Bit of a fact check 1:52. Not everyone can purchase a Prusa MK52 bed on its own from the Prusa website. This can only be purchased if you have already purchased an i3 machine from the Prusa site. They have tiered purchase availability, so if you have never purchased from them before and simply create an account you will not be able to purchase the MK52 bed and sheets as parts on their own. This goes the same with many of the other spare parts for Prusa machines.
I installed one on my CR-10 Mini a couple months ago and love it. I do use a glue stick on top of the surface as I find that works perfectly to keep it from sticking to much and now everything just pops off. You can also remove the plate and just wash it under running water when the glue stick build up is getting to much. It so convenient to use.
Another excellent video. The Buildtak Flexplate system is well designed, and, according to people I trust, works very well. Buildtak now also has a PEI surface available for their system too. It is a great platform to test other build surfaces too.
You could have saved us a lot of time by leading with the price. Seriously, how many people are going to spend 30% of the price of a CR10 for a build surface? My Ender 3 was $180, so for a $140 build surface to be worth consideration it would have to cure cancer AND turn my PLA prints into stainless steel. It is no wonder nobody talks about this product, especially since with $25 of magnets and some spring steel you could make your own in about 1/2 hour. This channel is better than this.
It depends. If you take a look at the Prusa PEI powder coated spring steel, it would be worth such a high price if you could get it in such a size. It is so amazing. But for a simple build surface the price is much to expansive, I agree.
Michael, I disagree. It's not my place or yours to decide how much should be spent on printer mods. Some people want to keep it stock and others spend triple the initial cost. That is their choice. Some approach it strategically and add features that more expensive printers have and come out with money to spare.
@@TeachingTech I totaly agree. Exept: Mostly its not about paying less (often you will be pay more than buying a printer with everything already build in than upgrading a cheep printer), but the fun of success for every modifikation making your printer better. Everytime is a little like Xmas. As psychologist say: more little happy moments are making you more happy altogether than one big success. So spending 4*200€ to get the printer you want, buys more happyness than spending 800€ at once. One high priced printer give you only one big moment of happyness. Than you get used to see its features as "normal'. If you buy a cheep printer, first success is the first print. Other moments of happyness: reduce z-wobble. Make it less noisy. Print high temperature by changing heatbreak. Do web-interface (Duet Board). Add ABL. Add an magnetic bed. Add an PEI Powder Coated Spring Sheet... Many (small) steps that make you Happy. I have one very good printer: The original Prusa mk3. But it has nearly all I needed in the beginning, so one big moment of happyness. Soon I took all features as granted. On the other side i had a cheep geeetech. Many steps to do. Now only 3 Motors ans some cable are from the original. It even got magnetic bed. Cost altogether as much as the mk3. But a huge number of moments of happyness (and frustration you need to recognice how happy you are at the end)... So in my personal opinion its not the price for the flexplate beeing a problem. It the easyness of upgrading. Make an magnetic bed yourself has an nicer happyness:price-ratio (as you need some frustration first to get realy Happy) ;-)
As mine is a flex specific machine now, I use 'tthheekkiinngg' "PEI coated spring steel" plate on top of the flexplate base. It shouldn't be but it is perfect for flexibles with the bed temp off.
Thanks for the review. Still a DIY- Version costs less than half of that price while maintaining the same amount of convenience. You need just a flex steel plate, some high temp magnets (glued on the underside of your bed with cheap silicone) and a build tak surface. I've spread wood glue onto the other side of the steel sheet to have a flippable print surface with a rough and a smooth side. Still this Buildtak sytem is finally something seriously considerable due to the (seemingly high quality) high temp magnetic surface. Have you heard of the wham bam flex plate kickstarter? Nerys recently reviewed a prototype. It has a special coating similar to PEI but a much higher adhesion performance. Have a nice weekend. Cheers!
It is nice to know that options exist. Got the powder-coated version for the mk3 and it is fantastic but I doubt I can get a replacement in the next year or so for it. I at least just need to order the spring steel sheet and print surface and do not have to buy the whole system.
