About to get started with new GridBot v2 build

I have not tried them. But I did consider them briefly. I don’t recall finding one large enough.

JSR Industries seem to be able to produce any size with any specs including the desired voltage.
E.g. this here

It looks like you recomment a 330x330 bed, right?
So I could possible do a Wham Bam Flexi Magnetic Base 330x330 with a 300x300 heat pad. Or even a 330x330 heat pad?

The Wham Bam magnetic base needs to stick to a very flat piece of metal or glass (not included). So the silicone mat will go under that.

Yes, they do have a kit that includes the magnetic base, the spring steel build plate and a build surface.

The heater would be attached to the bottom of the base with the included 3M heat resistant adhesive.
It sounds like that could be a viable solution. I was just not sure if I could go all the way to the edges with the heater or chose a heater that’s a bit smaller than the build plate. But I don’t think that’s necessary. I’d have to review how the plate is mounted.

Also, the Wham Bam build plate has those 15mm tabs that would stick out of a build plate of the same size. Not sure if that would cause any trouble. I don’t see why.

The creality cr10 is 300mmx300mm. I found a few choices that looking for that sized bed.

The railcore is also a useful place to look for hints, or there is a lulzbot taz that has a bed that looked like it would fit.

Is the base of the whambam actually a big piece of metal though? I know they sell a kit of springsteel, the pei.and basically a magnetic sticker to attach to glass or aluminum.

Barry was suggesting I get a silicone heater, a gecko surface on top, and a generic piece of aluminum in the middle.

The fysetc bed I have has some challenges, but I am happy enough with it that I am not searching for something new. At least not until I reach the limits of this bed. Maybe in a year there will be some nifty new bed that will convince me to swap it out.

Ah, I see. Yes, the magnetic base needs to go on top of an aluminum bed.
I misunderstood the product description I read.
So it would be the heater mat, the aluminum bed, the magnetic base, the flex plate and then the build surface.

I just ordered a 330x330 heated PCB bed from AliExpress with delivery mid-August - as a backup. It was just $35 so I might still keep looking for a different solution. Can’t hurt to have both if I find something.
Won’t need it for a while anyway. I still like the idea of using a mat.

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On another note - i just received the recommended Ziro carbon fiber PLA today and printed the first pieces. Amazing. Great stuff.

I was going to use Overture PETG at first, but now I think I’m going to go with the Ziro for the whole thing.

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Brief update. I’ve printed 75% of the parts so far. They look pretty good. All in Ziro CF PLA.
Right now I’m printing the hot end mount and I decided to do it as an SLA print. No particular reason.
Most other parts have been ordered and the first components are trickling in now.
Couldn’t find black anodized aluminum tubing for the cross bar. Also looked into carbon fiber tubing, but they are either too small or to big. I might just have to go with plain aluminum.

SLA for the head is a good choice. You can use a 1/2" wood square dowel (painted if you like) for the cross-bar. I did that in early prototypes. The aluminum extrusion I used is linked here. Which is from an old BOM for the GridBot v1.

The extrusion is also in the v2 BOM and I did contact HobbyKing, but they won’t get them back any time soon. There are a bunch of metric sizes available (10x10, 15x15, 20x20), but I already ordered the laser cuts with the .5inx.5in cutouts.
I did think about wood as well. That would be an easy solution. But I also found a couple of unfinished aluminum tubes, so that will probably be my first choice if I don’t find anything else in the meantime.

The SLA print worked out ok, but I do want to try a different orientation on the build plate some time.

What SLA printer are you using? I’ve had mixed results with my Photon for parts like this.

I’m also using a Photon

You’ll get better results with black. Less light creep.

Good point. I should give that a try. Don’t think I have a black at the moment. I think I’ll try to tweak it a bit tomorrow and give the white another go. I think I didn’t adjust the settings for the resin. It was early in the morning…
But I should get some black anyway.

I got some C channel from home depot that was 1/2"x1/2". It had 3/8" in the name, I think because of the size of the C opening. It has been working for me.

Oh, good point. I looked there online for tubes, but they only had steel. I didn’t look for C channel. I ordered some plain square aluminum tubes somewhere else last night.
And I should get black resin tomorrow and will reprint the head mount.

Getting back to the topic of build plates. Based on your experience, would you rather recommend 300x300 or 330x330? If it doesn’t matter, I’d go for the larger.

The X,Y motion won’t allow for more than 300x300 of usable travel. It just happens that the heated beds I was able to get were larger. With the possible exception of providing a few more options for how the build plate mounts to it, it doesn’t confer any real advantages.