Are there any 3rd party steel beds out there yet?  

RE: Are there any 3rd party steel beds out there yet?

I have not looked at 3d party replacements, but I remember seeing someone that used a MK3s bed on a Mini just fine (hanging from the left side), so the 220x220 would work too.

RE: Are there any 3rd party steel beds out there yet?

Not yet.  

RE: Are there any 3rd party steel beds out there yet?

Posted by: @iandouglas

I've got two smooth PEI sheets and one textured sheet for the Mini. I ordered the second smooth steel sheet a few weeks ago when I was printing TPU headstraps for PPE in my area and forgot to put down glue stick and promptly ripped a dime-sized chunk of PEI coating off the bed... But even with lots of glue stick on the new smooth sheet, TPU is still ripping the PEI off the steel sheet.

TH3D has some 180x180 steel sheets but they're just a tiny bit too small for the Mini but the 220x220 would be an inch too big, but I might get some of those. They're cheap and domestic shipping in the US is minimal.

I'm curious if anyone has looked at any other 3rd party print surfaces?

I would recommend using an additional self-adhesive kapton film to print TPU because the material sticks extremely to the print bed.

It also adheres well to the foiled PEI plate and is easy to remove.

RE: Are there any 3rd party steel beds out there yet?

Triangle Labs on Aliexpress has powder coated Mini steel sheets.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000983715866.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.0.0.28bd467eot6VVi&algo_pvid=cdfc012b-251e-42e3-b6e7-c6195cd6b91a&algo_expid=cdfc012b-251e-42e3-b6e7-c6195cd6b91a-0&btsid=0ab50a5715887881911481797e6a8f&ws_ab_test=searchweb0_0,searchweb201602_,searchweb201603_

RE: Are there any 3rd party steel beds out there yet?

https://de.aliexpress.com/item/4000101376659.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.4e464c4dOEfAGE
I hope the 180mm version fits the mini because I did order one.

RE: Are there any 3rd party steel beds out there yet?

I got a 180x180 sheet from someone else and it will fit, but that's the whole dedicated print area on the Mini ... the purge line happens outside of that, which might mean getting filament on the print bed itself. Or, if you move the sheet to catch the purge line, you'll reduce the actual usable print area on the Mini itself. I might get the 220x220 from https://www.th3dstudio.com/product/ezflex2-flex-plate-smooth-or-textured-pei-coating/ and see how well that fits... but honestly without the plate butting up/between the alignment pins at the back of the bed, you also risk having the steel sheet shift during a print.

RE: Are there any 3rd party steel beds out there yet?

Posted by: @iandouglas

I got a 180x180 sheet from someone else and it will fit, but that's the whole dedicated print area on the Mini ... the purge line happens outside of that, which might mean getting filament on the print bed itself. Or, if you move the sheet to catch the purge line, you'll reduce the actual usable print area on the Mini itself. I might get the 220x220 from https://www.th3dstudio.com/product/ezflex2-flex-plate-smooth-or-textured-pei-coating/ and see how well that fits... but honestly without the plate butting up/between the alignment pins at the back of the bed, you also risk having the steel sheet shift during a print.

Technically, the pins only prevent shift in 3 directions but they don't prevent rotational or negative Y movement.  Therefore the pins are there for alignment, while the magnets are the force preventing shift.  This can be proven by running a print with the plate slightly askew, then seeing that the plate did not move again during printing.... or by using the small plate shifted for the purge line.

RE: Are there any 3rd party steel beds out there yet?

Posted by: @iandouglas

I got a 180x180 sheet from someone else and it will fit, but that's the whole dedicated print area on the Mini ... the purge line happens outside of that, which might mean getting filament on the print bed itself.

the purge line is just in the start-gcode at the printer settings: G1 Y-2.0 X179 F2400

just edit the Y-2.0 to Y1 and you are good (i guess)

RE: Are there any 3rd party steel beds out there yet?

@oopsitsaflame

Either way you're still losing part of the core 180x180 print volume on the Mini. I'd rather get a steel sheet that's slightly larger than one that is too small.

RE: Are there any 3rd party steel beds out there yet?

Can someone please explain what the point is of buying a steel plate from an other vendor with PEI on one side for 18 while the original PR costs 24 and has 2 usable sides?

RE: Are there any 3rd party steel beds out there yet?

@oxygen

Getting them faster, probably with cheaper shipping. Last time I ordered from Prusa a sheet cost me $24 plus $14 to ship and took two weeks to arrive. If I can order within my own country at a lower cost and lower/faster shipping, I'm not going to care whether it's one-sided or two-sided.

RE: Are there any 3rd party steel beds out there yet?

ok that is a fair, do you know if there is a difference in te quality of the PEI?

RE: Are there any 3rd party steel beds out there yet?

I don't know, I haven't found any replacements yet. 🙂 I posted this thread asking if anyone had seen any replacements. I've found a few vendors who make spring steel sheets with smooth or textured PEI coatings, but none of them are an exact fit. They're either too small (180x180) or too big (220x220 or larger). I haven't found anything in the 190x190 to 195x195 size yet, and certainly none with the same shape as the Prusa Mini sheet.

RE: Are there any 3rd party steel beds out there yet?

I mostly use spring steel (PEI powder coated and PEI smooth) from energetic 3d store on Aliexpress. The quality is quite good. If a special size is needed, you can ask for it. For example I needed a PEI powder Coated for my Sovol SV01 which was not in their list - and they told me simply to order next bigger size and add a comment "Please cut down to ... by ... with latch to handle on the longer side".

You can also get blank spring steel there, if you want to use other stickers than PEI. Delivery time is about 2-3 weeks; cusom sizes maybe a week longer.

For a printer like the Prusa Mini, which is on the way to become very popular, simply tell them this and they add it into the store. I did this for the Monoprice Delta mini - and the next day it was added to the shop. The maximum size you can get is 505 by 505. The smalest size I have seen is 12cm round.

RE: Are there any 3rd party steel beds out there yet?

found a textured made for the mini

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000983715866.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.0.0.367869552DgpKi&algo_pvid=fb1213b0-f133-4fa3-b4e6-4f5d39464d41&algo_expid=fb1213b0-f133-4fa3-b4e6-4f5d39464d41-0&btsid=0ab6f81615889476792807283e2f1c&ws_ab_test=searchweb0_0,searchweb201602_,searchweb201603_