You can get PEI powder coated spring steel from Canada searching for "PEI powder coated" on eBay. At the moment you only get it for Prusa mk3 and Flashforge, the 304x304 sized for CR-10 is sold out (4 days ago it was available and I ordered one, 46€+14€ shipping). The texture is finer than on original prusa (I like the prusa texture more) but the function is the same. "Naked" spring steel is availabe on Aliexpress for 22,90€ including shipping (search for "Energetic removable spring steel sheet"). So the "only" thing to do is to make the headbed magnetic. As I want to do it with a JGAurora A5, magnets under the bed are not an option (the base is steel, so the magnets tie in direction of the base). So I thought about an simple solution: 3M adhesive onto the bed (5 pcs 315x315 costs 16€ at AliExpress). An aluminium sheet 2mm thick 315x315mm² (about 10€ plus shipping). 20 magnets samarium-cobald, 6mm diameter, 2mm thickness (aliexpress about 10€ incl. shipping). Drill 20 holes into the aluminium sheet. Put it on the adhesive on the heatbed. Put the magnets in the holes (also glued by the adhesive). Maybe kaptontape for protection on the surface...
Used Buildtak on some Gigabots for years. It wasnt flexible or removable like this but I can attest to how well ABS and PLA stick. Really strong surface!
The first time I used it , back when it first came out, I had the first layer too squished and couldn't remove the model. Had to throw it away after one print :( Hopefully this flex system alleviates that problem.
Yeah too close and you'll have problems. On the Gigabot, the bed wasn't easy to remove either. After a few months the surface actually lifted with the print. But for me with the amount of hours we printed on it, it was a small price to pay for never having a model curl, or lift mid print. Really reliable!
I've installed these on both my old Wanhao i3 Plus and the (great) Ender 3 after I spoke to a salesman at the TCT show earlier in the year, and so far I like them a lot. A key difference are the magnets and adhesives being good for the higher temperatures and that's one of the reasons I went for it; didn't want to switch to a system that restricted me to PLA and PET. The other thing that will be interesting to see if it pans out, is the claim their different build surfaces are the same thickness so if you swap out a Buildtak plate for a PEI plate, there should be no need to re-level. I picked up a second build plate and surface sheet - I'm not sure sticking sheets to both sides is a good idea as it presumably slows down heading the bed. Obviously they are costly relative to the price of the Ender 3 in particular - the system plus spare plate and PEI sheet together cost almost as much as the printer - so it's only a certain type of person that will go for it rather than the Creality magnetic removable bed solution. I wouldn't suggest it for people who already have a removable bed system because of the cost - but for people with machines without the removable bed, and who want to print ABS, ASA etc and not just PLA and PET it is a good upgrade. In my case it was reasonably justified on the old i3+ (no removable bed, and the sheet was already in need of replacement), but an extravagance on the Ender 3.
@@TeachingTech Just thought I'd add to this. More recently I've also been using the soft magnetic removable mat on an Ender 3 Plus. I've found that the soft magnetic mat system is far more forgiving; much easier to get a good first layer especially without mesh bed levelling. I think it's because (a) the flexible mat surface is more coarse which seems to grip better, and (b) it has a little give in it so you don't need to be super-accurate with the distance between the nozzle and the build surface. In contrast, with the Buildtak plate I have to use mesh levelling for anything that uses a significant amount of the build area - and without a bltouch (yet), that is quite painful. I *think* what's happening, is that with the Buildtak metal flex plate the levelling must be perfect across the plate - and with the typical warping you get with the aluminium heated beds, mesh bed levelling is pretty much imperative. With the flexible magnetic mat, however, the mat itself will squish a bit if necessary. I've yet to try a bltouch andI've been mesh levelling by hand - which isn't exactly quick! Upshot is that for all PLA printing (which most of what I do of course) I find the flexible magnetic mat is easier, more reliable, and quicker. It also doesn't risk catching fingertips when returning the surface to the print bed...
