V2 Bed Buildtak Replacement

never used Ultrabase before. @WheresWaldo replaced the buildtak with PEI and I believe is doing fine?

I have no issues using buildtak for most things so will likely keep with it. May change to PEI in the near future. Not sure glass on the R2 would really help.

 

Personally, I like glass and hairspray. But don't forget that the plastic frame around the bed sticks up approximately 0.7 - 0.8 mm all round. This is so the 0.8 mm BuildTak / PEI sheet will lay flush all the way around the bed, So you have to have a piece of glass that fits inside that little lip.

 

When I converted my Version 1 bed to a version 2 bed, I used PEI. I just like it better than BuildTak for my use case which is printing mostly with PET-G. I covered over the screws that hold the bed to the plastic frame. I purchased 250 mm square sheets with adhesive and then cut them to size to fit inside the plastic lip (approximately 227 mm square with a penny sized curve on each corner). It was easily cut with one of those bypass paper cutters, but heavier scissors would work too.

 

Do you have the buildtak spatula? I hated buildtak until had a few of those . interested to see this Ultrabase thing, be sure to do a projects thread!

 

Tip from Josef Prusa: Use Windex or another other non-streaking prepared window cleaner. He says they have anti-static chemicals added to prevent dust collection on your windows. The anti-static properties appear to work as a release agent, so larger prints are easier to remove. I spray a paper towel so that it is wet, then wipe the bed leaving a bit of the window cleaner to dry on the bed. So far not one single print has been hard to remove and I have done a couple that use about half the R2 bed.

 

My version 2 bed did not come that way, there where little notches where each screw was located.

 

When you replace it with the PEI, note the thickness used. The bed requires 0.8 mm or thicker sheet so the plastic edge doesn't get in the way.

 

I would assume both but Prusa uses PEI so that is what he specifically mentioned.

 

@Geof I don't have the BuildTak spatula but did modify the Robo supplied spatula and also a 6" wide drywall blade. I took my Dremel and a sanding drum and rounded the two sharp corners and then sanded down the burr. It works perfectly and with round corners it is much more difficult to gouge the bed surface.

 

I just love the spatula lol. I have a bunch of different types but on large prints, nothing beats being able to wiggle it under a corner and off the print comes. so nice (handle is perpendicular to the "blade" and the blade is rounded)

(I cant tell you how many sheets of buildtak on my gmax that spatula has saved )

 

Found the tip on YouTube of all places, some random 3D printing video.



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The drywall blade is much more flexible than the scrapper Robo supplies. I almost always use the 6" blade.

 

yep we did that to most of ours as well. then we tried one corner leaving one sharp to "lift" the edge of the print and random other things. Now I've got 2 spatulas from buildtak and thats all I use

 

I replaced mine already, with a single sheet with no notches. I always thought the notches were dumb and wholly unnecessary. I just wished they had used a different bed that had a slightly higher power rating. Heating is still woefully slow and prone to errors. It is not a fix to just lengthen and/or widen the parameters before a failure is detected.

I had to replace my old sheet for two reasons; Gouges, just too many, that was before I took my Dremel to the scraper to round the edges, don't know why I didn't know that tip before; Melted spots, since I test a lot, I also fail a lot of prints, sometimes they fail in layer 1 or 2 and the bug that causes the hotend to stay in place over 5 seconds after canceling had left a few pock marks in the build surface.