The question I’m sure was on everyone’s mind: can you combine PEI and glass beds?
The question I’m sure was on everyone’s mind: can you combine PEI and glass beds?
I like the thermal mass of glass for temperature stability, as I've found that's pretty key to getting good print adhesion. But I really wanted to try out PEI without having to stick a giant magnet directly to my heater plate, something I definitely did not trust.
Turns out, you can solve both problems! This was how I did it.
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You can get a sheet of PEI without the metal sheet. Maybe get a piece of glass and that PEI, and stick them together?
i've had great results with sheets from mcmaster. Apply with soapy water and squeegee the water out to avoid bubbles.
They have other films as well (kapton, for example,) depending on what you're trying to print with.
Though, personally, I just stuck the magenetic base to the glass... and print with no problems. I haven't looked back since taking the leap my biggest beef with the magnetic base is that when doing large prints it seems to shift enough to invalidate the mesh saved to the board. I
oh that's a good price, I like that, thanks!
I've found that that's a very dangerous website. Especially if you use fusion 360. (you can import parts into your workspace using the mcmaster item number.... For, you know. convenience...)
Yeah, that'd work. And you could get multiple plain glass sheets if you wanted to have different print bed materials.
But the metal sheet is also nice because if you have a big print on it, you can flex it and [tonk] the print will come right off, and this system retains that feature. It's also nice because when the PEI wears out/gets damaged/whatever, you've got a recyclable metal sheet whereas plate glass really kinda isn't recyclable?
glass is at least as- if not more- recyclable than metals. all you really have to do is remove the adhesive film- the plastic is what makes it not recyclable, and that's true of the metal plate as well.
Literally no one takes sheet glass here for recycling. Bottles, yes. Sheet glass, no.
I can throw all metals in with curbside metals recycling.
Therefore, for me, metal is recyclable and sheet glass is not.
You dont throw out the glass when the PEI is done. You buy a new PEI sheet, take off the old one, clean the glass, and stick on the new pei sheet. The only waste is the pei.
With metal sheets, when the pei is done, the metal could probably use replacing too to prevent warping. Otherwise, theoretically, the sticker method would work with metal too.
In this context, metal is definetely less durable than glass. Metal bends, metal warps, metal scratches. Unless your putting rocks on your glass bed, you won’t scratch it, and glass doesnt bend.
Oh so there's sheet PEI which has no metal and can be peeled back off the glass without a fight? Okay. I haven't seen that, I've only seen the metal sheets. (In terms of coated glass sheets, I was thinking about the Ender glass sheet I have with is coated with something, not PEI but whatever they used with my 3V2, and that won't wear off soon but when it eventually does the glass is done.
Or I guess I could stick these adhesive-backed? PEI sheets that aren't on metal onto the glass sheet and use it that way.