I reviewed one way back in the day. Didn't have much luck with it when testing ABS: ua-cam.com/video/HM2WrA1hdGc/v-deo.html Since that video, testing with PLA has been excellent: ua-cam.com/video/baVA5G8HH04/v-deo.html
It's nice. But not 50% the cost of my cr-10. Like you said "glass is fine except you don't want to wait for it to cool." I think waiting less than 3 minutes is worth not spending 140.
Hey have a question and it may be something you might wanna try. The magnetic flex plate for FDM printers, can they be used on resin printers? Seems like the same material, it needs tobe stuck down the same. If it worked it would save people so much money when trying to get flex plates for larger resin printers.
Hey Michael, great instructions / comparison. I would like to lighten the weight of my CR-10 bed, but this is a bit pricey, so maybe I'll stick (excuse the pun lol) to glass for a while longer. On the case of Hexapod, I've just ordered all the parts for mine. Buying from Vorpol will cost around £150+ which is too much for a toy, so I decided to risk it on Ebay. However, I will be making a donation to Vorpol when I'm done, I am a big advocate of supporting the open source community. Something that just occurred to me, is are there any differences in electronics between the original and the Max Hexapod?
Glass is definitely a good solution, I'm just impatient. I've just opened my Vorpal delivered kit and the game pad stuff is the same, as well as the Arduino Nano for the pod. Everything else is different from being scaled up. Servos are beefy!
You should really prepare the viewers for the sticker price shock. It’s a great solution but for a CR-10 size printbed size you can buy an entire small entry level printer. The build surface shouldn’t cost 1/4 to 1/3 of the printer price.
Everyone is free to make up their own mind. Some people approach it from the point of view that they start with a cheap printers and spend triple the price over time on mods to bring it closer to a Prusa for less money. the price at the end was not on purpose, I just forgot to mention it before then while recording.
@@TeachingTech My complaint in this vein isn't that there's sticker shock.. but that you gave the price of the tool, and didn't give the price of the flexplate in the video.
One of the few accessories I've bought I can wholeheartedly recommend and be evangelical about. I went through a couple of the original Tevo 'stickers' - prints stuck too well, and I'd bubble the surface as I removed prints. What really make the process unpleasant was the 'gummy glue' they used. Took a load of solvent and elbow grease each time you wanted to take the print bed back to the glass. Next thing I tried was the Ultrabase. THE most frustrating product. New, they worked perfectly. Everything stuck and when cooled it was already detached. Problem I had was that they degraded and official solution was to sand them - which is ridiculous as it removes the little bumps that make the thing work. Other people didn't have this problem. I gave up after 3. Still wonder if it was just a faulty batch out there. In a fit of utter misery I threw money at the problem, and got my flexplate 6 months ago. Cost aside, it's been utterly faultless. As mentioned in the review, the print surface itself does degrade (normal wear and tear) - I'm on my 2nd and have a spare sitting in the corner. Plus is that once you've bought "the system" the price of the print surface is pretty reasonable (in UK I've got it on my Amazon subscribe and save) and it's trivial to change. Surface peels off easily and without residue from the flexible bit of metal, and you just apply a new surface (5 min job). One reason I bought the system (but haven't actually used) is that you can also pick up additional spring-steel plates to fit on the expensive magnetic bit that glues to the glass. Would allow you to swap out your print surface (buildtak sell PEI, but you could use anything) as you change the material you're printing. I think my summary is pretty simple. If you're having print surface problems and can stomach the price, buy it.
Definitely mentioned the price and even ha a screenshot too. Nonetheless, your summary is indeed spot on. I've yet to see someone unhappy with this product. I agree, if you can stomach the cost, it works brilliantly.
HELP PLEASE new to this just got ender 3 pro with the magnetic bed but also it came with upgrade of glass and clips how do i do it with magnetic on or of before glass please
Yup, makes total sense to buy a build plate costing as much as the printer itself. And for just about $500 more, you can upgrade the Ender 3 into a machine that even rivals the Prusa i3Mk3 - both in quality, features and price! Also, supporting innovative original manufacturers is important. For me, i think i'll wait until China produces a clone for a fraction of the price of the original. Until then, my $15 Creality Cmagnet surface will probably work just fine. ;)
@@axelhopfinger533 Just raw spring steel sheets are 30-40 dollars. That's why china produces the crap magnet sheets instead. I don't know of any ender 3's that cost 90 dollars either. Which is what these cost. Add a bed level sensor, and a titan aero and you pretty much have the set it and forget it printer. "Also, supporting innovative original manufacturers is important. For me, i think i'll wait until China produces a clone" you don't even make sense.
