Combination Flexplate and Micro Porous Glass for R2

Very nice. Thank you for the update @Lance Weston

Update:
Reference this article: http://community.robo3d.com/index.php?threads/micro-porous-glass-bed-install.23727/

 

Was the Buildtak removed before attaching the glass plate to the Flexplate?

Answering my own question:
Additional Flexplates ordered from https://www.partsbuilt.com/ come without Buildtak. So no need to remove the Buildtak.

 

A tip for anyone considering having both a regular Flexplate and a Glass-topped Flexplate:

Record the Z Offset value for each. That way should you swap between two different Flexplate setups, you can "dial in" the Z offset to speed up any leveling of the print bed which might need touching up.

 

A follow up to this thread:

1) I did not encounter the yellow substance while cleaning the glass plate. However, the PLA stubbornly did not properly stick to the glass. Then I washed it with acetone - available at most retail store in the cosmetic section as "nail polish remover". When shopping for this item, be careful to get the product which is 100% acetone. Nail polish remover products can have extra stuff mixed in which would leave a residue on the print surface.
After finishing with the acetone wash, I followed it up with a wash of 91% isopropyl alcohol. So far the PLA is adhering to the glass surface nicely.
2) In Cura, I bumped the overall line width from 0.4 mm to 0.42 mm and the line width setting for brim and the first layer from 0.4 mm to 0.5 mm


In the Octoprint scripts, the auto-level routine was disabled. In the official Robo Marlin firmware, the auto-level routine has a flaw in that if the 9 point level measurement is below a certain point, it will adversely affect the print job. Meaning that with a properly leveled glass print bed, the auto-level routine will fail miserably.

3) I raised the print bed temperature from 40 C to 50 C.

And @Lance Weston is correct. The magnetic pull between the Flexplate and the magnetic matrix is stronger than the print bed to foundation magnetic pull. If you attempt to lift the glass Flexplate from the magnetic matrix, the entire print bed will lift off instead. So, you definitely need to slide the glass Flexplate from the print bed.

Also, you should reduce the overall print volume ( Z axis ) in the slicing program by 5 mm to account for the extra height of the glass plate with it's adhesive backing and the Flexplate. ( from the default of 250 mm to 245 mm )

So far, so good!

 

I was still having problems getting models to adhere to the print bed. I measured the priming noodle and discovered that the noodle was too thick ( print bed too low ). So I went to the Eprom editor though the LCD screen menus and adjusted the print bed higher. It took two tries to get the noodle thickness to normal.

Trying another print and see what happens.

 

Further update:

I adjusted the Z offset to give me an average 0.3 mm height for the priming noodle. So far the model is not lifting from the print bed. More to follow!

 

Last report:

The flatness of bottom of the model was near perfect. Here is a video explaining flatness:

 

The only issue which I can think of would be the potential damage to the heating element and/or the thermistor or both. The glass plate method gives a flatter surface and does not damage the print bed. By laying down test strips and measuring with a digital micrometer, a glass surface is easily within +/- 10 microns of flatness deviation. My modified print bed shows a difference in flatness of only 10 microns. However, one must keep in mind the measuring tolerance of the digital micrometer.

 

Glad to hear that everything is working out for you. Anytime a heated bed is important for the model being printed, I use the preheat option to get the bed up to temperature before starting the print job.