Best Alternative PEI sheets
I really like the Prusa PEI sheets but they cost a fortune to ship to the U.S. and the ones that are sold via Amazon or are markec up almost as much as or even MORE than the international shipping!
- So what (cheaper) alternatives have you found to be as good (or maybe even better) than the Prusa original?
- Also, what do you think of the vendors that sell the PEI coating as a "sticker" to add to a flexible steel sheet?
I am interested in analogs for the smooth, satin, and textured Prusa sheets.
RE: Best Alternative PEI sheets
Printedsolid.com sells all the Prusa sheets (and other Prusa parts), and IIRC there's free shipping over $50. They're owned by Prusa.
For the textured sheet, I've had very good experience with the BCZAMD Gold sheets I bought on Amazon. Unlike the Prusa textured sheet, which was very temperamental in my hands, I haven't had any issues with the BCZAMD sheet with any material type, and I have them for Mk3S and Mini. The texture is a bit coarser than the Prusa textured sheet. Besides that, 99% of what I print is on Prusa satin sheets.
Formerly known on this forum as @fuchsr -- until all hell broke loose with the forum software...
RE:
Unfortunately your memory is incorrect here.
PrintedSolids charges $49.99 + $10.57 shipping for a total of > $60 -- which IS MORE than it costs to ship the same $39.99 sheet from Czech via International Air Freight.
I know that PrintedSolids is now owned by Prusa, but it must be one of the few companies now with a U.S. presence where the U.S. pricing is SUBSTANTIALLY higher than Europe -- typical one sees the opposite.
RE: Best Alternative PEI sheets
For the smooth sheet, I stick with the Prusa.
For textured, I like the Prusa and also Ultistik from Filamentone. Seem almost the same to me.
Prusa satin, is in a class by itself. Very nice print sheet.
Though, I am printing mostly nylon on Buildtak Nylon+... Have the Prusa nylon sheet, but have not yet tried it.
Going cheap on a build surface is like cheap tires on a race car. One day, you will be sorry.
Don’t trust forum advice.
RE:
Well, $49.99 is less than $50! For the fun of it I added the sheet plus a $5 print bed spacer to my shopping cart and sure enough got the free shipping.
But yes, for reasons discussed several times on other forum threads Printedsolid is not the low cost alternative we've hoped for in the US but with the free shipping it can be worth it.
Formerly known on this forum as @fuchsr -- until all hell broke loose with the forum software...
RE: Best Alternative PEI sheets
Going cheap on a build surface is like cheap tires on a race car. One day, you will be sorry.
My thought was to use "cheaper" sheets for test prints or for prints that are either non-challenging or don't require great fit-and-finish.
Sort of like you get new tires for race day, but practice in an older pair 🙂