There are multiple paths to 3D printing nirvana (and all of them cost money). Some may wish to spend a great deal more than the purchase price, others will just buy a more expensive machine. Like any hobby, it's hard to justify the costs to an outsider so in fairness it shouldn't really be criticised.
@@TeachingTech Of course you're right. After all ,there are people who buy some cheap or old car and put twice its original worth of money into tuning and upgrading parts, until there is barely an original part left on the chassis. Some even do that with their own bodies. If you have the money to spare, go knock yourself out! After all, 3D printing is a luxury hobby, if you don't do it professionally. And it is only due to those super cheap budget Chinese printers, that some of us even were able to pick up 3D printing at all.
A better solution for the same thing but waaay cheaper is the Wham Bam flew plate. They just launched a kickstarter and I have the beta test kit. It cost me about 60$ for my ender 3 and I'm never going to use anything different.
I saw that after making the video. Hopefully it stays a lot cheaper after the Kickstarter is done. It will inevitably jump in price price, but by how much?
Hi Michael, I'm considering the flexplate for my 2018 Tevo Tornado because I'm getting a lot of warping and lifting around the edges of my prints using PLA on the stock glass. Do you know why this would be happening? I put glass on my ender 3 and have no trouble with it but the Tevo I can't figure out. I've used glue stick, hairspray, magigoo, different temperatures and cooling fan speeds and still get some warping. The only thing that has really helped is including a brim with 25 outlines. If you have any suggestions I would appreciate it. Thanks
I suppose the larger size is going to exaggerate thermal instability. I had phases with mine where I got something on it that made sticking inconsistent. Before you spend any money try windex, I've read a lot of people have had great success.
Yep, I stuffed that up on this one. I have a preset level but this particular backing track must be louder than usual. I've lowered my preset level for future videos.
Bit of a fact check 1:52. Not everyone can purchase a Prusa MK52 bed on its own from the Prusa website. This can only be purchased if you have already purchased an i3 machine from the Prusa site. They have tiered purchase availability, so if you have never purchased from them before and simply create an account you will not be able to purchase the MK52 bed and sheets as parts on their own. This goes the same with many of the other spare parts for Prusa machines.
You are completely right. Well spotted.
i know it's kind of off topic but does anyone know a good place to stream newly released series online?
@Jonas Kolton Flixportal
@Zayne Langston thanks, signed up and it seems to work :D Appreciate it!
@Jonas Kolton happy to help :)
I installed one on my CR-10 Mini a couple months ago and love it. I do use a glue stick on top of the surface as I find that works perfectly to keep it from sticking to much and now everything just pops off. You can also remove the plate and just wash it under running water when the glue stick build up is getting to much. It so convenient to use.
Another excellent video. The Buildtak Flexplate system is well designed, and, according to people I trust, works very well. Buildtak now also has a PEI surface available for their system too. It is a great platform to test other build surfaces too.
You could have saved us a lot of time by leading with the price. Seriously, how many people are going to spend 30% of the price of a CR10 for a build surface? My Ender 3 was $180, so for a $140 build surface to be worth consideration it would have to cure cancer AND turn my PLA prints into stainless steel. It is no wonder nobody talks about this product, especially since with $25 of magnets and some spring steel you could make your own in about 1/2 hour. This channel is better than this.
It depends. If you take a look at the Prusa PEI powder coated spring steel, it would be worth such a high price if you could get it in such a size. It is so amazing. But for a simple build surface the price is much to expansive, I agree.
Michael, I disagree. It's not my place or yours to decide how much should be spent on printer mods. Some people want to keep it stock and others spend triple the initial cost. That is their choice. Some approach it strategically and add features that more expensive printers have and come out with money to spare.
