Aluminum anodizing for IR probe
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Last time I asked about getting the IR probe to work with my aluminum plate, anodizing looked like the most sure-fire way to make aluminum plate work with the IR probe. It just wasn't an option at the time, because a heater was already applied to the bed before I ever bought the IR probe.
Now I've removed the heater to do a better job of applying a heater, and I've cleaned the bed. I can see if my usual anodizing shop will do this plate.
Now the big question, will anodizing clear work or do I need to make the sheet black? I do plan to re-sand the build surface either way to make it more uniform.
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If you will be using a glass bed or PEI sheet on top of the aluminium, you should anodize it matt black. If you will be printing directly on the aluminium, the colour shouldn't matter provided it isn't too shiny.
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I have black anodized aluminum under PEI and it works beautifully
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How does it look?
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It looked like lemon candy melted in a cast iron pan. Its hard to describe really.
I got a 0.030 piece of PEI from CS Hyde and laid up the anodized sheet under it. The top surface was all slick and glossy, like glass. It was really quite pretty actually. Polished gloss actually. It reflected light too well so I wet sanded it with 400 grit and then ran a maroon then white scotchbrite pad over it to break the surface.