I have seen it fluctuate by a couple degrees on a really oddly shaped print where it could reflect a bit off the print.

The print looks great. z-band maybe exaggerated by the glossy finish of the filament, I'm sure the real print looks better than the picture.

Two small concerns:
1. layer cooling fan can use a different design, the current design is too far away from nozzle and may cool nozzle more than cool the print. I can be wrong about this since look at picture is not as accurate as look at real object in 3D.

2. Hotend cable management. the heating element wire and themistor wire is not fixed tight. My feeling is they will be slightly bend over and over when the hotend moves back and forth (will make heating element wire and themistor wire break quicker on heat block end). I would recommend add 2nd zip tie in the middle of the heating element wire and themistor wire (between your current zip tie and heating block) attach to the carriage .

I can't find the black box I was using for calibration   But the difference in z banding was noticeable.  I tried forever with my original SD to get decent layering and was such a pain.

1.  Yeah it's not the best cooling fan, but best I've found so far.  Lawsy's didn't fit as it looked as his was designed for use with the SD stock hot end

2.  Makes sense and good point, thanks!

heartless wrote:

the best bed heater for an 8x8 bed is this: https://www.printitindustries.com/colle … -8-heatbed

I have 3 printers running it and love it. just ordered another one for my 3rd SD4

did they ever make one of these for the SD2 6x6 bed? need one bad for mine as their lil hot resister is horrible about very uneven temps causing print issues either poor adhesion or burnt curled edges in spots, worse on long prints.

last I heard they were "working in it" for other sizes. I would love one for the FT-5. might want to reach out to them and see what they have to say about it.

the best bed heater for an 8x8 bed is this: https://www.printitindustries.com/colle … -8-heatbed

I have 3 printers running it and love it. just ordered another one for my 3rd SD4

did they ever make one of these for the SD2 6x6 bed? need one bad for mine as their lil hot resister is horrible about very uneven temps causing print issues either poor adhesion or burnt curled edges in spots, worse on long prints.

Two small concerns:
1. layer cooling fan can use a different design, the current design is too far away from nozzle and may cool nozzle more than cool the print. I can be wrong about this since look at picture is not as accurate as look at real object in 3D.

2. Hotend cable management. the heating element wire and themistor wire is not fixed tight. My feeling is they will be slightly bend over and over when the hotend moves back and forth (will make heating element wire and themistor wire break quicker on heat block end). I would recommend add 2nd zip tie in the middle of the heating element wire and themistor wire (between your current zip tie and heating block) attach to the carriage .

this one was designed with the SD printers in mind, but also intended to be usable by other printers with the same bed size, by guys that are SD owners..
the four guys that own PrintIt Industries are all members here, and started the company as a support source for the rest of us. They have great products and fantastic customer support.

I bought one of these heatbeds when they first came out and liked it so much that I bought another.. I also have one of their printers that uses the same heatbed..

Fast, EVEN heating across the entire bed that is very stable. it cut my bed heating time by more than half - and considering I have a 3/16" thick aluminum plate plus mirror tile on top of that, that is saying a lot. It is so good that I was able to drop the bed temp from 100C to 90C and still get excellent adhesion when running ABS.

That's awesome! I hadn't heard of them before, definitely appreciate this!

I bought one of these heatbeds when they first came out and liked it so much that I bought another.. I also have one of their printers that uses the same heatbed..

Fast, EVEN heating across the entire bed that is very stable. it cut my bed heating time by more than half - and considering I have a 3/16" thick aluminum plate plus mirror tile on top of that, that is saying a lot. It is so good that I was able to drop the bed temp from 100C to 90C and still get excellent adhesion when running ABS.

the best bed heater for an 8x8 bed is this: https://www.printitindustries.com/colle … -8-heatbed

I have 3 printers running it and love it. just ordered another one for my 3rd SD4

Thanks for the heads up!  I had originally bought one of the silicone ones specially made for the SD that someone here used to get,  it works great and heats fast, BUT they undersized the wiring, so they get pretty warm while heating.  They released a 2nd version with upgraded wiring I've had in my cabinet for awhile as a backup, but good to know about this one

I have 3 printers running it and love it. just ordered another one for my 3rd SD4

Aluminum Sheets (search for MIC6): https://www.mcmaster.com/aluminum-alloy-sheets
Fan duct:  https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2804941

Also, when I redid the build plate a couple of years ago, some things weren't readily available.  If I was to do it again, I would use this:  https://www.ebay.com/itm/Aspen-Aerogels … rk:12:pf:0

I used the 5mm Aerogel insulation on my 12x12" plate in my other printer, also 1/4", and it not only heats fast, but holds the heat very very (very) well. I can crank it to 70C, and still touch the bottom with my hands without a problem. I used a bit of RTV sealant and holds it perfectly in place.   If I have to redo this plate as the heater is a bit undersized (I have a newer one), I'd likely use this as the 8x8" plate cools off pretty quick.

Speaking of the heater, I finally bought a brand name SSR from Digikey.  The cheap ones on Amazon often are poor copies, and don't work.  The aluminum box for the SD makes a nice natural heat sink.  I went thru 3 of them from Amazon (thru different sellers), before I realized that was the issue

I also realized too late I should have posted this to the mods forum, but too late now.  It is tempting to try to add a 2nd extruder now, though may have to do a bit of DIY since not sure the parts exist, yet

Looks like you fixed that printer up nicely.