@@TeachingTech I totaly agree.
Exept: Mostly its not about paying less (often you will be pay more than buying a printer with everything already build in than upgrading a cheep printer), but the fun of success for every modifikation making your printer better. Everytime is a little like Xmas. As psychologist say: more little happy moments are making you more happy altogether than one big success. So spending 4*200€ to get the printer you want, buys more happyness than spending 800€ at once.
One high priced printer give you only one big moment of happyness. Than you get used to see its features as "normal'. If you buy a cheep printer, first success is the first print. Other moments of happyness: reduce z-wobble. Make it less noisy. Print high temperature by changing heatbreak. Do web-interface (Duet Board). Add ABL. Add an magnetic bed. Add an PEI Powder Coated Spring Sheet...
Many (small) steps that make you Happy.
I have one very good printer: The original Prusa mk3. But it has nearly all I needed in the beginning, so one big moment of happyness. Soon I took all features as granted.
On the other side i had a cheep geeetech. Many steps to do. Now only 3 Motors ans some cable are from the original. It even got magnetic bed. Cost altogether as much as the mk3. But a huge number of moments of happyness (and frustration you need to recognice how happy you are at the end)...
So in my personal opinion its not the price for the flexplate beeing a problem. It the easyness of upgrading. Make an magnetic bed yourself has an nicer happyness:price-ratio (as you need some frustration first to get realy Happy) ;-)
Got the Buildtak Flexiplate on my CCT too, Micheal. Best decision I ever made. :)
As mine is a flex specific machine now, I use 'tthheekkiinngg' "PEI coated spring steel" plate on top of the flexplate base. It shouldn't be but it is perfect for flexibles with the bed temp off.
I love my Buildtak Flexplate system. My favorite mod so far. Thanks for sharing.
Have you tried the competitor Wham Bam? I am not sure which one I should buy. Thanks in advance!
@@kwinzman I've only used that brand on the Elegoo Saturn resin printer but I've heard good things.
Thanks for the review. Still a DIY- Version costs less than half of that price while maintaining the same amount of convenience. You need just a flex steel plate, some high temp magnets (glued on the underside of your bed with cheap silicone) and a build tak surface. I've spread wood glue onto the other side of the steel sheet to have a flippable print surface with a rough and a smooth side. Still this Buildtak sytem is finally something seriously considerable due to the (seemingly high quality) high temp magnetic surface. Have you heard of the wham bam flex plate kickstarter? Nerys recently reviewed a prototype. It has a special coating similar to PEI but a much higher adhesion performance. Have a nice weekend. Cheers!
Just looked it up. the price is certainly better. I wonder how much it will go up after the pre-launch discounts.
It is nice to know that options exist. Got the powder-coated version for the mk3 and it is fantastic but I doubt I can get a replacement in the next year or so for it. I at least just need to order the spring steel sheet and print surface and do not have to buy the whole system.
Yep you can buy spring steel sheets separately from Buildtak which is nice.
You can get PEI powder coated spring steel from Canada searching for "PEI powder coated" on eBay. At the moment you only get it for Prusa mk3 and Flashforge, the 304x304 sized for CR-10 is sold out (4 days ago it was available and I ordered one, 46€+14€ shipping).
The texture is finer than on original prusa (I like the prusa texture more) but the function is the same.
"Naked" spring steel is availabe on Aliexpress for 22,90€ including shipping (search for "Energetic removable spring steel sheet").
So the "only" thing to do is to make the headbed magnetic. As I want to do it with a JGAurora A5, magnets under the bed are not an option (the base is steel, so the magnets tie in direction of the base). So I thought about an simple solution:
3M adhesive onto the bed (5 pcs 315x315 costs 16€ at AliExpress). An aluminium sheet 2mm thick 315x315mm² (about 10€ plus shipping). 20 magnets samarium-cobald, 6mm diameter, 2mm thickness (aliexpress about 10€ incl. shipping). Drill 20 holes into the aluminium sheet. Put it on the adhesive on the heatbed. Put the magnets in the holes (also glued by the adhesive). Maybe kaptontape for protection on the surface...
