Zebra Plate

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innkeeper
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Location: New Windsor, NY

Re: Zebra Plate

Post by innkeeper » Fri Sep 11, 2015 4:16 pm

Sadly, my zebra plate bit the dust yesterday, had a PLA print take a chunk out of the plate when removed. but it did last though probably 100+ prints on each side.
all in all, i am satisfied with the performance of the zebra plate. though, my next plate I'll probably just use it for PETG
M2 - MKS SBase w Smoothieware, GLCD, 24v, Upg Z & extruder stepper - IR bed leveling, Astrosyn dampers X/Y/Z, MIC 6, Zebra, PEI, & glass Build Plates - E3D, V3B Hotends, & more - many other 3d printers - production printing.

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Jules
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Re: Zebra Plate

Post by Jules » Fri Sep 11, 2015 5:43 pm

innkeeper wrote:Sadly, my zebra plate bit the dust yesterday, had a PLA print take a chunk out of the plate when removed. but it did last though probably 100+ prints on each side.
all in all, i am satisfied with the performance of the zebra plate. though, my next plate I'll probably just use it for PETG
Oh no! (Man, I'm sorry to hear that!) :cry:

So i can extend the life on mine as long as i can......Was it still warm when you removed the print or cooled? (Cause sometimes i'm not as patient as i should be about waiting for the cooling.) :roll:

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innkeeper
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Re: Zebra Plate

Post by innkeeper » Fri Sep 11, 2015 6:28 pm

it was still warm, temp was below 40 though ... i was rushing it a bit.
pulled out on the opposite side of the print from where i was using my putty knife, were there was the most leveraged.
I'm guessing the print was likely a bit to 'smushed' for a typical zebra plate print, and was stuck well but not so much i couldn't get a putty knife under it easily.
i was just lifting it off with a putty knife, and when it popped off, it took two small peaces of the plate with it, about half the size of an eraser each and maybe 1 mm deep.

admittedly this plate was well abused. so.. not faulting the plate. it was certainly weakened by prior mishaps while learning how it reacted to various temperatures and print heights etc.
it was the same side and location where i did my first print with abs, and literately ripped the print apart while getting it off.
M2 - MKS SBase w Smoothieware, GLCD, 24v, Upg Z & extruder stepper - IR bed leveling, Astrosyn dampers X/Y/Z, MIC 6, Zebra, PEI, & glass Build Plates - E3D, V3B Hotends, & more - many other 3d printers - production printing.

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Jules
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Re: Zebra Plate

Post by Jules » Fri Sep 11, 2015 8:20 pm

Well, that blows! I'm definitely going to try to remember to wait for the plate to cool before wrenching prints off in the future. (And I mean that quite literally, I actually use a wrench to pop them off sometimes.)

Going to stop that now. :shock:

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Jules
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Re: Zebra Plate

Post by Jules » Fri Sep 25, 2015 8:10 pm

Oh yeah, discovered another trick to this thing. :D

If it gets a little bent out of shape......put the plate on the bed and heat it up to about 90C degrees or so, flipping over to warm both sides. After it's warm, take it off, (not with bare hands), and place it between a couple of borosilicate plates that have been lying around doing nothing since you got the Zebra. Pile a bunch of books on top and let it cool naturally. Back to perfectly flat plate again.

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innkeeper
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Re: Zebra Plate

Post by innkeeper » Mon Sep 28, 2015 6:40 am

Jules wrote:the plate on the bed and heat it up to about 90C degrees or so, flipping over to warm both sides. After it's warm, take it off, (not with bare hands), and place it between a couple of borosilicate plates that have been lying around doing nothing since you got the Zebra. Pile a bunch of books on top and let it cool naturally. Back to perfectly flat plate again.
Baking a ZEBRA! I love this trick! two thumbs up!
M2 - MKS SBase w Smoothieware, GLCD, 24v, Upg Z & extruder stepper - IR bed leveling, Astrosyn dampers X/Y/Z, MIC 6, Zebra, PEI, & glass Build Plates - E3D, V3B Hotends, & more - many other 3d printers - production printing.

