If you think about it 3D printers are pretty big hypocrites. You spend half the time trying to get your first layer to
stick and then when your 3D print's done well, you've got to pick up this stupid spatula
And then, like, hack at it and bust the prints off
really hard and half the time you got to cut your finger in the process! And
Now it is 2018 and some printers are blessed with removable print platforms.
So, we had the amazing Prusa MK3 with a print platform that you just
Pop the parts off. And you can buy magnetic print platforms. For example, this is the the flex plate from build tech
That can stick to your print surface
But it's it's it's pretty expensive and not everyone can afford such a luxurious item. So in today's video
We're gonna try to make our own magnetic removable print platform with some L plates. Let's get started.
Okay so to do this project you will need these. These are flexible magnetic plates for cars (these are learner's in Australia) you can
Get P plates as well
Whatever you can get adhesive-backed ones with magnets, but they're a little bit more expensive
And I couldn't be bothered waiting for them to turn up from eBay. To stick to these magnets you're going to need a thin steel
Sheet. Now this is from a novelty sign shop. Very low cost, it's just standard steel.
It's not as good as spring steel, and it does have these rounded edges here to make sure you don't cut yourself and
Don't worry too much about what it says because we'll be covering it up with this.
This is just a thin adhesive build surface. This is Wanhao "Faketak." You can get real Buildtak
if you like doesn't matter you just need something to stick over the top of the steel and
Because I don't have adhesive backed magnets you need some double-sided tape. So let's get started.
Okay, so this is the JG Aurora A3 3D printer
I've removed any print surface on it and before you stick anything down you really want to clean it
so I got some metho (methylated spirits) and I'm just gonna wet the
the cloth
And clean off any oils or residue or anything you might have on the print surface.
Obviously, this printers off and nothing's plugged in because we are working with a solvent which is quite flammable.
And this is pretty clean already,
So I'm not too worried about that. Okay next we've got our magnets and unfortunately these L plates
Don't stick to the L side, so I can't have them facing up like that
They have to be facing like this then the sheet will stick to the top of it like that, so it's a little bit
Too long so what I'm going to do is just figure out roughly where to put them,
that's probably fine, and you get a marker...
and just...
like...
very roughly... And we're gonna use our double sided tape to just lay some strips down so we can stick our magnets down. Now these don't cover
The whole bed and this this steel sheet, it's just a little bit smaller
but the the advantage of that is the steel lid is quite thick and
It will actually just sit inside these magnets so hopefully it should sit nice and flat. Now we're just going to stick down our
Flexible build surface. This is a one shot job.
And it will overhang our plate just a little bit, but that's okay.
No one really prints right up to the edge of their build surface anyway. So there you have it guys!
We've made our DIY magnetic removable print surface, so a few things to note:
This isn't spring steel
it's just standard steel so the parts flex off like diagonally because of the strengthening ribs and
Over time it might slowly start bowing it's not going to be as resilient as spring steel.
Also, these magnets and the sheet add a few millimeters of thickness
So you'll have to re-level and also maybe even move your micro switch location on the z-axis
Depending on how much room you have with your springs
and the final note is something called the "Curie temperature" with magnets. So the reason that these Prusa MK3 and
the Buildtek flex plate have
discrete
Magnets built into it, not a flexible magnet sheet, is they have a higher Curie temperature whereas these sheets are rated to apparently
180 degrees C. I don't know, I wouldn't really trust pushing it very high at all. In fact,
I would recommend printing without any heat because if you're printing PLA
You don't need heat on your Buildtak surface, and if you want to push it up
I'd say maybe 60 degrees (celcius) or so keeping your mind like these sheets are
Designed to be stuck on cars in the hot summer days so they probably can cope with a fair amount of temperature (of heat)
But if you're going to try to print ABS something, it's just going to destroy them, and once it reaches past the Curie temperature
It's irreversible. They're no longer going to be magnetic, so I'm gonna level this starter print and let's see how it works.
All righty guys. How did we go? Well actually
this seems to have worked way better than I expected. The print's complete
The magnets did not demagnetize.
So it turns out we did not reach the Curie point. It was originally at 60 degrees Celsius
And it still had some stick, and then I reduced it to 45 degrees C
So pretty printing PLA 45 degrees C is fine
and I actually
Hit it with the Flir thermal camera to see if there was any
Sort of cold spots in the edge because we've only got the magnets up to here and actually you can see the footage here
Which I'm gonna overlay actually seem to be working pretty good
We know we had our temperature about 40 degrees Celsius over the entire bed without any obvious cold spots
But the true test: does it flex the parts off? Well...
Yes.
Perfectly, actually. And that just sticks back in place. Now,
It is very thin steel and over time it may start to deform, but honestly
I am really really happy with how that turned out for a project
video that was actually going to be a bit of a joke! Anyway guys
Hope you enjoy this video here on Maker's Muse
And if you know to see future 3D printing tips, tricks, projects, reviews... all that good stuff
then hit that subscribe button I'd love to have you on board and also want to take this opportunity to thank my
Patreon supporters who keep this channel going, keep the lights on, and keep the power running for these
very hungry little machines. Anyway, until next time guys look forward to see you again very shortly. Happy printing guys. Bye.
