In this episode I'm going to hopefully convince you to stop thinking that your print bed is
the best one out there, and that you should buy less filament, and more beds.
Let's go.
Now here's the thing.
I'm guilty of this as much as anyone else, but I've used a lot of printers now, and with
that kind of objectivity has come some interesting observations.
Observations that shouldn't come as much of a surprise I guess.
Like how all printers seem to use the same control boards lately.
Just writing that sentence means I now have to open up several printers and show you that.
Great.
Quick video, they said.
Anyway the point I'm making is that there is no one bed to serve all purposes and I
think that's why we all argue about it so much.
It simply depends on what you're doing and what you're printing, and that can present
unique challenges that another person doesn't have.
And even within the different use cases for printers, there's still scope for personal
preferences.
So what I want to do, is once again run through all the bed types but this time with my personal
discoveries about the strengths and weaknesses of each bed and help you spend some money
on a new bed, especially if you're fairly new to the hobby.
I'm sorry but there's a good chance watching this video is going to cost you.
But what won't cause harm to your wallet...oh yeah we're doing segues now, I've been waiting
for this moment, you have no idea, is the sponsor of the video, PCBWay.
PCBWay will make your PCBs for you.
But they'll also print for you too, with materials that maybe you can't print with.
And loads of other services too like flexible PCBs or purple PCBs and edge connectors and
stuff.
You can visit the link in the description and get some money off your first order, so
go design some PCBs, then print a case for them or something.
Hobby stuff, right?
It's what we do.
At least, when we're not trying to fix our printers anyway.
OK, back to the episode...
First up we have this.
This kind of bed surface has a lot of names but it's basically a textured black plastic
and usually a sticker, and it is cheap, which is why it was the default surface on the original
ender 3.
It's less common recently but some printers do still ship with it.
My geetech A20M came with a version of it.
It is great at sticking, you will not have issues with it for any material at all, which
in some ways is why it's a great bed surface for beginners, but it's awful at releasing.
This type of bed is probably why these things exist, and even then, it's a frustrating time
all round.
My tip for you on when to use this bed is the same as the magnetic one I'll get on to
in a minute.
Next up we have the bog standard carborundum or ceramic coated glass, which is very popular,
and with good reason.
This bed is literal marmite, which only makes sense if you're british, please don't spread
marmite on your bed.
if you get this reference just comment below with "can opener".
It'll confuse people.
This bed type divides opinions like no other and there's actually a simple reason why - it's
the most unforgiving consumer bed out there.
It's not even enough to say you have to be millimeter accurate, you have to be nanometer
accurate with your levelling.
These beds work really well for larger parts and parts with less isolated details, because
any thin or spindly parts on the first layer are prone to being walked around the bed instead
of stuck down, thus ruining your whole print before it's even started.
My tips with these kinds of beds is to run the first layer at higher than 65 celsius
to stay above what's called the glass point of most filaments, that keeps them gooey long
enough to stick.
And use brims on anything large with corners.
Oh and if you're new to printing then you probably don't know not to use glass with
PETG.
It works fine until it doesn't.
The next one we have is PEI which is one of my favourites but it's actually two beds in
one.
I don't have a lot of time personally for smooth PEI because I think it doesn't have
much advantage over the glass we just talked about.
All the same rules apply.
If you're doing a model with a detailed first layer on smooth PEI you're in for a frustrating
time.
Again raise the temperature, even as far as 75C is ok.
I guess the one advantage these have over coated glass is the bottom texture looks really
good if you get it right, but your leveling has to be unusually spot on.
Textured PEI is the same surface but a whole different set of rules, if you're thinking
all these beds look the same by the way it's because they are, I think a company called
energetic makes all of them.
This is powder coated steel with a texture and a very very thin layer of PEI on it which
gives it the cool amber colour.
These are pricey compared to other beds, even more than glass, but they're the rolls royce
of bed surfaces.
The texture gives most filament types something to bite into so adhesion on detailed parts
is better but you still have to print the first layer hot or you'll lose adhesion, and
very small parts will still sometimes fail especially if you're doing a whole bed of
parts, but this is becoming more popular for a good reason, and one of those is its ability
to release the part when it cools down.
Which is something this next bed type absolutely doesn't and why I have a historically rocky
relationship with it.
These are both my least favourite but most favourite bed type, the magnetic textured
bed, aka that bed the ender 3 pro comes with.
The surface is the same as the first bed I showed you, give or take, but it bends, and
this kind of solves the problem of getting parts off.
The problem is, it still doesn't, and purge lines are especially stubborn.
Sometimes you even ruin the bed trying to get parts to release.
I think these beds are less durable and long lasting than they ought to be but quality
probably plays into that.
They are cheap enough to replace now and then though and they have one special power - they
are super reliable when it comes to adhesion.
I don't think, actually, that I've ever had a part come loose on one of these beds if
I've had the first layer at the right height.
I think sometimes it would pull the bed off before the part would detach.
This is the bed that you absolutely want to be using if you are printing a whole plate
of parts on a 20 hour print and don't want to come back to distressing scenes like this.
That's actually all the normal common bed types but I guess we should mention a couple
of other types before I tell you what I think you should do if you want my advice.
There's FR4 or garolite which is surprisingly hard to get here in the UK, it's circuit board
material without the copper and I don't get on with it personally but many do, I think
I'd probably file it as an advanced surface.
There's masking tape over glass which I actually still think is a good workaround for difficult
prints and you shouldn't laugh at it, there's bare glass which nobody should be using in
2022, and there's treatments you can apply usually to smooth beds that will make pretty
much any bed work, that generally turn their performance characteristics closer to textured
beds.
If you don't mind dealing with these sticky messy options or just having your print photos
look...gross... then they do work.
So what do I suggest then?
Well, here's the thing.
Some of these bed types use magnets to hold them in place, namely smooth PEI, textured
PEI and the flexible magnetic bed type.
All three might not be available for your print bed size, but if they are, then owning
all three of these and using them appropriately for the print you're doing is going to absolutely
save you time and waste.
Got a plate of tiny parts to print?
Use the flexible magnetic one.
Doing some print in place thing for social media bragging?
textured PEI.
Want a mirror smooth box first layer on a large piece?
Smooth PEI.
What you have if you use these three beds, is a quick change system that covers most
your options.
Just remember to recalibrate your z offset or level your bed between them.
This is where fancy bed levelling helps.
That's about all I wanted to say, hopefully from now on we can stop arguing over which
bed type is best, and start arguing over which bed type is best for different applications
instead.
What do you think?
I know I missed out that one bed type you use, I didn't talk about sugar water on leather,
etc etc, sorry, comment about it below.
And I will see you next time.
Thank you for watching!