Used Buildtak on some Gigabots for years. It wasnt flexible or removable like this but I can attest to how well ABS and PLA stick. Really strong surface!
The first time I used it , back when it first came out, I had the first layer too squished and couldn't remove the model. Had to throw it away after one print :( Hopefully this flex system alleviates that problem.
Yeah too close and you'll have problems. On the Gigabot, the bed wasn't easy to remove either. After a few months the surface actually lifted with the print. But for me with the amount of hours we printed on it, it was a small price to pay for never having a model curl, or lift mid print. Really reliable!
I've installed these on both my old Wanhao i3 Plus and the (great) Ender 3 after I spoke to a salesman at the TCT show earlier in the year, and so far I like them a lot. A key difference are the magnets and adhesives being good for the higher temperatures and that's one of the reasons I went for it; didn't want to switch to a system that restricted me to PLA and PET.
The other thing that will be interesting to see if it pans out, is the claim their different build surfaces are the same thickness so if you swap out a Buildtak plate for a PEI plate, there should be no need to re-level. I picked up a second build plate and surface sheet - I'm not sure sticking sheets to both sides is a good idea as it presumably slows down heading the bed.
Obviously they are costly relative to the price of the Ender 3 in particular - the system plus spare plate and PEI sheet together cost almost as much as the printer - so it's only a certain type of person that will go for it rather than the Creality magnetic removable bed solution.
I wouldn't suggest it for people who already have a removable bed system because of the cost - but for people with machines without the removable bed, and who want to print ABS, ASA etc and not just PLA and PET it is a good upgrade. In my case it was reasonably justified on the old i3+ (no removable bed, and the sheet was already in need of replacement), but an extravagance on the Ender 3.
I run mine dual sided. PEI on one side Buildtak on another. and then on the other machine I run PEI and Geckotek hot.
Great info guys, thanks so much for sharing.
@@TeachingTech Just thought I'd add to this. More recently I've also been using the soft magnetic removable mat on an Ender 3 Plus. I've found that the soft magnetic mat system is far more forgiving; much easier to get a good first layer especially without mesh bed levelling.
I think it's because (a) the flexible mat surface is more coarse which seems to grip better, and (b) it has a little give in it so you don't need to be super-accurate with the distance between the nozzle and the build surface.
In contrast, with the Buildtak plate I have to use mesh levelling for anything that uses a significant amount of the build area - and without a bltouch (yet), that is quite painful.
I *think* what's happening, is that with the Buildtak metal flex plate the levelling must be perfect across the plate - and with the typical warping you get with the aluminium heated beds, mesh bed levelling is pretty much imperative. With the flexible magnetic mat, however, the mat itself will squish a bit if necessary. I've yet to try a bltouch andI've been mesh levelling by hand - which isn't exactly quick!
Upshot is that for all PLA printing (which most of what I do of course) I find the flexible magnetic mat is easier, more reliable, and quicker. It also doesn't risk catching fingertips when returning the surface to the print bed...
I saw my name on a UA-cam video!!! So cool. An AnyCubic MegaBase review would be pretty slick, I'm still looking at a few options.
I reviewed one way back in the day. Didn't have much luck with it when testing ABS: ua-cam.com/video/HM2WrA1hdGc/v-deo.html Since that video, testing with PLA has been excellent: ua-cam.com/video/baVA5G8HH04/v-deo.html
It's nice. But not 50% the cost of my cr-10. Like you said "glass is fine except you don't want to wait for it to cool." I think waiting less than 3 minutes is worth not spending 140.
Personal preference. I'm happy to spend money on a hobby. Also, when reviewing I had troubles getting abs and petg to stick to the glass consistently.
@@TeachingTech totally understand spending on the hobby. Have you used ABS juice for bed adhesion?
Hey have a question and it may be something you might wanna try. The magnetic flex plate for FDM printers, can they be used on resin printers? Seems like the same material, it needs tobe stuck down the same. If it worked it would save people so much money when trying to get flex plates for larger resin printers.
