Very new to this, just received an Anet A8 and in the process of builing it. Trying to read up as much as I can to get it as good as can reasonably expected.
At the moment I am flooded with ideas for upgrades and trying to decide which are essential, which are useful and which are just nicities.
in particularly, working out which would be much easier to add as I am building - so far I just have the bearings and the MOSFET board.
So have been reading about the bed and it seems that that the tape that comes on it is pretty rubbish and that blue builders tape is better. But then also posts saying that glass is the best.
Since the glass is not that expensive I have that in mind but then I saw sussestions that the auto level sensor would not work.
So my questions
1 - blue tape or glass what are the pros and cons, what is best for a beginner
2 - how often do you replace blue tape - so I know how many sheets to buy
3 - what do you need for auto-levelling for a glass bed
For now I’m going to get on and build - I assume the bearings are the only add-on that is difficult to retrofit.
Cheers,
Nigel
I vote for glass 10 times. With airspray or glue bar. Reasons: good addesion, fast buildplate switching and nice first layer surface For autolevel you can use touch or distance. If so take a 8mm height cause glass is arround 4mm
Don’t bother with glass. Just use a build plate sticker. Good luck!
Yeah, a glass bed gives you a really shiny first layer if it is well calibrated. I am also using a glass bed.
Important: Use a capacative sensor, this is also working with class. The inductive sensors won’t work with them.
tkuan
September 15, 2017, 1:09pm
5
1. They all work great, but I like the glass bed better because the bottom layer is shining and very easy to remove when finished. If you use a glass bed, you will probably need to heat the bed all the time or use a glue stick to apply a thin layer in print area. You can print on the blue tape without heating the bed.
2. I bought 3" blue tapes from a hardware store, and apply 3 bands of tape on the bed. I probably change one band every 20 prints. It was torn when I tried remove printed objects.
3. The proximity sensor does work on the glass bed. I use it for more than 200 prints now. It works great. You will need a 8mm sensor to work. I used a 3/32"(2.4mm) glass from a hardware store. Not all the 8mm sensors work with 5v provided by the socket, but this is the one I use, 3d Printer Accessories Arrival Auto Leveling Position Sensor for Anet A8 I3 for sale online | eBay
