Heated Build Platform in 6mm Al
by M_G, published
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My buddy milled this out for me. It's amazingly sturdy compared to the wafer thin one I bought from Makerbot, which, incidentally, was bent to a full 1mm difference on the outer edges and bowed up in the center.. no amount of bolts can fix the center bowing. It definitely takes longer to reach temp (almost double), but I'll be damned if it doesn't spread that temp more evenly. I've also found that the supplied bolts were not long enough and have ordered 30mm m3 flat head socket cap screws from McMasterCarr ( http://www.mcmaster.com/#92125... ). Having six holes is overkill, as there is no way you're bending this guy now, although, keeping the heater plate touching in more spots would be beneficial so leaving more bolts connected probably would help. I retract my previous staement. I'll try with 6 for now. ;)
I've also replaced the lower balsa wood platform with a milled piece of the same thickness. As I have the modified linear ball bearing sled I only needed the 6 inner holes and six outer holes for this. She's rock solid. Hoping this fixes my magical Z-axis shift. I was constantly having to twea
k the motherboard prefs by .05 - .25mm to get my outline and initial layer to come out correctly.
Thanks!
W00t! I just received my part from the workshop! Needed to enlarge the countersinks a bit with a 5.5mm HSS dill bit and drill press. Even when cleaned with alcohol ABS didn't stick to the metal surface but sticks beautifully to the acetone cleaned kapton coated surface. It is nearly flawlessly flat and smooth, giving a high quality bottom surface of the printed object. I lost about 0.9mm of vertical build height compared to the laser cut wooden part.
Personally I'd rather something a bit thicker than 1/16 of an inch to help resist the bellying up I've seen on the PCB, plus I'd be crippled by shipping costs and have ready access to a machine shop where I am but thanks for pointing it out eh...Pointedstick. :p
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Instructions
1. Cut to 120*120mm
2. Drill and countersink 6 holes
3. Bevel/fillet all edges
3a. Enlarge countersinks if necessary for screw heads that are flush with surface
4. Cover in Kapton/PET/Painters tape if desired
5. Install on build platform over HBP PCB (note you will have to file away a small section of the side supports on the left near the bottom for the bulge on the underside of the connectors)
6. Screw down
7. Level
8. Reset Z height & clean surface with acetone
9. Print with added confidence and flatness!
UPDATE:
Please note that you will need 6x countersunk M3 bolts which are not supplied with the ToM kit. I also needed to enlarge the countersinks slightly for the bolts I had chosen to make them flush with the surface. Furthermore I cleaned the Al surface with Alcohol and the Kapton surface with acetone before printing. ABS would not stick to the hot metal surface for me so I had to cover it in Kapton tape.
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W00t! I just received my part from the workshop! Needed to enlarge the countersinks a bit with a 5.5mm HSS dill bit and drill press. Even when cleaned with alcohol ABS didn't stick to the metal surface but sticks beautifully to the acetone cleaned kapton coated surface. It is nearly flawlessly flat and smooth, giving a high quality bottom surface of the printed object. I lost about 0.9mm of vertical build height compared to the laser cut wooden part.
Sounds like you need an aluminum build surface. It's like the best $9 upgrade you can buy for your TOM.
Personally I'd rather something a bit thicker than 1/16 of an inch to help resist the bellying up I've seen on the PCB, plus I'd be crippled by shipping costs and have ready access to a machine shop where I am but thanks for pointing it out eh...Pointedstick. :p
My buddy milled this out for me. It's amazingly sturdy compared to the wafer thin one I bought from Makerbot, which, incidentally, was bent to a full 1mm difference on the outer edges and bowed up in the center.. no amount of bolts can fix the center bowing. It definitely takes longer to reach temp (almost double), but I'll be damned if it doesn't spread that temp more evenly. I've also found that the supplied bolts were not long enough and have ordered 30mm m3 flat head socket cap screws from McMasterCarr ( http://www.mcmaster.com/#92125... ). Having six holes is overkill, as there is no way you're bending this guy now, although, keeping the heater plate touching in more spots would be beneficial so leaving more bolts connected probably would help. I retract my previous staement. I'll try with 6 for now. ;)
I've also replaced the lower balsa wood platform with a milled piece of the same thickness. As I have the modified linear ball bearing sled I only needed the 6 inner holes and six outer holes for this. She's rock solid. Hoping this fixes my magical Z-axis shift. I was constantly having to twea
k the motherboard prefs by .05 - .25mm to get my outline and initial layer to come out correctly.
Thanks!