I have a question for those who use glass beds.
Print sheet has a lot of variation in surface thickness, and I think it would be impossible to prevent statue feet with the slicer parameters. So I am considering a glass bed.
Is it possible to completely eliminate the occurrence of elephant foot by using a glass bed?
Regarding level adjustment, can we use 3x3 manual adjustment without any problem?
Is spray or glue necessary to improve fixation?
If I use frosted glass, will spray or glue be unnecessary?
Elephant’s foot is a filament issue caused by temperature/cooling, not the build plate level, so the type of bed you use will have virtually no affect on it.
Yes, you can use manual calibration of any size, but the largest one available for your machine is still recommend for best results. Glass beds can still have a flatness deviation to them along their whole surface, it just doesn’t change as much when heated or degrade over time like the stock print sheet does.
Spray/glue is not always needed, but is still helpful for both adhesion and removal, and can depend on the filament used.
I can’t answer that one, sorry. Haven’t seen frosted glass used. I would be concerned that it may be MORE likely to require spray/glue to help with removal; some people with regular glass have had their prints bind to the glass and tear chunks out of it when removed, and I could see frosted glass having the same issue. It would also be much harder to clean, and keeping the glass clean is important for preventing first layer issues.
For what it’s worth-
After another recommendation I went with GO-3D PRINT 334mm x 364mm Borosilicate Glass Plate for Snapmaker A350 3D Printer on Amazon. Search the forum to see other posts using that glass. Definitely improved flatness of the bed.
I’m taping it to the magnetic sheet, doing a manual 3 pt calibration, and using hairspray for better adhesion. Much better results for prints that use the full bed. For small prints (~4 inches), I still use just the original magnetic sheet which works fine. I can’t detect any issues with the glass-sandwich setup for bed heating but I’ve considered a few degree increase for the added mass and thickness.
I will add that I tried MG Chemicals Beige 3D Printing Masking Tape, 49’ Length, 4" Width on Amazon and will give it a thumbs up for improving adhesion on the magnetic bed. For the price ($5.62 right now) it definitely beats the blue painters tape! It is wider and doesn’t have near the ‘bubbles’ after heating that the blue stuff has. I can reuse it several times if I’m careful on removing the print. I’m still on my first roll of it.
My 1.25 cents, not adjusted for inflation.
I also use the same glass panel from GO-3D; using it along with other adjustments to my machine have allowed me to reduce my bed level delta (height difference between highest and lowest points) from 0.6mm (about standard for a stock 350-series machines) down to 0.18mm, (and currently working to get that even lower).
Thanks for all the answers.
There was a review of frosted glass on one of the blogs and it said that the filament fixation was quite good. However, due to its low heat resistance temperature, it seems to have broken after several printings.
I contacted one glass manufacturer and they replied that they would try to test the possibility of sandblasting on glass with a heat resistance temperature of 450 degrees Celsius. If it is possible to manufacture it, I will try to purchase it if the price is not too high.