I just upgraded the bed on my Flashforge Dreamer to a mirrored bed. I mainly did this to have better support for printing nylon and switching out the bed per print.
Little did i know though how much my prints would improve with the glass bed. I have only printed a single test print so far but I am speechless at the glossy finish that resulted on the surface that was touching the print bed. The heated glass kept the PLA stuck very well with no issues and when the temperature dropped the part literally fell off.
For Anyone contemplating on upgrading their print bed to glass or mirror, Do it now! you will not regret it. I have no idea why I waited this long.
I have including a few pictures although the glossiness was very hard to capture, you can see reflections on the surface. I have also included a reference part that was printed on buildtak for comparison. While the camera might not be able to capture it, the difference in person is miles apart.
- light reflects right off the surface unlike the below identical part printed on buildtak.
-on Buildtak
-side by side comparison. Left is glass right is Buildtak
What do you guys think of glass beds? Do you prefer buildtak or glass? or others?
1 Like
Hi,
For me, there are times I like the glossiness of a mirrored plat, and at times I like to have a flat finished on the bottom. It all depends on the usage though. The only problem I have with using bare glass is that little chips sometimes breaks while taking of the printed object, unlike glass covered with buildtak you can use it so many times without worrying about breakage, Note, I do not use buildtak, but use the blue sticker that came with my flashforge creator pro.
jasonk
January 25, 2016, 12:50pm
3
Agreed, I use 1/8" window glass cut to 6x9" squares. I got 5 squares from a glass shop for 5 bucks and filed the sharp edges off with a fine file. Prior to printing, I spray it down with a layer of aqua net. Every couple weeks, I run the plate under hot water and scrape off the accumulated hairspray with a razor. To secure the glass to the build plate, I used to use binder clips, but now I just use 2 4" strips of 2" blue tape on the sides, which is much more forgiving for an extruder hits it. Another little trick is to remove the glass and object at the conclusion of a print, flip it over and run cool water on it in the sink to release the print. This is way better than trying to pry it up with a 1" wood chisel like I do with smaller items. With this glass method, my original kapton tape is still in pristine condition.
One of of my favorite parts of 3 d printing is finding ways to improve and optimize my printer. My next favorite is the active cooling fan I installed.
Take care! J
hmm I still need to add an active cooling mod.
I currently designed my own kind of glass corner supports and release system in order to easily switch out the glass sheets. I also have one glass sheet with a Flashforge blue tape thing that i referred to earlier as buildtak. If you are interested in the glass release system I made I will be posting it on thingiverse eventually after i finish testing it thoroughly. It effectively adjusts depending on the size of the piece of glass to insure a perfect fit each time without moving around.
Im gonna be trying various materials now to start seeing how they react and stick to the glass surface like ABS, Nylon and Alloy 910.
Len_1
January 25, 2016, 4:24pm
5
I also switched to using a glass print bed and am very glad I did. I bought a couple 6"x9" pieces of borosilicate glass, and in addition to improving the surface finish of the initial layer, removing the part from the bed is dramatically easier. I either use hair spray or PVA-based glue stick on the glass to improve adhesion. Another bonus of the removable glass plate is that you can swap the plates out and start another print job right away.
There are a number of models on Thingiverse for adding corner clips and shims for glass build plates. Search for FlashForge Dreamer on Thingiverse to find them.
Yea switching out plates is really advantageous. I did look at the corner clips on thingiverse but wasnt really happy with any of them so i made my own. Personnaly i bought a 4 pack mirror from ikea for 10$ and cut them myself. Since it was my first time cutting glass theyre not exactly perfect size so my clips allow for slightly smaller or larger sheets of glass (some not perfectly rectangular) while keeping them secured. I need to either get better at cutting glass or just find a local place to get them cut. For now however the clips solve the issue.
Eddy_1
January 25, 2016, 4:33pm
7
I also use mirror glass for my pla prints and give me good results. For abs,i’m still looking for a good sollution without abs juice.
I may stick to the supplied blue tape that flashforge supplies for abs. I dont want to deal with abs slurry and i habe great results with that blue tape/buildtakish surface.
I’m using glass all the time, for ABS. Combined with hairspray this sticks like crazy and it’s easy to remove after cooling down. For those interested: I also sell glasskits that include all components needed to start printing on glass on a Creator Pro.
Hi just wanted to know if you are experiencing what I have been experiencing with glass plate. I use it, and every time I remove my objects from the bed, I can see a couple of potholes on my glass plate. I use ordinary glass, and print with ABS, 230C Extruder, 110C Heated Bed. Thanks in advance.
Not at all! I remove the build plate when the print is done and pop it into the freezer for 2min and the parts just fall off. Glass looks Brand new still.