Well done
Hey Michael, great instructions / comparison. I would like to lighten the weight of my CR-10 bed, but this is a bit pricey, so maybe I'll stick (excuse the pun lol) to glass for a while longer. On the case of Hexapod, I've just ordered all the parts for mine. Buying from Vorpol will cost around £150+ which is too much for a toy, so I decided to risk it on Ebay. However, I will be making a donation to Vorpol when I'm done, I am a big advocate of supporting the open source community. Something that just occurred to me, is are there any differences in electronics between the original and the Max Hexapod?
Glass is definitely a good solution, I'm just impatient. I've just opened my Vorpal delivered kit and the game pad stuff is the same, as well as the Arduino Nano for the pod. Everything else is different from being scaled up. Servos are beefy!
@@TeachingTech I guessed the servos would need to be a lot stronger, may build a big one later, assuming the small one goes ok :-)
You should really prepare the viewers for the sticker price shock. It’s a great solution but for a CR-10 size printbed size you can buy an entire small entry level printer. The build surface shouldn’t cost 1/4 to 1/3 of the printer price.
Everyone is free to make up their own mind. Some people approach it from the point of view that they start with a cheap printers and spend triple the price over time on mods to bring it closer to a Prusa for less money. the price at the end was not on purpose, I just forgot to mention it before then while recording.
@@TeachingTech My complaint in this vein isn't that there's sticker shock.. but that you gave the price of the tool, and didn't give the price of the flexplate in the video.
Watch it again. I can the price and show a screen grab of the store I bought it from with the prices of various sizes.
My apologies, I must have missed it. Thank you for pointing it out.
WRT Glass bases - Don't understand, after xx mins of printing, can't wait for separation with glass
One of the few accessories I've bought I can wholeheartedly recommend and be evangelical about.
I went through a couple of the original Tevo 'stickers' - prints stuck too well, and I'd bubble the surface as I removed prints. What really make the process unpleasant was the 'gummy glue' they used. Took a load of solvent and elbow grease each time you wanted to take the print bed back to the glass.
Next thing I tried was the Ultrabase. THE most frustrating product. New, they worked perfectly. Everything stuck and when cooled it was already detached. Problem I had was that they degraded and official solution was to sand them - which is ridiculous as it removes the little bumps that make the thing work. Other people didn't have this problem. I gave up after 3. Still wonder if it was just a faulty batch out there.
In a fit of utter misery I threw money at the problem, and got my flexplate 6 months ago. Cost aside, it's been utterly faultless.
As mentioned in the review, the print surface itself does degrade (normal wear and tear) - I'm on my 2nd and have a spare sitting in the corner. Plus is that once you've bought "the system" the price of the print surface is pretty reasonable (in UK I've got it on my Amazon subscribe and save) and it's trivial to change. Surface peels off easily and without residue from the flexible bit of metal, and you just apply a new surface (5 min job).
One reason I bought the system (but haven't actually used) is that you can also pick up additional spring-steel plates to fit on the expensive magnetic bit that glues to the glass. Would allow you to swap out your print surface (buildtak sell PEI, but you could use anything) as you change the material you're printing.
I think my summary is pretty simple. If you're having print surface problems and can stomach the price, buy it.
6:07
Definitely mentioned the price and even ha a screenshot too. Nonetheless, your summary is indeed spot on. I've yet to see someone unhappy with this product. I agree, if you can stomach the cost, it works brilliantly.
@@TeachingTech my apologies, you did.. No idea how I missed that
@@hennohimself thanks, clearly I need sirens to be sounded on each edit so I don't miss stuff
will this work with inductive sensors? my tronxy XY-2 Pro use one of this!
HELP PLEASE new to this just got ender 3 pro with the magnetic bed but also it came with upgrade of glass and clips how do i do it with magnetic on or of before glass please
Just bought a ender cr 6 max with removable glass bed. So the Builtak
is mounted on the glassbed?
I found this super helpful, off to buy a system for my Ender :)
Yup, makes total sense to buy a build plate costing as much as the printer itself. And for just about $500 more, you can upgrade the Ender 3 into a machine that even rivals the Prusa i3Mk3 - both in quality, features and price! Also, supporting innovative original manufacturers is important.
