I don’t see anymore the Cool Plate listed on EU store website.
Did you know why? I find it good to print PLA.
For a while it was still on the BBL global store, but now it’s gone from there too.
It is discontinued. Try to use smooth pei
It’s not the same, because Smooth PEI requires more temperature, I will continue to use my Cool plates (I have 2) but I’m curious to know why.
I believe they have the high temperature plate that you can print PLA and PETG on.
Still high temperature, there isn’t any other plate to print at cold temp (ie 35C). I had several issues with warping using high temp plates (smooth, textured, ecc…)
Wait a minute. I thought the cool plate is smooth PEI. How is the cool plate PEI different from the smooth PEI plate?
On a separate occasion in a different thread I had asked what the difference was between the smooth PEI plate and the high temperature PEI plate, and I never could get a clear answer. I can see how textured PEI is plainly different from the smooth, but I thought all the smooth PEI was the same. PEI is just a plastic, after all. Aside from texture, what else can be different about it? I had thought that maybe the difference was that the adhesive backing underpinning the PEI on the cool plate was simply not rated to handle higher temperatures, and so it was superseded by an adhesive which could and was therefore more general. But maybe there’s more to it than that?
I’m not sure Cool plate is PEI one (probably it is), but the main difference is that Cool plate runs at 35C while Smooth one runs at 55C.
They are not the same, but cool plate fragile and inferior to pei
No. Cool plate is PC plate.
Smooth PEI = high temperature pei plate.
1 Like
Maybe not as ideal as having PC on a thin flexplate, but as a fall back the OP could try printing his PLA on a polycarbonate sheet:
TL;DR: According to that video, it works well for PLA, PETG, TPU, but mostly sticks too well to ABS.
Ask 50 people what the best (alternative) build plate is and you probably get at least 20 different answers.
Two factors matter here:
- Do you use it COLD or do you also need to tolerate a warmer build plate ?
- What materials are you printing ?
PLA is very forgiving and sticks well to many plastics and RESINS out there, like what is used to make PCB boards or splashback panels for kitchens and other wet areas.
(The brown side, not the coated side you would see)
If you print more than PLA you need a plate material that can bond with the plastic, preferably in NON permanent ways.
The bond either happens through vacuum on a smooth plate or through surface bonds on a rough plate.
They both usually fully fail once a part warps too much…
Kapton tape is still widely used on build plates because it lets most plastics form a vacuum bond on the surface.
Plus it allows plastic like PETG and Nylon to stick to it as well, sometimes loosely, with higher extrusion temps more violently.
The big question is why people won’t make use of a heated bed…
Probably the bed is not the only thing missing, often there is no enclosure either…
Means warping is your actual enemy here…
If you REALLY prefer to use a cold build plate use some clips and try of the many alternative materials out there.
Polycarbonate for example is available as roofing sheets as well as foils and sheets for vacuum forming 
As for ‘glue sticks and adhesives’ :
Clear school glue is mainly PVA, same as wood glue just very diluted and thickened.
There is two main types available.
The ones with a slight chemical smell and the ones without smell or a slight alcoholic smell to it.
If you take the later and add about a tablespoon worth of white wood glue you only need to stir and add distilled water until you get a really thin and runny glue.
Makes and excellent and dirt cheap bed adhesive that is easy to apply with a small sponge brush…
PC is polycarbonate … so PC plate is PC plate. The difference is only that BL’s plate is an engineering plate with a thin (replaceable) sheet of PC.
As many pointed out, cold plate is just useless except many super niche scenarios, where you MUST not use heated bed. In all other cases it’s just inferior