones, but I would rather just have an extra build plate exactly like the one that comes with the MK3.
Re: Steel build plates - A rant!
Now that the Prusa store has PEI sheets for sale, does anyone know of a good steel build plate that matches the original one (size/notches)? I know there are the buildtak ones, but I would rather just have an extra build plate exactly like the one that comes with the MK3.
The buildtak flexplate, namely the 241x254 has the notches and is of the size of the prusa variant. Only the corner radius is a bit smaller.
From the website
===
Suitable for:
• Prusa MK3
- - The FlexPlate does not include a BuildTak surface.
- - The applicable surface size is 254 x 228 mm.
===
Re: Steel build plates - A rant!
Now that the Prusa store has PEI sheets for sale, does anyone know of a good steel build plate that matches the original one (size/notches)? I know there are the buildtak ones, but I would rather just have an extra build plate exactly like the one that comes with the MK3.
The buildtak flexplate, namely the 241x254 has the notches and is of the size of the prusa variant. Only the corner radius is a bit smaller.
From the website
===
Suitable for:
• Prusa MK3
- - The FlexPlate does not include a BuildTak surface.
- - The applicable surface size is 254 x 228 mm.
===
The Build-Tak flex plate is definitely a worthy replacement for the Prusa sheet. As for the Build-Tak print surface, it's growing on me. Stuff sticks to it like crazy and I was always afraid to use it because I read it's easy'ish to damage. The past week I decided to throw caution to the wind and if I destroy the print surface so be it, I'll peel it and stick a sheet of PEI on it. I have say it appears to be holding up well and if I get six months out of it, it will become my primary print surface as I really like the textured first layer. What I did last night was to put the second sheet of Build-Tak print surface on the bed side of the sheet, I know they say not to but the scars on my bed from before I polished the flex-plate are arcing through the nail polish and into the steel sheet so I figured it's better to have some sort of insulation there...
Re: Steel build plates - A rant!
I am disappointed in Prusa Research in that they have not informed us, those who have ordered the MK3, and were promised a PEI powder coated build sheet. Seems "no news" is good for Prusa, hoping we would forget that we were promised the build sheet. I would have expected updates and/or any info on the progress.
Prusa has taken our money, but renigged on its promise.
I'd like to see others chime in and/or message Prusa to nudge them into giving us an update on when to expect the powder coated PEI sheet.
Re: Steel build plates - A rant!
Some guy apparently spoke to Josef and was told that steel sheets will be available in 3 - 4 weeks: https://www.reddit.com/r/prusa3d/comments/8knzg8/final_production_silk_screen_design_for_textured/?utm_source=reddit-android
I'll believe it when I see it.
Re: Steel build plates - A rant!
Seems "no news" is good for Prusa, hoping we would forget that we were promised the build sheet.
If they’re hoping we forget, it would be just plain funny.
When someone asks you if you're a god, you say, "YES!"
Re: Steel build plates - A rant!
I was always afraid to use it because I read it's easy'ish to damage
key difference being that you can actually BUY buildtak replacement sheets. like, right now. but I agree, I love buildtak however the PEI has been growing on me.
Prusa has taken our money, but renigged on its promise.
oh please. depending on when you ordered you either got a voucher or were informed of the situation and offered the chance to wait or cancel.