Topic: Polycarbonate Bed?
Has anyone tried a polycarbonate bed? I've seen mention of acrylic being used for PLA but I can't seem to find anybody using PC.
Re: Polycarbonate Bed?
Do you have a particular reason why?
Polycarbonate is less stiff than acrylic (a surprising fact I learned.) And there's no particular reason why it would be better for a print bed, except perhaps that you could heat it more.
Re: Polycarbonate Bed?
Where I am I haven't found a good place to get borosilicate glass so I was just wondering if polycarb would work. It's much easier to get and won't have any risk of shattering.
- techbuilder2175
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Re: Polycarbonate Bed?
Then try and acquire a piece of tile or granite it has greater thermal mass then glass.
It's prefered by a couple of members here.
I'm currently using granite for my solidoodle
Powder coated steel enclosure, 1/4" Surface grounded hardened aluminum plate, MK2A Heat bed, .200 Polished fused quartz plate, Machined quick change hot bed mount, E3D hot end, Ramps 1.4, DRV8825 stepper motor drivers
Re: Polycarbonate Bed?
How do you like the granite?
6 2013-11-12 17:57:37 (edited by techbuilder2175 2013-11-12 17:59:08)
- techbuilder2175
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Re: Polycarbonate Bed?
Personally I like the adhesion better then glass however the surface still varies by about .004 of an inch overall
so I may have it surface grinded since I have a bit of a pet peeve with surface flatness
it also takes a little long to heat up but it holds it's temp amazingly
Powder coated steel enclosure, 1/4" Surface grounded hardened aluminum plate, MK2A Heat bed, .200 Polished fused quartz plate, Machined quick change hot bed mount, E3D hot end, Ramps 1.4, DRV8825 stepper motor drivers
Re: Polycarbonate Bed?
once I get my printer I'll try some polycarbonate as well as some other things.
Re: Polycarbonate Bed?
I loved the ceramic tile, but it was crazy warped except in the very middle. Maybe I'll go find a piece of granite to try.
- techbuilder2175
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Re: Polycarbonate Bed?
If your using abs stay away from using polycarbonate, Only
use PLA as you will warp the plastic and stay away from heating the bed.
Painters tape will be your best friend for pla as well as elmer's disappearing purple glue sticks.
I've never had any lift when using this glue stick with painters tape.
Powder coated steel enclosure, 1/4" Surface grounded hardened aluminum plate, MK2A Heat bed, .200 Polished fused quartz plate, Machined quick change hot bed mount, E3D hot end, Ramps 1.4, DRV8825 stepper motor drivers
- Krythis
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Re: Polycarbonate Bed?
I use these panels myself, with a slightly modified qu-bd bed setup to allow for the larger glass. They were so cheap I bought 10 to have some spares. I've been using them since June with zero issues. I switch between one with hairspray and another with a 1/32" Garolite sheet epoxied to it for Nylon. The other 8 collect dust.
http://www.storesupply.com/pc-12925-112 … 67110.aspx
E3D-v4 Hotend, MK5 carriage with round plastic wire conduit , 3/16" tempered glass, Well nut, SureStepr SD8825 1/32 Extruder Driver, PowerEdge 2650 500W PS, QU-BD heated bed, circuit board fan, hinged plexiglass enclosure with plastic tray top. Other than that mostly stock SD3