Found a great PEI vendor for Delta printers (and Cartesian)
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A 15.75 inch sq piece is $25 and shipping to Uk is from $57-200 +
I got some 500x500mm 3mm thick pieces from China for $115 total and they arrived in about 7 days from order
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gizmodorks are fine. Had 4 sheets from them already (200x200 * 3 + 300x300 * ).
Gizmodorks came with a separate sheet of adhesive that I, in my clumsiness, am unable to properly install.
If you can find PEI with the adhesive already attached, it helps if have coordination issues.The cshyde sheets I installed pretty well with only some minor air bubbles at the edges (next time I think I can figure out how to avoid that).
The trick is to stick one tiny corner to make sure your alignment is correct - and then very slowly smooth it down with a scraper or ruler to make sure no air bubbles get underneath the surface. You bend it away from the surface and slowly peel the backing while slowly smoothing it down with the ruler to attach the adhesive.
If anyone figures out a liquid adhesive that will work, you could wet down a glass surface, place the PEI on top, and then spatula out all the excess adhesive if it's not too sticky. It is odd that none of the print bed companies like Buildtak make glass or aluminum print plates with professionally attached thin PEI sheets. Manufacturing that professionally would solve a lot of DIY headaches.
Also, once I the new sheets in, I'll check the online USPS postage calculator and see what actual postage to the UK costs. Per sheet, I ended up paying $2-4 in postage - but if they don't ship USPS to the UK - it will cost a lot more. I would guess I can ship to the UK for around $25 via the postal service, but we'll see.
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3 mils is too thin in my opinion. It won't be as durable as thicker material.
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@MiR:
How much are the shipping costs to UK?
I just bought a couple of sheets for my printers from them , $14 for two sheets, $2.50 handling charge, and $15.12 for shipping to the uk.
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I've had a few of the thin sheets from CSHyde.
I've also just install the Gizmo sheet.
I've done a ton of vinyl decal work and the Gizmo stuff is just a royal PIA. couldn't get all the bubbles out.With the CSHyde material you just use the soapy water method and you can easily get all the air out.
Based on my experience with both I've gotten a quote from CSHyde for thicker sheets.
Here are the prices from CSHyde- worth the extra money.
(.5mm) 36-20A-3D-D-12.25 -$40.45
(1mm) 36-40A-3D-D-12.25 -$45.05FYI the 3 mil material worked perfectly well until my son crashed the hotend into the bed.
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I've had a few of the thin sheets from CSHyde.
With the CSHyde material you just use the soapy water method and you can easily get all the air out.I've done this method with screen protectors. It will work with the 3M adhesive backed 3mm sheets?
Should I look a recipe up on Google or just put some water in a spray bottle with a dash of Dawn dish soap?
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I just clipped one of the Gizmodorks sheets without adhesive to my print bed, so I'll update this after a few prints with how I think it compares to the adhesive sheets.
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If you don't glue it to the bed, big ABS prints will pull it up. Been there, done that. Of course it depends on what kind of clips you have
I've used many stripes of TESA 4965 to glue it to the bed. The big advantage is that it is easy peelable at higher temperatures (removed it at 120C bed without any trace left).
Nowadays I've switched from PEI to PrintBite because it is a harder surface and its dilation coefficient is wildly different from that of the ABS, so parts simply pop-out when the bed cools to ~70-80 degrees. PEI was too sticky.
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I've had a few of the thin sheets from CSHyde.
With the CSHyde material you just use the soapy water method and you can easily get all the air out.I've done this method with screen protectors. It will work with the 3M adhesive backed 3mm sheets?
Should I look a recipe up on Google or just put some water in a spray bottle with a dash of Dawn dish soap?
Yes 1 drop of dishwashing soap in lukewarm water. Spray the glass and the sheet. I alway spray my fingers as well.
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I just clipped one of the Gizmodorks sheets without adhesive to my print bed, so I'll update this after a few prints with how I think it compares to the adhesive sheets.
I ran about 50 prints on the non-adhesive PEI. Of course it was all in PLA, but I didn't run into issue. I'll probably get more bed clips as it seems to tilt slightly if not clipped down everywhere possible.
I'll try the soap method on the adhesive PEI and see how that turns out.
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ah yes, i ordered a big sheet from them for my RWG-OSD. Arrived just fine! and looks good, best part is that it already has the adhesive applied! ~Russ
woot woot
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I use .8mm PEI ( from Amazon US) clipped to the bed and 100mm+ prints wobble a bit towards the end.
I'll have to glue it soon.
I guess a 3mm thick piece would not budge but you have to raise the bed temp
