Glass Print Bed Chips, Replacement options ?

I've had a P3Steel Prusa I3 syle printer for 18 months or so (http://orballoprinting.com/en/) succesfully, printing mostly PLA on a glass bed over the Mk3 aluminium heatbed with some PVA glue in water spread on every 6-10 prints. The last month or so I've had great adhesion, to the point that it was hard to remove print at times (maybe too much glue ??). The last two prints have both stuck way too much, and pulled chips out of the center of the glass bed (either side !). So I'm now looking at replacing the glass. I haven't found many uk based vendors who sell glass, so at the moment I'm looking at these options:

Signstek 3D Printer MK2 MK3 Heated Bed Borosilicate Glass Plate Panel 213*200*3mm from Amazon (http://amzn.eu/gY6YEz6) , £10

Printbite 200x200mm (http://shop.3dfilaprint.com/printbite-200mm-x-200mm-1807-p.asp) £25

PEI sheet (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/PEI-Sheet-for-3D-Printer-Build-Surface-Polyetherimide-Ultem-/361722306536?var=&hash=item5438545fe8:m:mUHmU5ouX6gE3BzNENizkEA) £16

So reprappers, any advice or comments ? Any other options for glass from the UK, or for other print bed materials ?

Paul.

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www.paulhurley.co.uk

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Paul Hurley
[www.paulhurley.co.uk]

Hi Paul, A couple of suggestions for you. If using PVA and it is pulling chunks out of the glass, dilute it even further. I used to make it around 30-40:1 water/PVA but stopped using this a long time ago.

If UK based, and you need glass, go to a BnQ for 220x220mm 4 pack of mirror tiles for £15, or some poundland stores have 200x200mm 4 pack mirror tiles for £9. Ikea also has the same for a little less

If considering PrintBite, it is also available through the link in my signature at the bottom of this post.

PEI is a good and popular bed material aswell.

If you are going for a dedicated bed surface material, there is no point in using boro glass and the mirror tiles will be your best value option.

HTH

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Flex3Drive.com

When you get tired of replacing broken glass, see: [www.instructables.com]

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/11/2017 12:49PM by the_digital_dentist.

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Ultra MegaMax Dominator 3D printer: [drmrehorst.blogspot.com]

If you use an aluminium heat spreader between the bed heater and the glass, then you can use ordinary 3mm or 4mm float glass, available inexpensively from your local glazing supplier.

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Large delta printer [miscsolutions.wordpress.com], E3D tool changer, Robotdigg SCARA printer, Crane Quad and Ormerod

Disclosure: I design Duet electronics and work on RepRapFirmware, [duet3d.com].

I use Printbite with gluestick in the uk.
ooznest (uk) sell replacement glass but what i noticed with pla and glue stick is that if you leave it a few hours, the glue set and the models just falls off without assistance.

@GRAYWOLF if your having to use gluestick send me a PM and I will help you correct that. You do not need to use gluestick with PrintBite. PLA is one of the easiest materials to print with if you are using the correct temps and have cleaned the surface correctly.

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Flex3Drive.com