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I have just recently purchased a Formbot 2 T-rex 3D printer kit. I am new to 3D printing and had various problems with the kit. When I first assembled it I hooked up the cooling fan for the electronics box backwards and the fan failed. Not knowing I ran the printer a few hours this way. Later, the Y axis stepper motor driver failed. I replaced the driver and it seems to be back in business, but while I was working on it, I leaned on the bed. It cracked. I was told by the manufacturer to replace it with borosilicate glass plate. Formbot was hesitant to ship it from China so I tried to purchase it locally. The printer is a large format printer, it is hard to find a bed that big. Also It was hard to find someone to cut just one or two pieces, so I settled for Tempered glass good for 400 deg F. Will the tempered glass be sufficient or does it have to be made of borosillicate?

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I wouldn’t worry too much about it pryrex (brand name) or borosilicate is preferred … in the early days we just used any piece of glass could find usually just an old mirror. If you’ve managed to get a heat resistant glass that’s great, you could even put a layer of kapton / polyamide tape over the top this will help with adhesion and also keep the glass contained if it does manage to break.

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I see, thank you for that. I did find someone who would cut the borosilicate glass, but the price was about $110 per piece before shipping. I was able to buy a piece of tempered glass locally for

$28. Also applied the Kapton tape. Was able to move the heating pad from the old plate to the new without damage. It seems to work just fine. The extruder leveled just fine. I believe I’’ ready to print again.

just wondered if the. Orosilicate affected the print job.

thanks again for your help and attention.

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Not a problem :slight_smile: “just wondered if the. Orosilicate affected the print job.” Glass is used because it retains its shape when heated, helping to get that important 1st layer down. Borosilicate is so that it doesn’t shatter when heating and then cooling down again.

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Gotcha. Thank you for your help

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