New Heated Print Bed + PEI !!!

#1
Just wanted to toss this out there quick as I have received my heated bed.
I am a HUGE fan of PEI as a print surface. Been using it for over 2 years on 9 different printers and it never fails me.

In true awesome Gcreate fashion, As they were packing my heated bed to ship Gordon emailed me and asked let me know he would be putting in the Buildtak but not affixing it to the bed, because he knew I was going another direction. Thanks Gordon, class move and saved me ripping it off and wasting 50$

So I will have a video coming soon on the heated bed **SPOILER ALERT, its really really good** but right now just a quick picture of the PETG torture test with the gcreate heated bed + PEI.
I have a THIN lowes sheet of glass under the PEI, so in order I have Heat pad + glass + glass + PEI and it had no issues heating through those layers.

100% contact, ZERO warping at all. perfection. I was a little concerned as well because the first layer was a little higher than I wanted it (not enough smoosh) but it still held.

So great job on the heated bed guys and gal.



 
#2
dunginhawk said:
So great job on the heated bed guys and gal.



Good job guys. You really nailed it. Awesome. I also want those heated bed. Now you can print anything you want without worries. In order to print something you need to have the best supplies and materials.
 
#3
dunginhawk said:
Just wanted to toss this out there quick as I have received my heated bed.
I am a HUGE fan of PEI as a print surface. Been using it for over 2 years on 9 different printers and it never fails me.

In true awesome Gcreate fashion, As they were packing my heated bed to ship Gordon emailed me and asked let me know he would be putting in the Buildtak but not affixing it to the bed, because he knew I was going another direction. Thanks Gordon, class move and saved me ripping it off and wasting 50$

So I will have a video coming soon on the heated bed **SPOILER ALERT, its really really good** but right now just a quick picture of the PETG torture test with the gcreate heated bed + PEI.
I have a THIN lowes sheet of glass under the PEI, so in order I have Heat pad + glass + glass + PEI and it had no issues heating through those layers.

100% contact, ZERO warping at all. perfection. I was a little concerned as well because the first layer was a little higher than I wanted it (not enough smoosh) but it still held.

So great job on the heated bed guys and gal.
Hey Dunginhawk, we are receiving our printer soon and wanted to find out how your PEI bed is still working out. I currently use PEI on my Prusa and it works great. Do you think its critical to use 2 pieces of glass or could I get away with a single piece with a .030" PEI taped to it or are you using the second piece of glass for flatness? We ordered an aluminum bed plate with BuildTak but we will most likely not use the BuildTak. Where did you find a large enough sheet of PEI or is it 2 pieces?

Also, were you able to post your video?

Thanks, Dennis
 
#4
The PEI sheet is working out great. Still in perfect shape. I have one tiny chunk out, but thats my fault for trying to remove petg while hot... dumb.

I would much rather use 1 piece of PEI if I could find it in a size big enough to fit this bed. Problem with such a huge 16x16 bed I had to use 2 pieces, but it doesnt affect anything. Its a perfectly smooth joint.

Im using the 2nd piece of glass 100% just to adhere the PEI to.. If you wanted to attach it directly to the glass heated plate, that would work too. The reason I didnt is when you have to replace PEI (like once a year it seems) its a MAJOR pain in the butt to remove and then clean off all the 3m tape residue. So when it comes time for me to swap it out, ill just spend 5$ on a new sheet of glass and avoid the hassle.

Email support at gcreate and ask gordon/anna or the team to leave the buildtak off the glass if you dont plan to use it. They shipped me the brand new buildtak anyway, which is great. If i ever want it, i can use it.
 
#5
dunginhawk said:
The PEI sheet is working out great. Still in perfect shape. I have one tiny chunk out, but thats my fault for trying to remove petg while hot... dumb.

I would much rather use 1 piece of PEI if I could find it in a size big enough to fit this bed. Problem with such a huge 16x16 bed I had to use 2 pieces, but it doesnt affect anything. Its a perfectly smooth joint.

Im using the 2nd piece of glass 100% just to adhere the PEI to.. If you wanted to attach it directly to the glass heated plate, that would work too. The reason I didnt is when you have to replace PEI (like once a year it seems) its a MAJOR pain in the butt to remove and then clean off all the 3m tape residue. So when it comes time for me to swap it out, ill just spend 5$ on a new sheet of glass and avoid the hassle.

Email support at gcreate and ask gordon/anna or the team to leave the buildtak off the glass if you dont plan to use it. They shipped me the brand new buildtak anyway, which is great. If i ever want it, i can use it.
Hey thanks for the quick reply, I appreciate the feedback! I didn't think about removing the glue off of the bed, that would be a serious PIA.

Thanks, Dennis
 
#7
thats a great find :) pricey, but a great find.. I guess im paying 70$ for 2x 12x24 which is what it takes to cover the bed.
thats not bad i guess.
Ill probably pick this up for the next time I change out my bed.

thank you
 
#9
super nice :) ive researched a lot of PEI. glad you found those.. and no, id never skimp :) im putting lasers etc on here, so there is no skimping.
thanks again
 

bobr

New Member
#12
I ordered and received the heated bed with Buildtak… but have not installed it yet.
Can I install it and then put Glass over it? I am under the impression the Buildtak can be damaged easily.
 
#13
I personally did not and would not install the buildtak. I bought 4 pieces of normal glass from lowes, cut to 16x16.
1 for pei
1 for buildtak
1 for some other junk
1 for nothing just glass for ninjaflex etc.

thats just how i did it.
i have no problem heating a glass piece above the stock heated bed glass sheet. but id rather keep that one pristine, since its bonded to the heating element.
 
#15
ive never printed on straight glass yet... for ninja if i do ill use purple glue stick.
all the others are attached to the extra sheet of glass.
 
#20
Interesting, I've got two Prusa I3 MK2 and I'm in love with PEI, no experience what so ever with the Buildtak.
Would it be possible to order a piece of glass to put the PEI upon and just clamp it onto the heatbed (which will be buildtak prepped I think..?) The probe should be functional anyway right? Even though I'll loose 5-6mm on my max buildheight I guess.