Printrbot Simple Metal Heated Bed Upgrade
I have a Printrbot Simple Metal that I purchased as a kit a couple years ago. I purchased an upgrade kit some time ago that included a heated bed. I have had issues with parts warping and not adhering the print bed no matter what I did. (Painters tape, sanded painters tape, glue slurry, hairspray)
Moving forward I need my prints to be flat as I plan to make halved assemblies and potentially some molds from them. The upgrade was straight forward and I followed the instructions on Printrbot's website. (https://printrbot.dozuki.com/Guide/Installing+the+Heated+Bed+Upgrade+for+the+Printrbot+Simple/147)
I also received the insulation kits from them as well. If you received this additionally with your kit you'll want to put the foil on immediately after the heating element. (https://printrbot.dozuki.com/Guide/Printrbot+Metal+Simple+Heated+Bed+Insulator+Installation/193) Punching the holes in the foil was the hardest part in this step. I ended up laying the foil on the element and using a mechanical pencil to create the holes.
Old print bed with the stock metal and the recommended blue painters tape (with a light sanding)
New Heated Bed with the Kapton tape square
Overall the upgrade was pretty straight forward and everything went smoothly. I had a minor issue with the 6x6 Kapton tape square. But it turned out acceptable in the end.
Currently, I'm printing a test part and I am not experiencing any warping or curling. My bed temp is set to 70 degrees Celsius and the extruder is set to 205 degrees Celsius. Everything looks great. I might have to calibrate it a bit further but I am extremely happy with the initial results.
Everything else is stock in my setup. I use Repetier Host as an interface and Slicr as the Gcode compiler. I haven't been able to use ABS on my home machine yet (usually save that for the school's printer if an application calls for it) but I regularly print in PLA and have experimented with wood filament - it makes the room smell amazing. Also, I have been quite curious about carbon fiber filament and other metal filaments. While the structural integrity of parts might increase with metal filament this also means that you can now print circuits, which would be interesting.
Thanks for looking!