For me, i think i'll wait until China produces a clone for a fraction of the price of the original. Until then, my $15 Creality Cmagnet surface will probably work just fine. ;)
@@axelhopfinger533 Just raw spring steel sheets are 30-40 dollars. That's why china produces the crap magnet sheets instead. I don't know of any ender 3's that cost 90 dollars either. Which is what these cost. Add a bed level sensor, and a titan aero and you pretty much have the set it and forget it printer.
"Also, supporting innovative original manufacturers is important.
For me, i think i'll wait until China produces a clone" you don't even make sense.
@@illregal I make perfect sense. Cynically speaking. ;)
There are multiple paths to 3D printing nirvana (and all of them cost money). Some may wish to spend a great deal more than the purchase price, others will just buy a more expensive machine. Like any hobby, it's hard to justify the costs to an outsider so in fairness it shouldn't really be criticised.
@@TeachingTech Of course you're right. After all ,there are people who buy some cheap or old car and put twice its original worth of money into tuning and upgrading parts, until there is barely an original part left on the chassis. Some even do that with their own bodies. If you have the money to spare, go knock yourself out! After all, 3D printing is a luxury hobby, if you don't do it professionally. And it is only due to those super cheap budget Chinese printers, that some of us even were able to pick up 3D printing at all.
Have you ever looked into fleksy build plate system?
Nope. When I google it comes with pages about a keyboard.
@@TeachingTech Sorry, I misspelled it. Should be fleks3d
Nice, exiting review
Thanks for sharing 👍😀
A better solution for the same thing but waaay cheaper is the Wham Bam flew plate. They just launched a kickstarter and I have the beta test kit. It cost me about 60$ for my ender 3 and I'm never going to use anything different.
I saw that after making the video. Hopefully it stays a lot cheaper after the Kickstarter is done. It will inevitably jump in price price, but by how much?
Nice as always Michael. Does it work for ABS?
The surface sticks ABS very well and the temperature rating is great too.
@@TeachingTech Thanks.
None on Buildtak website to fit ender 3 all too big or too small ? (9 1/4" x 9 1/4" )
Nice! Thanks.
Hi Michael, I'm considering the flexplate for my 2018 Tevo Tornado because I'm getting a lot of warping and lifting around the edges of my prints using PLA on the stock glass. Do you know why this would be happening? I put glass on my ender 3 and have no trouble with it but the Tevo I can't figure out. I've used glue stick, hairspray, magigoo, different temperatures and cooling fan speeds and still get some warping. The only thing that has really helped is including a brim with 25 outlines. If you have any suggestions I would appreciate it. Thanks
I suppose the larger size is going to exaggerate thermal instability. I had phases with mine where I got something on it that made sticking inconsistent. Before you spend any money try windex, I've read a lot of people have had great success.
@@TeachingTech I've been using alcohol, I'll try some Windex.
Do you have to remove the glass or just put the new flex plate on the glass?
On top of the glass.
How thick is the bluildtak? Does it work well with inductive probes?
What temperature are you setting the bed for printing with PLA or petg
I did the flex plate only and have pei and geckotek
Is this still the best option, 1.5 years alter? Do you still use it?
How's the surface finish on the bottom of the part?
Has anybody tested the flexplate with the stock magnetic sheet of the Ender 3 Pro? Would be good to know if the sheet will be secured enough...
Hi, will this fit the Ender 5?
Thanks
GOOD
Hey Michael, what is the thickness of the spring steel?
Including the Buildtak sheet 0.92mm.
"If I flip it over with a different thickness I don't need to adjust" - well, yea, cause it would be the same thickness.
I like your videos but the music is so distracting.
Yeah, I noticed the same thing. Music is fine, just at a lower level compared to the talking.
Yep, I stuffed that up on this one. I have a preset level but this particular backing track must be louder than usual. I've lowered my preset level for future videos.
What about the Endure3? How to install is the same?
Ender 3? Should be the same.
get flextape not flexplate