minusbacon
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Re: Zebra Plate

Post by minusbacon » Tue Sep 29, 2015 1:08 am

Been printing a ton with the zebra since I got it last week. It was very consistent for days but then PLA started warping on the left and right sides of the bed and lifting off the plate. Bumped the bed from 40c to 45c and the warping was only slight. When I pulled that print off the bed and tried printing something else, the first layer was very flat. Checked the z-stop with a feeler gauge and it was super tight. Took the plate off and it was still bowed. Bent it to bow it a little more and put it back on the bed, "easy to spin side down." Z-stop was still super tight. No clue why I got 25 prints out of it with no issues, then after the 26th the z-stop is messed up. Recalibrated it the z-stop and printed a bunch of calibration cubes. Can't get the extrusion multiplier set right. It's always off on two sides. Think I have to level the bed again. Doing the "heat and flatten" thing now. Will check everything again tomorrow.

What are you guys using for clips to hold the zebra plate in place? The clips that came with the M2 are super tight and leave marks on the plate. Jules said he used pliers to spread them apart to make them more loose, which I haven't tried yet. I bought some medium size binder clips but they're so big they bump the frame sometimes and waste printing space with the "handles" flipped onto the bed.

http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:602194

Was thinking about trying these but I've only been printing for two weeks now. Still learning the M2 and S3D by printing with PLA before I try ABS. :) I'm not sure if these clips would work with the zebra, based on the pics.

So, binder clips? Other?

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Tim
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Re: Zebra Plate

Post by Tim » Tue Sep 29, 2015 1:13 am

One thing I just found out about the Zebra plate: as far as the inductive z-probe sensor can detect, the two sides of the zebra plate are not symmetric. I had the sensor mounted perfectly for detecting the surface of the white side, keeping the nozzle about a mm or more above the surface (note that the inductive sensor is really detecting the copper layer under the surface, not the actual surface). I flipped it over to the black side, ran the Z-probe calibration, and it rammed the nozzle into the plate before the Z-probe triggered. So the sensor thinks there's at least 1 mm depth difference to the copper layer on the black side vs. the white side, although visual inspection would suggest that they are the same. Possibly the black and white sides have different dielectric properties. At any rate, I had room to spare to lower the sensor a small amount, so it should work on both sides now. It was a bit of surprise, though.

I'm still trying to figure out exactly how to properly set the overall height, which is quasi-independent of the probing the way I have it set up, but it's neat to no longer have to worry about whether the plate is bowed, or bent, or tilted. The probe captures it exactly and the Z-stepper keeps the bed exactly positioned under the nozzle.

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Tim
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Re: Zebra Plate

Post by Tim » Tue Sep 29, 2015 1:21 am

minusbacon wrote:What are you guys using for clips to hold the zebra plate in place? The clips that came with the M2 are super tight and leave marks on the plate. I bought some medium size binder clips but they're so big they bump the frame sometimes and waste printing space with the "handles" flipped onto the bed.
I use the small binder clips, too. Yes, they make some marks on the Zebra plate, but I haven't let that bother me too much. I crashed the head into the medium binder clips too many times, so I don't use them any more.

minusbacon
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Re: Zebra Plate

Post by minusbacon » Tue Sep 29, 2015 5:07 pm

Tim wrote:One thing I just found out about the Zebra plate: as far as the inductive z-probe sensor can detect, the two sides of the zebra plate are not symmetric. I had the sensor mounted perfectly for detecting the surface of the white side, keeping the nozzle about a mm or more above the surface (note that the inductive sensor is really detecting the copper layer under the surface, not the actual surface). I flipped it over to the black side, ran the Z-probe calibration, and it rammed the nozzle into the plate before the Z-probe triggered. So the sensor thinks there's at least 1 mm depth difference to the copper layer on the black side vs. the white side, although visual inspection would suggest that they are the same. Possibly the black and white sides have different dielectric properties. At any rate, I had room to spare to lower the sensor a small amount, so it should work on both sides now. It was a bit of surprise, though.

I'm still trying to figure out exactly how to properly set the overall height, which is quasi-independent of the probing the way I have it set up, but it's neat to no longer have to worry about whether the plate is bowed, or bent, or tilted. The probe captures it exactly and the Z-stepper keeps the bed exactly positioned under the nozzle.
I assume you're talking about the auto leveling kit? Can't wait until they make more available so I have one less thing to worry about. :)

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